@ Rowlettmaster
Sorry. Here's my tips:
I use a tool from my MSI motherboard for screenshots called MSI afterburner. It allows you to set a screenshot folder and fire away screenshots with a key. I use the HOME key for that.
For screenshots itself. Try to have some object in the foreground. In a picture above I have a bridgerail or a balcony rail in the foreground.
It is not bad to stage the scene. I drive trains in slowmotion or even in the pauze setting to get a good screenshot.
I second that. Actually, most of the screenshots i post in this forum are indeed staged. To get a good effect you can also play a bit with the weather, and most importantly, the sun - by changing the in-game in the session options pop-up you can ajust the position of the sun (for example, you can have your train facing the sun or the opposite).
Here, let me use one of my screenshots as an example. I'm by no way a "screenshot master" and of course there are much better ones than mine, but i think this is one of my best ones yet.
So, here's a small checklist for a "staged" screenshot:
- Subject: choose the best location on a route and a train of your liking. The two do not have to be strictly correlated: the route below is Rizky's Nambu Branch Line in and the train in the forefront is a 113 Series in the "Kasuga" red livery, wich ran in the Kansai area - these absolutely never went nowere near Tokyo.
So, a good suggestion is when using trains that would otherwise be out-of-place avoid iconic or notable spots (for example, if you put a 223 Series at Tokyo Station people are bound to notice that's far out of place) and try to keep station nameboards out of sight. Countryside shots are the most easily disguised.
- Lighting and weather: use the "session option" panel to your heart's content: modify the position of the sun with the in-game hour changer and choose a suitable weather: sunny, rainy, snowy... anything that fits. (for the screenshot above i've set the weather to "foggy with light rain"). Note that changing the position of the sun also affects shadows!
- "Ambient" and other stuff: if you're making a "staged" screenshot your train won't probably be moving at all, so to convey a sense of movement is of utmost importance. Canted curved tracks are the best for this, and if you take the picture "from the inside" you may also be able to fit all the train in a single shot. With electric trains remember to raise the pantographs, while for diesel trains try putting the accellerator in a "power" notch while keeping the brake applied - this will let "running" amounts of smoke coming out of the exhaust (you'll need cab mode to do that as it's impossible to pull out in CCD mode), however note that the smoke will come out vertical, wich if is not disguised properly, will affect the sense of movement. Needless to say, staged screenshots are easier done with electric trains rather than steam or diesel. Also, turning headlights on is often a good thing to do, but not necessary in some cases (such as at mid-day on a route set in the desert for example).
The train above is indeed actually still.
- Post production
Editing the screenshots is also a good move if you want to get a nice picture. Increase or decrease the contrast and lighting, change something here and there, correct some texture errors and so on until you're satistified with the result.
I didn't do it for the screenshot above - you can tell that because of the few hardly-visible white pixels in the red line between the second and third door of the cab car: those are the renmants of the countours of "JR" logo that i replaced with a solid red paint (as the train in question is the JNR version).
I did actually make a couple more errors when taking the screenshot - can you guess wich ones?
Finally, to better have an idea of the screenshot you're going to take, figure out a little background story or so on - this will be very helpful when setting the mood for the picture.