Biography Michael Paul Smith - model maker and photographer

Michael Paul Smith is a model-maker and photographer whose work I greatly admire. His work is amazing and although he doesn't make Route 66 models, I found it very definitely worth to mention him here!

This is a short biography that he wrote and his work can be seen on his Flickr photostream.

I have always been fascinated with models and miniatures. Even in grade school, I made buildings out of cigar boxes and put interiors in them. That was also true about cars and trucks. I'd put wheels on shoe boxes and cut out windows pretending they were the real thing. When plastic model cars became available, I knew I was in trouble. Over the years, I had collected over 300 models.

I didn't like the idea of them just sitting on a shelf; they needed to be put into a context, so I thought scale buildings would help bring some life to them. My first real project, when I was in my late 40's, was a model garage I found in the trash which I fixed it up and added an interior. The most important goal of this project was it had to be as good as the diecast cars. So I put a huge effort into getting the details correct. When it was completed, I placed some cars around it and photographed the scene. From the very first photo I took, I could see this was the right way to go. And it was only a matter of time before I started to design and make my own structures.

There are now 15 buildings that I've constructed but they are mostly in a modular form and not set up as a town in one room. This allows me to mix and match the pieces; turn them around or temporarily add to them so they have an
altered appearance. Now I have a lot of flexibility with a very limited amount of structures.

When planning a scene, I think about the time period I want to explore. The cars are very good markers for any era. Even if you don't know automobile design, you can tell what time frame they're from. Studying old photographs, to learn about how things looked back in any given period, is extremely important. There are many little details that defined an era that are now missing in today's world.

Once a theme and era is established, I then mock up the scene and look at it from all angles. This becomes the frame work for the actual shoot. The next step is to go out looking for a suitable background; not an easy task with all the malls and housing developments around. The perfect setup is finding a unobstructed view of at least 100 feet. This allows the background to be in scale with the model. Once I've started to shoot though, an emotional level comes into play and I just listen to my gut feeling. If I try too hard, or second guess myself, I loose my vision. An average shoot lasts about an hour with about 20 to 30 photos taken. About 2 or 3 good shots come from the whole batch.

I gave myself the challenge to not use photoshop. I wanted to be able to frame everything in the camera. I'm glad I stuck to that because it forces me to be observant and focused!