Model Railroad Hobbyist | May 2015 | #63 GETTING REAL column Marty McGuirk Incorporating photos into a backdrop HANDLING THE TRANSITION BETWEEN the a three-dimensional layout and a two-dimensional backdrop can be challenging. While I’ve seen many very well-executed photo backdrops (where pictures of real scenery are pasted to the walls of the layout room), I’ve found in many cases a photo mural backdrop incorporates so much “hyper reality” it can actually attract more attention than it deserves and draw the eye away from the modeled scene. I mean, it is a photo, so that wealth of well- defined detail has to be expected. Lighting is another issue I’ve noticed with photograph back- drops. In person, photo backdrops often look fine, but in pho- tographs, if they extend much above the horizon line they tend to wash out, so the colors of the background trees and scenery never really match those modeled on the layout. XX MODELING REAL RAILROADS AND WHAT THEY DO MRHMAG.COM • TABLE OF CONTENTS • INDEX