Tilt-shift effect makes fake miniatures

[andygates]

A regular lens has a narrower depth of field close-up, and a macro lens even more so. 

I need some brightly-coloured unrealistic people shots.  Jordan and Christine Lydon will do...   

[Really Ancien]

Depth of field is a subject which is less understood by the current generation as they haven't got those lovely engraved lines on the lens like we had in the days of Zorkis and Feds. Compact digitals have small CCDs so their depth of field is pretty deep.

Damon.

[David Martin]

Tilt and shift are two different things.

Tilt alters the angle of the focal plane, allowing the plane of focus to be along a non-parallel plane relative to the film/sensor. see Scheimpflug principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shift is used to alter perspective, using a different part of the image circle and is limited by the lens. Most 35mm lenses should shift fine (to a reasonable degree) if used on a DX sized sensor. Even better if on a smaller sensor.

..d

[clarion]

*missing my Zorki*

[Really Ancien]

Tilt and shift are two different things.

Tilt alters the angle of the focal plane, allowing the plane of focus to be along a non-parallel plane relative to the film/sensor. see Scheimpflug principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


..d

That's interesting David, the origins of tilt in correcting perspective in aerial photographs is the part which makes me think that there may be some connection with the general techniques used in model photography. They are usually seen from an aerial perspective and may well be subject to correction. Certainly the examples upthread which work best are seen from above.

*missing my Zorki*

I've got two Feds, one with a focus ring marked in feet, the addition of a nurled ring for the light meter almost pushes it into engraved marking overload.

Damon.

[Really Ancien]

Out of curiosity I set out to find out how to film models so they look life size, the answer would seem to be the Frazier Lens system.
Frazier Lens

Damon.

[rogerzilla]

It's pretty usual to shoot at f/64 on large format for even moderate close-ups (not macro stuff, just dead leaves and stuff).  This doesn't work with 35mm because the diffraction with such a tiny aperture is appalling - most 35mm lenses aren't that good at even f/22.

[bomber]

Out of curiosity I set out to find out how to film models so they look life size, the answer would seem to be the Frazier Lens system.
Frazier Lens

Damon.

You could take lots of exposures with the focus set at different distances into the scene and stack them.  I'm sure I've seen a tutorial how to do it somewhere.

[David Martin]

Out of curiosity I set out to find out how to film models so they look life size, the answer would seem to be the Frazier Lens system.
Frazier Lens

Damon.

You could take lots of exposures with the focus set at different distances into the scene and stack them.  I'm sure I've seen a tutorial how to do it somewhere.

That is an interesting idea. A similar process is used in fluorsecence microscopy where a process called deconvolution is used to remove the blur introduced from out of focus image planes.

It shouldn't be too hard to write a filter that would produce a greyscale image based on contrast between adjacent pixel groups to make relevant areas of each layer transparent. Which is a bit cheaper in terms of computation and doesn't rely on knowing what the other images in teh stack are like.

..d

[Jaded]

There was some kind of technique reported a year or so ago where a photo on a computer had all the focus plains in it and you could move through them, bringing different parts into focus. It may have been a camera rather than a technique. I'm trying to find it!

[Adrian]

OK Here's my first go

[David Martin]

That is a hard one as you have conflicting planes -- you want a soft background to the bridge in sharp focus. As it is, it just looks wrong.

It would be easier when the plane of focus should extend the whole way across the image.

..d

[Hot Flatus]

Here' another great example of tilt-shift photography to give that 'minature model' appearance

[rogerzilla]

 

Does Photoshop have a "turn the water into varnish" filter?

 

[iakobski]

Not convincing - shouldn't there be a piece of cotton wool coming out of the funnel?

[andygates]

Behold!  Web toy!

tiltshiftmaker.com - Transform your photos into tilt-shift miniatures

[PaulR]

Mini-Rome and Mini-somewhere else.   
Pointless but fun.

[David Martin]

Mini-Rome
Pointless but fun.

That just looks wrong. Why would you get a focal point change half way along a surface parallel to the film plane?

this is a case of people finding a nifty tool without realising what a genuine result should look like.

..d

[PaulR]

Mini-Rome
Pointless but fun.

That just looks wrong. Why would you get a focal point change half way along a surface parallel to the film plane?

this is a case of people finding a nifty tool without realising what a genuine result should look like.

..d

Sorry 
I'll see if I can find a better victim for my next experiment.  I fear the main problem is that I've never composed holiday snaps with this trick in mind.

[David Martin]

Mini-Rome
Pointless but fun.

That just looks wrong. Why would you get a focal point change half way along a surface parallel to the film plane?

this is a case of people finding a nifty tool without realising what a genuine result should look like.

..d

What you may want to do is to mask out the buildings in photoshop/gimp/epoc, perform the t/s munging, then drop back in the buildings with the appropriate amount of blur. Obviously this is a lot more work than a simple point and click program but would give better results aesthetically.

..d
Sorry 
I'll see if I can find a better victim for my next experiment.  I fear the main problem is that I've never composed holiday snaps with this trick in mind.

[mike]

I know I'm cheating a bit,  but some real miniatures from this morning:


from the top if here:


Mad place.  Absolutely barking.

[Riggers]

Spotted this one:

http://www.boredpanda.com/diy-tilt-shift-photography-broken-lens/

[IanDG]

I do like a new trick...



Tilt-shift lenses are heinously expensive.  The effect - which involves getting a weird depth of field by tilting the lens so that the plane of focus isn't parallel with the film/sensor - is kinda dreamy and hallucinatory, and makes everything look like it's a shot from Staggeringly Realistic Model Maker Monthly's "trippy cities" special.

You can get a Lensbaby Muse for about £80

[Riggers]

On this one, some are more successful than others:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/16/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-photography/

[Tewdric]

If anyone is interested in learning more about this subject then Harold Merklinger's work is essential reading.  Please do donate to his cause if you find the book linked below useful..

http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/FVC161.pdf

Before kids arrived I was a bit of a large format devotee, moderated the LF forum on photo.net and taught on a couple of large format residential courses.  I do miss my Ebony but a digital compact is far better at taking pictures of the boys!