Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

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08-31-2011, 05:13 PM
Don Burkett

Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

Always review the news and community but haven't been a contributor for awhile, something I plan to rectify.

Thanks to a recent posting regarding Adorama refurbs, acquired a ts-e 24mm 3.5L II. Online research material on how to use Tilt-Shift lenses tends to always gravitate towards technical explanations rather than simple instructions. For the benefit of others who may venture into this amazing capability I thought I'd share the simple instruction I eventually found.

Focus to Distance, Tilt to Closest..

While I have an awful lot to learn about the capabilities of this lens. That simple instruction has got me off and running with very satisfactory results. As I learn other simple principals will share them. If others have simple instructions on how to get the best out of this type of lens I'd appreciate the knowledge. Except for how to do miniatures. That aspect of this lens is extremely will documented.

Here are two examples of using the Focus to Distance, Tilt to Closest Rule

In this example, focused on the Smoke Stack and tilted down about 1.5 degrees to bring the railing into focus.

Shot Settings: 5D MII - f/9 1/1250 ISO 200

http://dtburkett.com/wordpress/wp-co...G_7652_DxO.jpg

.

In this example, focused on the tape housing and tilted left about 8 degrees to bring the front of the tape into focus.

Shot Settings: 7D - f/5.6 1/5th @ ISO 640

http://dtburkett.com/wordpress/wp-co...pe-Measure.jpg

Notice how a left/right tile created a thinner dof.

I guess f/5.6 vs f/8 in the first image has something to do with this, but suspect the DOF in a 

Horizontal Shift runs vertically above the plane of the Tape Measure whereas in the Vertical Shift the DOF runs horizontally.

As I learn more I will share if there's interest. There is one more tip for those learning a Tilt-Shift lens... Pack a notebook. The only way to compare various settings is to take copious notes on each setting referencing back to the image number.
08-31-2011, 05:56 PM
ddt0725

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

This is great for you to share your experience and knowledge with us as you learn the capabilities a lens like this!

Only thing is, too bad it comes to late for me! Some of my most favorite shots I ever took were with my TS-E 90mm but I sold it shortly after I bought it just because of the few fantastic shots I got with it, I had no idea what I did to obtain them. My keeper ratio was low compared to my frustration level that I felt it deserved to be in more skilled hands. There was very little helpful information on the web for using it.

Maybe after this thread progresses, I will pick up another one and give it (and myself) another shot at it!
08-31-2011, 09:34 PM
btaylor

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

Thanks for this Don, hopefully a few more people contribute to this thread. I
09-04-2011, 10:06 PM
iND

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

I have been thinking about a tilt shift, a fill in lens to develop some special shots to have my work stand apart.

Not sure where to start. 24 35 90 ? 90 has great reviews and is less expensive, but not sure I want to use it for portraits.

I liked your first photo, with the 24, like the perspective it gives to the scene.

Is it typical to have the foreground in such good focus, when you set your focus on a far object?

Does anyone with tilt shift experience have a suggestion on what focal length start with?
09-05-2011, 03:35 AM
Don Burkett

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

The great thing about the TS is the ability to manipulate the plane of focus so that the foreground and background are in focus. The opposite can be achieved as well so that only a small part of the image is in focus. I am liking the 24mm for landscapes on a 5D MII. But, I
09-05-2011, 09:10 PM
Don Burkett

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

In this example, I wanted the entire scene in focus but also enough shutter speed to freeze the flags at the end of the pier. It was shot with TE-S24mm f/3.5L II - ISO 640 f/8 at 1/160th.

Without TS-E the aperture needed to capture the scene would not have yielded enough shutter speed. The image was processed as a single image HDR to get some vibrancy while holding the texture of the sky.

http://www.pbase.com/dtburkett/image...8253/large.jpg
09-06-2011, 03:49 AM
Jonathan Huyer

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

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This is a good topic... thanks for bringing it up and sharing your experiences. I also use the "focus to distance, tilt to closest" approach, but I repeat it a few times. When you make the first tilt, the focus of the distance item is usually thrown off slightly. So I readjust that, and then readjust the tilt. And then I repeat the process at least one more time. With live view and 10x zoom, it's not that hard. However, when you're dealing with a very cold winter sunrise shot, all that fiddling with dials can be a little painful on the bare fingers...... (but still worth it). This shot is with the 24 mm TS-E. The rocks in the foreground are inches away from the lens, and the peak of the mountain came out tack sharp. I still used f/16 to be safe, and the 1/3 second exposure helped to smooth a few ripples on the water as well.

[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/700x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/12/6761.IMG_5F00_0750_2D00_7.jpg[/img]
</div>
09-06-2011, 11:52 PM
bob williams

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

Don, This is some good stuff. I have only been slightly interested in TS photography, but never enough to purchase a lens----Now I'm interested enough to put a TS on my wishlist--I have actually been a little afraid of these things because I really didn't understand the concept---Your explanation cleared some of that up--Thanks.

I have a request that I think could benefit many: Several people have submitted "tutorials" or "how to" articles that Bryan is planning to add to the website, your explanation and use of TS would be a valuable addition to that collection. If you are interested please see the posting Call to All Forum Members--Ok, That's my sales pitch.

I did visit your website and your article"By any Measure"---One thing came to mind----Close Enough for GovernmentWork defined: "Measured with a micrometer, marked with chalk and cut with an axe"---You have to see the aerticle to understand---

Anyway, great article and great post.

Bob
09-07-2011, 01:06 AM
Chris White

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

I too am following this thread with interest as I am looking to play around with my TS-E 24 II this fall. Thanks for starting it Don.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Williams

Close Enough for GovernmentWork defined: "Measured with a micrometer, marked with chalk and cut with an axe"

I like that Bob, do I need a release to use it?[:)]
09-07-2011, 02:09 AM
bob williams

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris White

I like that Bob, do I need a release to use it?[img]/emoticons/emotion-1.gif[/img]

Spread the word--
09-07-2011, 02:37 AM
Don Burkett

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

Bob, thanks for the invite, something I'd be interested in but really am too new to the tilt shift concept to feel worthy of putting together a tutorial. My mission though is to learn the principals well enough that I can simplify them for others. Whether that takes a month or longer will depend in how much time I can get to play with it. Hopefully, we'll get enough contributions in this thread I can gather material and accelerate the learning process. [:D]

For example, Johnathan remarked that focus on distance tilt to closest will sometimes require multiple cycles between the objects to get it perfect. He's right of course and for certain scenes it requires more fine tuning than others. But, I haven't figured out the rule yet. In other words does it require more tuning if the nearest object is really close or moderately close. Does the height of the closest object make the difference or it it the height of the distant object. Maybe it's just the difference in heights or the the distance between them. These are the kinds of things I need to figure out.
09-10-2011, 01:07 AM
Don Burkett

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified
Ok, so I thought I'd take a whack at documenting last night's experimentation.

Set up: Canon 7d; TS-e 24mm L II. ISO 200
<ul class="unIndentedList"][*]
Lens is 11" in front of the table
approximate 2" above table height.[*]
The 'Rook' is 16" from the front of the
lens, the rear pawn is 26" from the lens.[*]
The pieces are approximately 1"
circumference at the base and spaced 1" apart.[*]
The raw files were converted as jpegs @ 800x in
DPP using the Standard Picture Style, Saturation -1, Sharpening at 3, Noise
Reduction set to 0, White Balance set to tungsten.[*]
A diffuser was hand held on each shot, which
resulted in some exposure differences.
These were mostly adjusted for, but can still be detected. I'm calling this out because, tilting the lens will affect meter readings,
but that is not being tested for in this exercise.[*]
Note that a couple of the chess pieces are
crooked. This is not lens distortion.[*]
Also note,
this shifting and focusing seems a lot easier at landscape distances than when
objects are closer together.[*]
Any observations that I think you will find
useful are in italics.[/list]

First shot is focused on the rook @ f/3.5 no tilt or
shift. Observe the depth of field. At
the presented size, sharpness seems to be maintained through the first 2 chess
pieces and break up at the third. At
100% resolution, the sharpness breaks up at the 2nd piece.

[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/800x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/12/2475.Image001.JPG[/img]

Second shot is focused on the rear pawn @ f/3.5 with the
lens tilted to the left (horizonal) just under 2°. This brings all the chess pieces into
acceptable focus at the presented size.
At 100% resolution the rook is slightly out of focus. So a tad bit more fine tuning could have been
done. But, the desired affect was
achieved as plane of focused was tilted at enough of an angle to bring all the
chess pieces into focus. In the future though I think I will use my
Hoodman Hoodloupe for 3" lcd screens to ensure my focus is better adjusted
before shooting.

[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/800x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/12/4810.Image002.JPG[/img]

Comparing the 2 shots, there are a couple of other useful
observations to keep in mind.
1. Tilting the lens to the left,
  effectively moved the image frame 3/8" to the right.
2. The DOF in front of the ruler was
  dramatically altered (thinner) in the tilted image.
Note to self: Tilting
the lens, affects the DOF but don't have enough understanding yet to provide
any simple guidelines. I do believe it
creates a wedge of sorts but this
is one aspect I need to study. Was
hoping that using the blanket would give me enough texture to track the DOF
patterns. To some degree that worked, but since the DOF will logically run in
the direction of the angle of the lens a different set up is needed. Especially when the lens is tilted at a
vertical angle vs. a horizontal angle.

Third Shot, I wanted to compare the difference of using
f/3.5 vs. something like a f/7.1 (ok, exactly f/7.1). Clearly if you compare Image 3 to Image 2 the chess pieces look crisper, the edge of the
ruler is brought into focus and clearly there's more depth of field.

[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/800x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/12/0753.Image003.JPG[/img]

Fourth Shot;for fun, to better visual the difference between the two shots, I put them into layers and set the layer type todifference. The "difference" layer blend is a subtraction based on color, not sharpness soit's not a literal subtraction of
pixels that are the same. Further I know changing the aperture and the
varying exposure create differences of their own, However, working on a general theory, that where the image is sharper, there is a difference in pixel color . The reality is, even if the theory is right, you can't tell using this method, which image is contributing to the difference. But it made for a fun image.

[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/800x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/12/1715.Image004.jpg[/img]

Fifth Shot; Creating a negative of Image 4 gives a visual of
the differences between f/3.5 and f/7.1 and not withstanding the caveats I
mentioned abovegenerally I think you can interpret where increased aperture contributes to the image especially when you reference back to the actual images..

[img]/resized-image.ashx/__size/800x0/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/12/1033.Difference-02.jpg[/img]

If this is something that is helpful, I will continue to post as I experiment. Thanks for looking.
09-10-2011, 01:46 AM
Jonathan Huyer

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

Don -

That's an interesting test --- thanks for organizing and sharing that. You made a comment that tilting the lens affects exposure --- this is true (as it is for shifting), and can be easily corrected by simply shooting in live view mode. Also you are correct that the DOF is wedge-shaped when you tilt. See this article for an illustration of this effect:

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/tilt-shift-lenses2.htm

Jonathan
09-10-2011, 02:35 AM
Don Burkett

Re: Basic Tilt-Shift Simplified

Thanks Jonathan, Cambridge in Color is a great site, should have gone there already. Still, I enjoy the process of discovery. Think I