Tilt Shift effect

If you haven't heard of Tilt Shift photography then i think you should check it out .Tilt shift lenses are bloody expensive,Demanding around a thousand pounds for a cheap one.And almost two thousand pounds for a L grade Tilt shift lens.Serious bucks !.But the effects are AWESOME..Mainly used for architectural photography.Making it possible to change the effect of the image you are wanting to take,Making buildings taller or shorter.They do exactly what they say on the tin. Tilt and Shift,Up and down and side to side .Altering the plain of focus.Another good thing these lenses are good for is making a real scene look like a modal.so the real train station in town would look like you was taking a macro shot of a train set.And its bloody good fun to mess around with different scenes.Here is a video from those genius's from digital rev explaining and showing exactly how these tilt shift bad boys work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HRYlJUwzYA&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLD4F46C9C0CEDE768

If you don't have a spear grand knocking around for a new lens you could have a go at making one.Obviously it wouldn't be as good ,But you would get a slimier effect. I have found a link on you tube of a guy showing you how to build one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0rPecCq1tc

Failing that you could buy a plug in for photoshop called Topez lens effects.it has a tilt shift filter that produces some fantastic effects.You have to mess around with the settings to get the results you are looking for but it produces fantastic tilt shift effect along with loads of other effects like Fisheye,Pin hole,Toy camera and loads more .Its a great plug in and so glad i got it .

This shot was taking in a small town called Hythe in Kent the south of England .The effect always works better when taken from an elevated position.I used a Canon EOS 5D mk II with a 24-105 mm f4 L usm lens.Shot in manual mode at 40 mm for 1/40 sec at F8 with iso 100.

The tilt shift filter in Topez puts most of the shot out of focus to give you the macro looking effect.you will also get a better effect if you boost saturation to make it look a little Un real,Almost modal like .

There are other ways in photoshop to pull this effect off but I'm afraid i don't know how to do them .I tried for weeks to do this effect and topez was the easiest way i found to do it  

This shot was also converted in Topez lens effects.while the actual shot of the bridge was shot in manual mode on my 5D mk II same 24-105 mm lens.exposure was 1/125 sec at 28 mm F4 and iso 100.

One other important thing to remember when out and about especially when standing on benches to elevate yourself above the scene you are trying to shoot is ...BE CAREFUL ! .After taking this shot i stepped off the bench that i was standing on and stepped onto the damp sloping bank and slipped,Completely lost my balance and hit the deck HARD doing my best not to allow my camera to hit the floor i took the complete force of the fall to my left wrist and right elbow.I then slid 90% down the bank towards the freezing river.I completely fucked my self up but at least my camera was completely intact with out a single scratch.I always try to carry myself with dignity.And I think i pulled it off well the other day when this happened .I held back my desire to tell the old lady on a mobility scooter to, go get fucked ! for laughing at me for stacking it .There was me wincing in agony while this lovely old dear almost falling off her mobility scooter pissing her self with laughter.It was safe to say we had a very different sense of humor.And i couldn't resist getting a shot of the sadistic old bag as she drives of in fits of hysterics.And Tilt Shifted her arse.