Scale Aviator International Magazine Issue 3 | Page 75

have one of your own, consider asking a pal to
help you, or borrow his. FYI: I used a Fuji FinePix
S-5100 digital camera for these photos, which is
4-megapixels.
3)
A photo-manipulation program on your
computer is the next item on this list, and it can be
expensive or relatively inexpensive, as long as it
has certain tools. I used Adobe PhotoShop for this
project, which is an industry standard, but it is also
rather pricey, listing at $699.00, but can be found
on Amazon discounted to $539.00, which is still
pretty darn expensive unless you plan to use it on
a regular basis. There is another piece of software
out there which is considered PhotoShop-Lite,
having many of the very same tools and functions,
but at a fraction of the cost. This is Smith Micro
Pixelmator, and is available for the Mac, and lists
for $59.00, but again Amazon has it discounted
from $18.95. If you use a PC like I do, then you
can try Corel PaintShop Pro X4 Ultimate, which
sells on Amazon for $47.06, discounted from the
list price of $99.00. Or, you can join forces with a
pal who does have one of these programs on his
PC or Mac.

is, a lot of patience, as gaining realistic results
takes considerable time, and I can tell you that I
use PhotoShop professionally often, but it still took
several days of careful work on each of those three
‘assisted’-reality photos at the beginning of this
article to get them to look photo-real convincing.
So, once you have decided on exactly what you
want to see in your ‘assisted’-reality photo, there
are then three distinct phases to this project.
These consist of background photo, scale-model
photo, and photo-manipulation in the software of
your choice.

Phase-One:

The initial phase is to actually go out and take
photos of your real background; the location
where you will place your scale-model ‘into’ later.
Now, this is where all that pre-planning comes into
actual usage. In order to convince your buddies
that your ‘assisted’-reality photo is actually a
full-sized aircraft, you will need to choose an
applicable location for your scale-model gem
to pose in later on. In my case, I have a WWI
biplane, so a suitable airport with old hangars
4)
The last thing you need is a really good,
made a perfect background for my scale-model
clear idea of what you want to finish up seeing
plane. Smaller and privately-owned airports are a
on your fake-photo. ‘Fake’ has such a negative
lot friendlier to non-pilots hanging around runways
connotation to it, so let’s just call the finished
and hangars with camera and tripod. However, if
product an ‘assisted’-reality photo, shall we?
you have a modern military jet-fighter, it would be
However, without some good planning, this whole
far more appropriate for you to take photos on a
project will simply not work at all, so don’t get all
military base, However, those military-types are
enthused and grab your camera and run out the
considerably more uptight, and kinda take a rather
door before you sit quietly for awhile and picture
dim view of non-military folks hanging around their
in your mind just how you want to show-off your
aircraft and hangars. Fact is, you will most likely
fantastic scale-model in a setting that will convince
not even be allowed to g ]