Need for post processing

David,

You need to at least sharpen in post processing. This is not a case of artificially sharpening the photo. Digital sensors produce a somewhat soft image. If you shoot RAW, this is very noticeable. If you shoot jpeg, the camera applies some sharpening when it creates the jpeg. All digital photos will benefit from some post process sharpening. You don't need an expensive program to do this. There are simple and free programs that you can use.

Once you do that, then maybe you will discover that other aspects of post processing are worth pursuing as well. Don't think of it as producing a fake photo, think of it as allowing the photograph to as closely approximate what your eye sees as possible. We used to do it in the dark room, which is why a lot of the terms in Photoshop have weird names that are descended from physical dark room actions.

Regarding depth of field, if you are using auto focus, your camera will focus on the nose of the engine, or whatever part of the train is closest. When the camera focuses, 1/3 of the zone that is in focus is before the focus point and 2/3 is after the focus point. That means that a lot of empty space in front of the train is in focus. To maximize the amount of train that is in focus, you need to focus at a point part way back on the train. This used to be easy back when lenses had depth of field markings, but you can find online depth of field calculators that can help you. At least learn what works for your most common f/ stop and shooting distance.

depth of field calculator

Good luck.

Michael Allen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2014 09:59AM by trainrider47.