If you have kids (or grandkids), chances are that at least one of them loves trains. I mean, most kids do, right? All of my kids liked trains when they were little, and so far only my oldest daughter has outgrown them. If you have a little ferroequinologist in your midst, chances are at some point you’ll end up at a model train show. Can this be an opportunity for the creative photographer? Do picture opportunities exist at the exhibit?

This might initially seem like a silly endeavor for a Creative Collective article. Toys, really? Are we actually going to do photography at a model train show? What could possibly be learned from this exercise? I think there are several great lessons to be experienced, and we’ll discuss each. Now let’s take our Fujifilm X camera—with a macro lens attached—to a local train show. Let’s go!

Note: this was a Creative Collective article, but now it is available to everyone.

Yes, I said “with a macro lens attached” in the sentence above. You will need a macro lens. Fujifilm makes two: the Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 and Fujinon 80mm f/2.8. Either one will work for this project, but, if you don’t already own one, they aren’t necessarily cheap; however, there are budget options available. You can backwards-mount a lens you already own using a cheap adapter. This isn’t my favorite option, but it works. Or you could use extension tubes, which can be effective and inexpensive. Or you can buy a vintage macro lens and adapter, which is what I’ve done, but this can be a little more expensive (although not nearly as much as a new Fujinon lens!). Pick your path. By the way, if you want a recommendation between the two Fujinon options, I’d go with the 80mm f/2.8.

The reason why you need a macro lens is because you’ll be photographing miniature worlds. There are many different scales of model trains, and the larger ones might not require a macro lens, but the smaller ones definitely will. If you have no interest in using a macro lens but still want to try this project, simply spend more time capturing the larger scale dioramas, and less time on the miniature models.

Light will be your biggest challenge, for three reasons. First, in my experience, the buildings don’t ever seem to be well-lit. You’ll be using high-ISOs. Ideally, you’d use a tripod, but, since these events are often crowded, a tripod isn’t practical, and might be considered rude to use. Second, the light is artificial, and often mixed. It’s easy to get a weird color cast, especially if you are using a recipe that calls for Daylight or any sort of warm white balance. Recipes that use Auto white balance tend to do better, although it really depends on the exact lighting situation. Third, when using a macro lens, the depth-of-field is often razor thin, so ideally you’d prefer small apertures, but that requires a lot of light or a long shutter speed, neither of which you’re likely going to have available to you, so you’re just going to have to deal with the super thin depth-of-field.

You’re going to be pushing the envelope of your gear with regard to shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. Let’s look at each!

You’ll be using slow shutter speeds, but make sure that it is not too slow, because most likely you’ll be hand-holding the camera. If your shutter speed is too slow, you’ll get a lot of blurry pictures. For those with an X-T4 or X-S10, which have IBIS, you’re in a little better position; otherwise, you’ll want to set the shutter to the slowest speed that you can get away with. Typically, you don’t want to go any slower than the most similar number to the focal-length of the lens. I’m using a 50mm lens, so that means 1/60—but don’t forget about the crop-factor, which makes the lens full-frame equivalent to 75mm, and means that 1/80 is the slowest that I want to go with the 50mm lens. A shutter speed of 1/125 is even better, if the light allows. No matter what, be sure to use good technique when holding your camera, and keep a steady hand.

Another note regarding slow shutter speeds: there will be blur from movement if the train is rolling down the line. The picture at the top of this article is a good example of this. You are going to have a difficult time freezing motion, and even a slow movement will be a little blurry. You can accept that there’s a slight blur (like the picture above), or use the blur creatively (maybe panning?), or avoid photographing moving objects, and focus on the things that are still.

Going into this project you have to know that you will be using high ISOs. How high? As high as you are comfortable with. If you find some decent light, you might be able to get away with ISO 1600, but if the light isn’t great you might have to go as high as ISO 12800—I find that most typically I’m using between 3200 and 6400. It is what it is.

The lens that I used has a maximum aperture of f/4, and I used that aperture for all of the pictures here. The closer you are focused to the end of the lens, the more narrow the depth-of-field will be. You can see that it’s razor-thin in these pictures. You have to be precise with your focus—even one millimeter off and your picture might be ruined. Whenever possible, you’ll want to use the narrow depth-of-field creatively. Typically in macro photography, you want to use smaller apertures, but that will require a tripod in this scenario.

Even though you are at a train show, there’s a lot more than trains to photograph. Typically these dioramas have towns, roads, houses, bridges, trees, people, animals, and most other things you’d find in real life, except miniaturized and carefully staged. Look for interesting scenes, or even uninteresting scenes that can be captured in a compelling way.

Another thing to consider is your angle. While “drone shots” (photographing from high above) might be good sometimes, most often you’ll want to get down low, and put the camera lens near eye-level of a scale person. That’s not always practical or possible, but using a low perspective will often produce the best results. This might be the best practical advice for this project in this whole article.

Occasionally, if a model railroad is realistically detailed, you might be able to capture an image that could fool people into thinking it’s a real scene and not a model, but don’t count on that. Most likely your model train pictures will look like models and not the real thing. That’s ok. What’s more important is storytelling. A compelling image of a model is just as interesting as a compelling image of the real thing. Ansel Adams said, “There’s nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.” The point being: avoid having fuzzy concepts, no matter the subject. A solid concept for your model train photography will produce a compelling photograph. This, obviously, is just as big of a challenge, if not more so, than the technical issues you will face.

You are likely with your child or grandchild (or maybe nieces and nephews or friends), so don’t forget to have fun. While this is certainly a challenging circumstance photographically, it should be an enjoyable situation. Slow down. Make it a memorable time with whoever you are with.

To summarize, model train shows are challenging photographic exercises. There’s the technical problems, namely slow shutter speeds, high ISOs, narrow depth-of-field, and strange lighting. You’ll be technically doing macro photography, although most likely you’ll be trying to make the pictures not appear to be macro. There’s also the creative problems of capturing a compelling picture. If you come away with one or two frames that you like, that’s a good day. This will be one of the more difficult photographic experiences you’re likely to encounter. You’ll have to push your gear and yourself to the limit to be successful.

If there’s a train show near you, take your kids or grandkids (or go by yourself or with a friend), grab your camera on the way out the door, and try to snap a good picture or two. I guarantee that this challenge will help your photography improve, because that’s what difficult situations do.

If you are looking to increase the challenge of this project, try stacking diffusion filters or double exposure photography! Now that would be interesting!