Tilt shift photography: step one

Tilt shift photography

Synopsis- This post will introduce tilt shift photography in an easy to understand way that any amateur photographer could understand. This post will inform on the technique and tilt shift application called miniature faking. Then the basics of tilt shift will be discussed as well as two examples of tilt shift photography that I created with my camera.

Supplies- For tilt shift photography you will need a camera and either a tilt shift lens or a photography editing software that is capable of creating a tilt shift effect. A tripod is necessary for tilt shift photos as well due to the extremely short depth of field offered by tilt shift lenses.

Introduction-

Tilt shift photography is a form of photography that can be used for many amazing results. It is often used to accentuate architecture and for another technique called miniature faking. Tilt-Shift miniature faking is a creative technique whereby a photograph of a life-size location or object is manipulated to give an optical illusion of a photograph of a miniature scale model (tiltshiftphotography.net).

How its done-

Tilt shift photographs can be accomplished in a post photography editing software or with a tilt shift lens like the one I used in my examples. There are two adjustments on a tilt shift lens that are not found on normal lenses. The first is the shift which moves the lenses center of perspective so that it is not centered to the camera’s censor or film frame. Next is the tilt which tilts the plane of focus, which is usually perfectly parallel to the frame, so that it becomes diagonal. Shift movements enable the photographer to shift the location of the lens's imaging circle relative to the digital camera sensor (cambridgeincolour.com). Tilt movements enable the photographer to tilt the plane of sharpest focus so that it no longer lies perpendicular to the lens axis (cambridgeincolour.com). Both controls are adjusted using knobs found on the left and top of the lens that control the angles of the interior glass lenses. These adjustments will allow you selectively focus on certain objects within the frame.

Example 1-

In my first example I chose to put the flag in the lower right in clearer focus than the rest of the image. The angled plane of focus goes from the red building and flag to the white building behind it. The majority of the frame is out of focus with the flag and red building in clearer focus than its surroundings. This makes the eye draw to the flag as the focal point. I shot it with the tall bank building in the frame for a very specific reason. The bank building on the left is the bank of Albuquerque which has a smaller look-a-like building next to it out of frame. Those two buildings are as symbolic to Albuquerque’s skyline as the twin towers were to New York City. The symbolism and meaning I was considering in this picture is my views of the city and the country. I often lose sight of how small Abq is and how large and amazing America is, it’s a strange illusion that I wanted to express here.

Example 2-

In my second example I performed miniature faking in which I turned Central Avenue into a toy model set. By shifting the plane of focus and my perspective from the third story balcony I was able to create an effect in which the cars on central seem to be toy cars in a fake world. Central has played both a joyous and horrific role in my life as far as the events that have happened on it both in and hidden from my eyes. It was a fun experience to turn it into a fake little world with the adjustment of the tilt and shift knobs on the lens. The key to miniature faking is to focus only the subject somewhere near the center of the screen and to blur everything else. This is done by dialing in the shift to fit your subject in the center of the perspective and by creating a plane of focus that compliments only your subject.

The best way to learn tilt shift photography like many other aspects of photography is to experiment. I had taken very few tilt shift pictures before I took this one and within twenty minutes I captured this shot.