Tuesday, May 27, 2008

FAQ: Tilt Shift...



The last few months Candice and I have been on inbox overload with our badical blog readers questions. We love to help everyone out, so we will usually respond to every single email that comes our way. Well, after "copy and paste"-ing the same answer in several emails. We decided to answer this popular question on our blog. Starting today we will be answering our popular questions via blog posts to help answer those reoccurring questions.

Todays Question(s)

"How do you get that blur in your pictures?"

"What type of post-processing do you use to blur one side of the picture?"

"How are you making one area out of focus and the rest in focus?"


The questions listed above are all in reference to using a Tilt Shift Lens. NO we do not add a lens blur effect to our shots  in photoshop...We use an awesome lens that was originally made for shooting buildings and architecture.

This lens is fully manual! So to be honest it takes lots and lots of practice to line everything up. When we first started using the lens it would take us an awkward couple of minutes to get the settings just right, but now it takes just a few split seconds. So you must practice with this lens before you hit an E-session or a wedding for that matter.


The best way to describe the Tilt shift is... a lens where the front half is shiftable. This creates a clear rectangle designates what will be in focus in the frame. 





Then, by turning the focus-ring, you can move the selected focus to the left or to the right, depending on how you have the lens oriented. You can also adjust how harsh you want things blurred. So sometimes I will chose to put the clear rectangle in the center of the picture and other times I will choose to put the clear portion all the way to one side of the frame. The awesome part is "I" am in complete control. I can tell the lens exactly what I want and it is done!


I hope this helps you all! fell free to comment with other questions and i will answer then as best as i can.

here are some examples of some tilt shift shots.






 

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amazing thank you for sharing!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the input on the tilt-shift. We knew what you were using just not the details that go into using it. It looks like it takes a lot of negotiating. :-D We want one bad so thanks so much for the inspiration guys!

THE PARSONS said...

Loved this episode of the [M] school. :)

You guys most definitely do not suck at photography. I'm always amazed. . .

jeremy

kristin said...

Thanks for letting us in on the skill! Seems scary to me, I dont think I am there yet, so I will just watch you guys rock it out and beg for help later is I ever get the heart to try it myself!

http://kristinrogersphotography.typepad.com/

Enoch Photography said...

+1 on the [m]school! Great post you two!

Anonymous said...

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing :)

Melissa Koehler said...

Awesome! Love the tilt shift! You guys rock!

Lalee Photography said...

Thanks so much for this post! I actually read it right before bed the other night and then had a dream about buying a tilt shift for $25. hahaha. Ahh, silly dream. :-)

Anonymous said...

The tilt shift looks great sometimes, but I have absolutely no idea why you use it as much as you do. (At least on the blog) You loose SO MUCH of your image by using it, and for ALOT of the images you post here... the image would be much more valuable, and much more sophisticated WITHOUT the tilt shift. Really, way overused. Just my 2 cents.

Your composition is great, but every image shouldn't be shot with a tilt shift...

Mark Brooke Photographers said...

Dear anonymous, THANK YOU sooo much for your honesty. You must be a regular bog reader of ours since you knew how much we LOVE tilt shifts. Unfortunately you did not feel comfortable enough to leave your name, other wise we could see your blog and talk about our ART differences. Art is a feeling, a thought and a vision. we feel that more or less blur on a photo is all preference, so i am sure your photos look awesome with out the BLUR. If you would ever love to talk shop/art/business feel free to contact us for a lunch date. :) And next time please feel comfortable to leave your name.

The Locket said...

Awesome! I love that look. Thanks for sharing! You two rock my socks off! :)
-Sarah

Armin DeFiesta said...

Hey that's so cool, thanks for sharing your tilt shift methods!

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Linda Tran said...

so nikon came out with perspective lense in 45mm and 80mm...which one would you get more use out of? which size do you use? i'm guessing the 45?
thanks your awsome