Model Railroad Blog

Remote iPhone Camera Control

Screenshot of the Camera Plus app screen with the airsnap remote control button highlighted.

If you use your iPhone for layout photography as I do, there are several instances where it would be nice to be able to focus the lens and trigger the shutter remotely. First, you may have compositions where, although you can get the camera in position, it’s physically difficult (or impossible) to see the screen. Being able to have a second ios device that allows you to see what’s on the camera is very handy.

Second, for many photos I use “focus stacking” with the Helicon Focus software. Focus stacking means you take a series of photos at different focal lengths and the program combines them into one composite with amazing depths of field. If the camera location is such that you can’t use a tripod, and it often is, this means you need to lightly touch the phone for every shot to set the focus and trigger the shutter. If you’re not careful, you’ll accidentally move the camera and ruin your composition. Remote control means you don’t need to touch the camera.

The Camera Plus app is a simple to use program that has a feature called “AirSnap” that allows you to use one iPhone to take the photos. A second ios device can see what is on the “camera phone”, change it’s focus and trigger the shutter. The second device is called the remote. The basic Camera Plus app was either free or very cheap, I can’t remember. You’ll need to put it on both devices. Make sure wifi and bluetooth are enabled on both devices as well. Turn them on and they’ll “talk to one another” and connect.

There were two small glitches, both of which aren’t that big of a deal. When you hit the air snap button on the devices the screen will tell you which one is the camera and which is the remote. When I first did this, things were reversed and what I wanted to be the camera was assigned as the remote and vice versa. Apparently the order with which you tap the air snap icon one the respective devices matters. Second, the image on the remote screen isn’t nearly as clear as that of the camera screen but I found that didn’t really matter that much.

Having found a “mostly” non-glitchy way of remotely controlling my iphone camera opens up a lot of new possibilities in terms of composition because I can now place the camera anywhere I want without having to worry about seeing through the viewfinder.

Finally, We Have Figures!

I never thought I’d see the day. In what, to me, is one of the biggest technological breakthroughs in recent years, we FINALLY have miniature figures that are useable. Real people, in real poses, crisply cast. I’ve always been a believer in the adage, “no detail is better than a bad detail”. In that vein, I felt leaving figures off of the layout, or photos, was far better than having a soap carving that looked like a zombie being tased just to say that we had “people” in a scene . Up until now, miniature figures were eyesores that served no purpose other than as placeholders. In all fairness to the manufacturers, they did the best they could given what was an almost impossible manufacturing task.

Enter ModelU out of the UK and their amazing 3D technology. They’ve succeeded in capturing all of the subtleties of the shape and natural body positions of the human form. Even better, their figures are of ordinary people, doing ordinary things. I placed my first order a week or so ago and really had no idea what to expect. Without question the product matches the photos. Prices are very reasonable and shipping was fast. Even though many products show “out of stock” ModelU seems to be a print on demand outfit like Shapeways and my order was filled in a few days. No detail may be better than a bad detail but a great detail adds value.

Dade Tomato

It only took me a decade to get around to it but the Dade Tomato structure is finally done. The base color layer is a photo laminate with additional photos “elevated” and layered on top to create relief. Details include: Shapeways security lights, Gold Medal Models security gate, scratch built dock bumpers, Atlas utility insulators, Pikestuff stairs, and stripwood.

Here’s where it goes on the layout, between 13th and 14th Avenues. Next up is the street in front and the one remaining structure to the right.

Kodachrome

An argument could be made that Jack DeLano was one of the most gifted photographers of all time. His work showcases the mind blowing, intangible, qualities of Kodachrome film. Library of Congress photo. (1940’s era)

A recent publishing project has brought me back to the images of renowned photographer Jack DeLano. DeLano’s journey is a story in and of itself. What’s been on my mind though is trying to put my finger on what makes his images different. Can it be identified? If so, can we apply it to model railroad photography. Part of the equation is DeLano’s superstar compositional skills. The other part is the color film he used, Kodachrome. Once routine, I used it during my teenage railfan years, it’s properties are now considered legendary.

In his excellent blog, A Kodachrome Retrospective, James Tocchio writes, “In the short documentary The End of an Era, a National Geographic film crew follows Steve McCurry as he shoots and processes the final roll of Kodachrome to roll off the assembly line. A man who’s possibly shot more Kodachrome than anyone else (by his own estimation, over 800,000 images) calls it a legendary film, adding, “Probably the best film ever made.”

That’s pretty high praise. But what made it so phenomenal?

Kodak’s contemporary literature is decidedly understated when measured against all the lauding the film receives today. They described Kodachrome as nothing more than a moderate-speed, extremely fine grained film for daylight shooting. Nothing too special there. Even when rating the film’s resolving power, things were rather staid. With 96-135 lines per millimeter, it landed right in the middle of Kodak’s resolving power scale. But these descriptors fail even to hint at what made Kodachrome so special. For that, we have to talk to photographers.

When asked what made it his favorite film, Ned replied with one succinct sentence. “Brilliant, natural colors.”

This sentiment’s been echoed by everyone I talked to. The owner of my local processing lab, a shop that’s been in business since the 1970s and has weathered all the storms of the past fifty years, said of its colors, “Kodachrome was unreal. Actually, it was extremely ‘real’. No other film could make such true, vivid images. When you exposed it right, you got a slice of real life on film. It was incredible. The best photos I ever took were made on Kodachrome.”

In the film, McCurry confirms these statements on Kodachrome’s intangible qualities. “Sublime, rich colors. The best rendition of reality.”

So, the question becomes, can we edit digital images to replicate Kodachrome? Far easier said than done. McCurry eludes to the difficulty of doing so when he refers to the film’s “intangible qualities”. Capturing “intangible” and putting it in a bottle is an elusive goal. Photo editors with more talent than I’ll ever have, are giving it their best shot. One such editor is Jamie Windsor who has a great video on YouTube where he explains the challenges. He’s made an extremely respectable run at capturing the Kodachrome look, even offering an editing plug-in at a ridiculously low cost.

It’s going to be fun to watch people take a run at seeing if they can capture Kodachrome’s magic with digital. If they are ultimately successful, applying it model photography opens up an entire new world of creative possibilities.

I took this image in the late 1970’s using Kodachrome. Back then we thought nothing of it. It was just what we all used. Digital is amazing but it has yet to capture the intangible qualities of this legendary film.