How much do you know about til-shifting?

[XpLoiT]

I dont know anything but just saw this on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ujio/432678771/

and did a quick google search and you can get this,
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/02/27/fake_tilt_shift_phot.html
http://recedinghairline.co.uk/tutorials/fakemodel/

discuss?


//edit:
some very cool flickr shots...
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=tilt-shift&w=all&s=int

[inkista]

This is just a personal completely anal-retentive peeve, but I really HATE that these are called "tilt-shift" photos on Flickr. The only effect that's being faked in Photoshop is tilt. No shifting.

I know, I know. You're faking having a tilt-shift lens. But the other thing that's annoying is that traditionaly, a tilt-shift lens is used in the other direction--to increase the depth of field. Not decrease it to fake a macro shot.

Top shot: with "swing"; bottom shot without. Same focal length/aperture/shutter speed/ISO. Note the different DOF:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/382218434_8119d0241b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/inkista/382218434/)

Here's what I've gleaned about tilt-shift photography when I got sucked in by the Luminous Landscape super-rotator review (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/hartblei45.shtml).

Tilt-shift lenses are typically used for architectural photography (to do perspective correction), or product and landscape photography (to increase depth of field, beyond what the aperture alone allows).

Basically, the terminology goes back to view cameras, where the lens plane and the film plane could be manipulated independently, with a bellows in between. Because of the larger film size, depth of field is very limited, and camera movements (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera) could help eke out a bit more depth of field that aperture alone can't get you. "Tilt" is changing the angle of the lens or film plane so that it's not perpendicular any more, tilting it up or down, or "swing" to the left or right. This can drastically affect perspective and depth-of-field (Scheimpflug effect (http://www.zoerk.com/pages/p_mfs.htm)).

"Shift" is physically moving the lens plane in space. Its effect is rather like taking a step to the right or left, or kneeling down or standing on a box, without having to actually move. It can be useful to get around objects or be out of a mirror shot, etc.

When 35mm SLRs came in, with fixed film planes and fixed lenses, then tilt-shift lenses appeared to try and duplicate the effects of tilt and shift, by allowing for lens movement.

Canon offers three tilt-shift lenses (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=156) in its lineup, and they're roughly $1000 apiece. However, there are also cheap ($300-$600) Russian tilt-shifts, with a very funky mechanism. Google "Hartblei Super-Rotator". (Unfortunately, the widest they go is 35mm, which is hardly useful for landscape or architecture work on a crop-body camera). These cheapies may, however, be going away, since Hartblei (http://www.hartblei.eu/de/sr35ua.htm) is now teaming up with Zeiss, and their newer lenses are coming out.

[XpLoiT]

ok, well i didnt know that much about it, i knew about the lenses, but i just like the effect it creates without having to get the lens.

[inkista]

Yeah, for the toy-model effect, you've got far more control in Photoshop than you would with the lens itself, which is why it's so much fun to fake.

A few things I've discovered about faking the toy-model effect are that subject matter helps (i.e., if it's a picture of something you're used to seeing a toy/model of, it helps the effect along), and that your angle of view helps (typically, an overhead downwards looking shot helps the effect).

[stetson ography]

Aye, I did some mucking about with this a while back and did this:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stetsonography/272182829/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/82/272182829_761d59e114.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Glencoe, model stylee." /></a>

My mate used the technique to knock up a poster/flyer for his band which worked really nicely:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/110/267005944_9e9ad7a92d_o.jpg

[odyn]

Ok, I know nothing about this technique yet. Is using special lenses the only way to get it (without faking it on photoshop)? Or can something else (like bellows one can buy for macro) be used instead?

[SarahN]

stetson ography, that band picture is SO cool. Tell your mate it is amazing...great idea.

[scottws]

Here's a discussion on doing it in the GIMP. (http://www.flickr.com/groups/59319377@N00/discuss/72057594073514981/)