Filmwasters

Which Board? => Main Forum => Topic started by: Ed Wenn on August 28, 2010, 10:16:48 PM

Title: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: Ed Wenn on August 28, 2010, 10:16:48 PM
I've been meaning to play around with the movements of my LF view camera ever since I got it, but never really had the time. Whilst on holiday recently I found some time (never enough) to start having a considered go with some tilt/shift. I had a load of fun and learned a lot, but it was all still very rushed. On top of that the sun rotated between non-existent and super bright every couple of minutes and there was also a really strong wind, so it was a bit of a crap shoot and I ended up just guessing exposure times to speed things along (keepin' it 'ballpark'  ;)).

The very simple plan I was trying to achieve was to keep the top of the photo nice and sharp and blur out the bottom in an artistic way. However I had to keep stopping up to counter the combination of bright sunlight and my slow lens, so most of the blur that I composed with through the ground glass at f4,5 was long gone by the time I took the shot at f22 :-( The result is a pretty straight snap of a chapel with a very slightly blurred bottom 3rd. Might have been better off keeping it sharp throughout.

(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4935292127_ba6b36f908.jpg)

Just as I was about to get demoralized I remembered I had a polarizer for my 35mm SLR in my other camera bag. It was good for 3 stops which meant I could finally open up to f4,5 if I waited long enough for the sun to go behind a cloud. I could get the blur I'd been composing with. Great news...until the film slipped as I pulled it through the rollers. This skewed the picture by a few degrees, gave me a bonfire bottom left and chopped the top of the 'spire' off the chapel.

It was also high time I headed off to join the rest of the family. So close, but no cigar  >:( ;D

(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4935882166_efe5312c23.jpg)

Both taken on my Tachihara 5x4 with Fujifilm FP-100C45, but scanned as black and white because they didn't have enough punch in colour.
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: Francois on August 28, 2010, 11:08:47 PM
Well, it is a first try...
I did notice the building doesn't seem to be falling on its back... a good thing :)
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: LT on August 29, 2010, 10:07:16 AM
it's hard isn't it? I've been trying too with little success - you're getting much further than me.

Mind you, You seem to have some swirly bokeh going on in the lower image - might be good to try some portraits with the T/S and the swirl.
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: choppert on August 29, 2010, 11:50:20 AM
Wow, good work Ed.

Next steps are to take a snap on your digicam and then do this in photoshop  ;D

Much easier than using a boring old LF camera, and if you don't like it you can always move the in focussy bit to somewhere else.

And then add a Holga effect too  ;D ;D

On a more serious note, that rather splendid Sherlock on BBC had lots of T/S camera effects.  I think you might be on to something new  :D

Maybe they filmed it in a large format video camera?  One that winds up at the side.

Chops
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: vicky slater on August 29, 2010, 12:05:05 PM
Really like it..I don't know why it's so much more appealing to me than the top one, but it is.

Tried playing with my graphic a few days ago, nightmare, you did brill!
:)
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: Phil Bebbington on August 29, 2010, 12:56:44 PM
These are great, Ed. I feel your pain with the top one. I don't have a LF camera but I have been staring at a Hasselblad Flexbody for nearly 2 years - not the same I know, but, it does Tilt/Shift to a degree. I started off using Polaroid just to try and get some sense of how the damn thing works - the effect is minimal unless you have it pretty much wide open.

And still I look at it. Still, it is very pretty and I will get my ass in gear at some stage! Or perhaps watch others struggle  ;)
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: This-is-damion on August 29, 2010, 01:33:45 PM
great stuff though!   it is difficult

I tried this a while back with varying levels of success as below.  Id love to try this more,  given some free time.



Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: LT on August 29, 2010, 01:41:31 PM
nice one Damion!
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: Diane Peterson on August 29, 2010, 02:31:10 PM
Lovely work Ed..one of the things I like most about Filmwasters is all the inspiration!
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: Phil Bebbington on August 29, 2010, 02:49:38 PM
A couple of early experiments with the FlexBody on instant film.
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: sapata on August 29, 2010, 06:33:15 PM
Ed... I think you 2nd shot is great.

This is something that I find really hard as well shooting with a LF and I guess is quite a lot time/money consuming to master. I remember trying once with a roll back in my Toyo to make the costs a bit lower and I didn't had a decent shot. In fact, I found that whenever I tilt and shift the camera my pictures got darker, don't know if there's anything related to.

Anyway..., have a look at this http://www.pollychandler.com/ 
I absolute adore her pictures ! really stunning...
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: LT on August 29, 2010, 09:57:19 PM
Mauricio

Polly's pics are great aren't they? We like them so much that we asked her for a guest gallery back in the distant depths of 2007 - http://www.filmwasters.com/guests/v/guest+Gallery+30/

Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: sapata on August 29, 2010, 11:29:33 PM
Mauricio

Polly's pics are great aren't they? We like them so much that we asked her for a guest gallery back in the distant depths of 2007 - http://www.filmwasters.com/guests/v/guest+Gallery+30/



That's really great! totaly deserved...
I've seen her work in the 2007 "Silvershotz" magazine, which I still have in my bookshelf.
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: original_ann on August 30, 2010, 01:09:46 AM
Fantastic Ed!  It's absolutely mesmerizing!
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: gothamtomato on August 30, 2010, 10:54:26 PM
These are great, Ed. I feel your pain with the top one. I don't have a LF camera but I have been staring at a Hasselblad Flexbody for nearly 2 years - not the same I know, but, it does Tilt/Shift to a degree. I started off using Polaroid just to try and get some sense of how the damn thing works - the effect is minimal unless you have it pretty much wide open.




I tried using a Hasselblad flexbody & got nowhere with it. I had thought it was going to make my Hasselblad work like a LF (which I thought would be nice & economical). I was wrong.

But I have seen this:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/680373-USA/Linhof_000150_Techno_Digital_Field_Camera.html

It looks like you can just put a medium back on it & it's like a LF - unless I'm not understanding it & it's the same as a flexbody. Of course, it's 8K, so I'd have to hit the lottery to buy one.
Title: Re: Adventures in Tilt/Shift
Post by: gothamtomato on August 30, 2010, 10:55:09 PM
I think you've got a great start there, Ed.