Using computer generated photos for backdrops - Model Railroader Magazine

This was an experiment I did after seeing an article in MR:

I took our camera, a Sony point-and-shoot that has good optics but is otherwise pretty plain and kind of obsolete by today's standards.  I walked out in front of my house and took a few pictures, in this case settling on the best picture which was taken at about knee height.  In this case, the critical thing was getting the persepctive right for "looking down the road."

I don't have fancy software.  I did some minor editing using Microsoft Paint or Picture Manager, one of the freebies that came with my old computer.

I just printed this on plain white cardstock on my old inkjet printer, and then mounted that on a piece of foamboard because I didn't want to glue it to the wall.  Of course, it was just an experiment that happened to go well enough to keep.  One day, maybe I'll do it on photo paper.

You can go to Staples (or, I assume, other places like that) and give them a disk or thumb drive with a long banner-sized photo you've assembled.  They can print it on banner paper, one long sheet, so that you don't have to deal with printing it yourself and piecing it together, along with the resulting seams.  The price is pretty reasonable, especially when you compare it to the commercially-made background shops.

My wife has an iPhone, and she was experimenting with "panorama" mode.  That's an option for those with these phones, or cameras that work the same way.

But, my real advice is just "try it."  Use whatever camera you've got, even a cell phone camera, and whatever printer you've got.  Photos cost nothing, and printing costs almost nothing.  You can afford to do experiments and take chances.  When you're ready to do it "for real," you'll have a much better idea of what you're doing.  Then, come back and teach us.