I recently saw an impressive tilt-shift image posted by a friend on Facebook. It was a long shot of the autumn color here in the Ozarks. It made me think about my neglected tilt-shift set up. Languishing in the old camera bag, I hadn’t touched it in over a year. Frankly, it intimidated me. I used it a couple of times and got 2-3 images that I liked – but it took more work. It was less intuitive. Getting good color was not as easy since the set-up only works in manual – you can set your shutter speed and ISO – but the rest is all you. I wrote briefly about using it ages ago in one of my early posts, and I got one shot from that afternoon that I regularly sell prints of.
This is an image I took last year with the tilt-shift lens at a local lake. The tilt lets me focus on a small portion of the image and lets the rest blur. It takes a boring angled shot of a dock and makes it pretty interesting to investigate visually.
Here’s how tilt-shift works – the lens is offset at an angle from the sensor – so your plane of focus is not parallel. That angle lets you selectively focus on a single portion of the image and lets the rest blur. If you have seen images of city shots where the people and cars look like dioramas – those images are tilt shift. That plane of focus shifts the perspective creating the illusion that things are smaller than they really are in proportion to the overall image. The gear it takes to do this is pretty cool. It kind of looks like a mix between Frankenstein and Steampunk –
This is my tilt-shift set up – note the aperture ring in the center – its a coated metal disc held in place by magnets. To change the aperture you change out the ring. f22 is like a pinhole. f1.4 is no ring at all.
A side view of the tilt-shift set up on my tripod. Each of the threaded rods help you to fine tune the shift. For the shots in this post I went with a more casual approach – point, focus, shoot, try again.
You compress the outer ring towards the camera body at an angle until you see something that you think is interesting. Once you get a sense of the image you lock that ring and then you can focus using a slide on the ring. I find that it works best to find a sweet spot and then look for things to focus on within your field of vision. At this point it becomes more intuitive.
I’ve been shooting some landscapes this way and will probably write a post about them soon, but last night on my way home from work I had a chance meeting on my road – an old friend approached me as I was checking my mail box. All of the shots that follow were taken shortly after sunset. I removed the aperture ring altogether to let in as much light as possible.
My road at sunset – by choosing that one spot of brighter color in the distance to bring into focus, I make your eye look down the road and into the photo.
Ben is a wonderful old friend. Every time I see him at the mail box I roll down the window and say hi. At first he was much more interested in some petting than in being the subject of a blog post, but he rolled with it. The wonderful thing about tilt-shift is that it lets you look at something you see all the time and see it with new eyes – a fresh perspective.As I shot I thought about his noble look, his curious and kind eyes, his friendly posture. It’s always good to look at an old friend with new eyes.
the eff stop 
I like your tilt lens works. Like any tool, the artist must know, not only how and when to use it, but also , when not to use it, to be able to get the greatest impact from the audience. You have the ability to do all of these.
Thanks Greg – although I am not sure if I know when not to use something – this is experimental so I’m trying lots of things. I like the dog shots best of all the tilt-shift experiments though.
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Fantastic series, and thank you for the lesson in how tilt-shift works. 🙂
Thanks Robin. It’s a fun piece of equipment and it’s keeping me busy while my bird lens is in the shop.
I like the effects you get with the tilt shift and you got some great photos. Some day I need to dig my lens out and try again. It is a much more time-intensive process as you say.
My bird lens is in the shop, so I needed to try something while all the color was still out. I wish there was a viable option for a long lens available – wildlife would be really interesting to try – animals wilder than Ben 🙂
That would be interesting.
Your rig looks like a tilt-shift sputnik. Very cool. It’s always great to learn something new, I love that you share your technical secrets… and I really love your dockside picture..my eye almost surprises itself as it refocuses out… your road home makes me feel like I’m moving and meeting sweet Ben was what drew my eye here first. Great post! my optometrist will be proud too 😉
I’m glad I could give your eyes some exercise 🙂 It is a bit sputnik-looking. I think you are right about the sense of movement, I shot some out on the road today and they definitely give you that sense. Ben is a wonderful subject – he exudes kindness. A great pal. Thanks for your kind words.
I love how you can decide where my eye will go. Nowhere is it clearer than that shot on the road. That’s awesome!
Thanks, you can do it more subtly – I wanted to get you to look into the tunnel the blur creates. It’s a fun tool.
Oh, I jus twist
H Ben was heading for my house. I want to rub him behind the ears!
I wish. And I wish spellcheck was smarter. Or that I didn’t hit post quite so quickly.
LOL – I’ve been there!
Ben would likely oblige 🙂
🙂
Interesting effect, Lorri.
I suspect it’s not easy to use and may take some time to become proficient.
I’ve seen some amazing shots on the manufacturer’s site – I am finding that subjects like Ben can make the effect feel more personal. The landscapes feel kind of the opposite. It’s a fun toy to play with for sure.
I’m not much of a photographer but I love learning from you Lorri. Wonderful shots and Ben looks so nice.
Thanks Jackie – Ben is a sweetheart. Have you been shooting much lately?
Sue? Where did that come from? Having a senior moment Lorri 🙂
LOL – happens to the best of us!
…or you could just use the effect in Photoshop 🙂
Great photos Sue – I admire your technical skills.
Thanks – I’ve seen some shots that turned out nicely in Photoshop – but nothing compares to seeing it in your viewfinder. I work in PS all day so I like to do nothing but light editing on my photos – Id rather shoot than edit 🙂
Fantastic photos as usual. I have been waiting for one from you of sunset or sunrise and you have the one of the sunset and that is the one I like best today. many thanks. The road seems to lead down to a place of tranquility.
Thanks! I managed to get a couple of sunsets before the end of Daylight Savings time – I should do a post on them. I was surprised to get shots in so little light. I think our road is a pretty tranquil place.
awesome, love it as usual, and possibly of note, dogs who aren’t aggressive won’t make direct eye contact, that’s how they test ’em for being service dogs, Ben was very generous and humble
Thanks – you know Ben is the opposite of aggressive. He’s a sweetheart. I think he’s hoping I have treats in the car or something – or possibly he just likes to check on me.