Check out photographs

[NJ Devils Fan]

I would like to submit a quick scenery tip that was told to me years ago. I'm sorry if this was discussed earlier, but I'll go ahead anyway and keep it short.

I was told that you can always get some scenery ideas by looking at railroad pictures or photographs . Yea, I know, whoopie! But you can learn a lot about what scenery details you can put into a scene just by looking "into" instead of "at" a picture. For instance, if you look at the surrounding area "around" the focal point of the picture, you can see what's going on.

You may see some scrap ties or rail scattered about. Or maybe an old fence or switch that's missing some rail or leading to a defunct siding. Maybe there are some pallets or barrels located beside a building or a ladder laying on the ground. What is laying around the siding or what is scattered about the mainline. Many simple tricks or details can be added simply by looking around.

There are so many ideas I've gotten just from looking at pictures, or even trackside. Take a look at what's "laying around" or "going on". Take out a few of your pictures and see if you can spot something "for the first time".

[MasonJar]

I always try to look at a photo several times to see what info is in it. You can split it up into "passes" sometimes to help systematically discover information. Here's how it could work for photos:

1) Main subject - what is the photo of?
2) People - activities, attire
3) Vehicles - age, position, activity
4) Structures - buildings, sheds, outhouses
5) Infrastructure - roads, utility poles, curbs, sidewalks, fences
6) Signs - road, storefront, advertising
7) Season (time of year) and/or time of day
8) Natural features - water, vegetation

You can also rescan for foreground/middle ground/background, or top to bottom. Sometimes overlaying a grid can be useful. I use a similar multiple pass method when proof reading.

Andrew