A small working layout is orders of magnitude better than a huge layout in your head that never gets built. Do not ignore your family or loved ones. Sometimes model railroaders get so involved in the hobby that they loose track of reality. Skills have to be learned and nobody does it perfectly the first time. A good percentage of costly things on your first layout can be re-used on your next layout if you so desire.
Nothing is cast in concrete.
Parts of layouts can be re-done, removed, or enhanced as time goes on. Remember that it is a hobby and suppose to be fun and that you don't have to please anyone but yourself. Photographing a model railroad is an interesting subject in itself. I used my old Canon AE-1 with a 50mm lens. I could not afford a Macro lens and did not want to experiment with a pinhole camera.