Many of you may have heard of the Helicon Focus software program but are not entirely sure of what it is or does. SImply put, this program takes multiple pictures of the same subject but with different focal points and glues them together selectingthe input picture with the best focus for each point of the output picture. The results can be astounding.

Sometimes a photograph just seems to pop off the page at you. I've found sharp (in focus) photos with lots of contrast often do this for me. Often, when it comes to model railroads, this means taking the railroad outdoors and photographing it in sunlight. Face it, it's darned hard to duplicate sunlight indoors. We're lookin' to make use of the full dynamic range of your camera here - maxxing out the range from darkest to lightest.

So! Let's see what you've got in the way of hi-contrast model train (or real train) photographs.

Well, it's finally happened. After *lots* of deliberation, thought, and procrastination it appears the Bear Creek and South Jackson now has an 'official' paint scheme (at least for its 1st generation Alco diesels).

Many thanks to Joe Brugger for his advice and painting skills.

I guess I dunno whether to be embarassed or pleased that the demo issue seems to be the Charlie and his Bare Creek RR show. I will say that I'm darned impressed by what Joe's doing with MRH magazine. And I've known him for close to 10 years now - but he somehow keeps surprising me.