Anyone can take good model photos!

The other week, Best Beloved acquired a Canon PowerShot G9 — after prompting for a while. It’s not the newest model, having been replaced by the G10, but it does everything we (meaning me) want it to. I really wanted something a little less in-your-face and generally small enough to drop into confined spaces on a model shoot. I had also been impressed at how good the current crop of compact cameras was.

I’ve been banging on about how I use a DSLR and expensive optics to produce the model shots I take. That is still my preferred method, giving me total control of the end result. Having had the chance to put the G9 through various tests, though, I think it’s fair to say you really don’t need to spend a fortune to get good pictures. You don’t need a DSLR to take superb model shots. Really, all you need is patience, good light and an eye for framing.

Take the image above. Forget the brick wall background — it was done in a bit of a rush before our friend John took his models away again. Notice how the engine and wagon from front to back is in focus? This was shot, hand-held, using the G9.

I had the advantage of a sunny afternoon, though we were in the shade (diffused light, no harsh shadows). The EXIF data for the image shows ƒ/5.6 at 1/80th of a second. If I’d taken this shot with the DSLR and wide angle lens, I’d have been faffing about with tripods and longish exposures at ƒ/22.

The thing is, with a P&S camera, the focal lengths are a lot smaller than on the larger DSLR-type lenses. The sensor is also a lot smaller, and the combination means that although it shows as ƒ/5.6, in reality it’s approximately three times that: an equivalent to ƒ/16 or so. So, ƒ/8 would give me an impressive ƒ/32. Most of my DSLR lenses won’t stop down that far!

And then there’s macro. Almost every P&S camera has a macro setting which lets you virtually touch with the lens the object you’re photographing. Macro on the G9 let me get up close and personal with the loco’s crew. Again, hand-held, ƒ/5.6 at 1/30th of a second. That big LCD showed me every detail I needed to see in order to frame the shot. Amazing, and all but impossible with the DSLR setup.

I think this is my favourite shot of the set that day. You know, I’m not even sure it was in macro mode, either.

I’m not about to junk the DSLR, mind. The compact is another weapon in my armoury, which lets me get shots of things I’d not be able to reach with the bigger camera, like standing on the track on a layout.

It’s not the tools that make the job, it’s how you use them. Knowing the limitations and capabilities, you can take good model photos, just like me!