Tilt-Shift Photography: Stunning Examples and Tutorials

Tilt-shift photography is a method of photography that utilizes tilt-shift lenses to overcome the restrictions of depth of field and perspective that normal lenses provide.

A tilt-shift lens allows for the rotation of the lens against the image plane (tilt), as well as the movement of the lens along the image plane (shift). By applying Scheimpflug principle, tilt-shift photography is able to obtain a very shallow depth of field using tilt and a large aperture.

Tilt-shift miniature faking is one of the most popular applications of tilt-shift photography. This is a process in which a photographer manipulates the angle of a tilt-shift lens to distort the focus of a scene to be captured by the camera, thereby creating an illusionary depth of field usually produced by macro lenses.

This makes the particular scene appear smaller than it truly is.

Due to the popularity of tilt-shift miniature faking, it is often misunderstood to be synonymous with the tilt-shift photography method itself. In reality, there are other effects that can be achieved from this method.

For instance, tilt-shifting is widely used to capture architectural scenes because of its unique ability to remove perspective in photos and manipulate the plane of focus.

Here’s 60 cool examples of tilt-shift photography for your inspiration.

Showcase of Tilt-Shift Photography

Nakayan’s tilt-shift Tokyo by pinboke_planet

Eiffel Tilt-Shift II by ArnarBi

Oregon State Beavers Tilt-Shift Miniature by wikipedia.com

Mini-cars on a mini-street by nahadef

Miniature living room by countlazarus

Cleveland Clinic Miniature by House Photography

Tilt-shift house by pernillep

School Walk by hello hayley

Dirt bikes race start by wakeboy

New York City Miniature by Daniele Pesaresi

Real world in miniature: Construction site by Super tourist

Street in Downtown LA by CFrancisco

Small Worlds at the Technisches Museum Vienna by bre pettis

Tilt Loader by entropy462

Real Macro by deMiguel

Landschaft30 by Matthias Focks

Mini Traffic by Studio Skitz

Toy train by rolohauck

Two-Bump by cityshrinker

Kid’s store by Stevo Arnold

Clock tower by Rolo Hauck

Houses on a slope by mcsixth

Canal Grande by jjjohn

River boat on the Mississippi by djnekokittie

Tilt Shift – Puente del Inca, Mendoza, Argentina by Al Zuwaga

Vegas mini six by californiabirdy

Tilt-shift – Jhongjhu Port by Yueh-Hua

Old city hall by wvs

Peering into the Miniascape by rawheadrex

The Corniche in Muscat Oman by Eric Lafforgue

Southern Cross Station by JamesD Photography

Small houses by Ho Nim

serralves 08 by ronyjux

Harvard Book Store by Carmel Kozlov

Tilt-shift lenses (D.I.Y)

Not surprisingly, tilt-shift lenses can be quite expensive, costing $1000 and above. Here are some alternative methods you can go for:

• Build a Tilt-Shift Camera Lens for Peanuts

Tilt-Shift With Adobe Photoshop

If tilt-shift lens is not within your budget at this time, how about some Photoshopping to get your photo to look really tilt-shifted.

• Tilt-Shift Photography Photoshop Tutorial

Further Readings on Tilt-Shift Photography

Here are some other articles and links about tilf-shifting photography you might be interested in:

• Introduction to Tilt Photography
• Using a tilt shift lens. A short video on using tilt-shift lenses by renowned photographer Tony Sweet.
• Focus on tilt shift lens. A comprehensive PDF article explaining how tilt-shifting actually works from David Summerhayes.
• View Camera Movements: Why Tilt and Shift? Another well-illustrated article on tilt-shifting.
• Using tilt shift lense to Control Perspective & Control Depth of Field.

More Photography related posts:

Here are more photography related articles you might be interested:

• 60 Examples of Beautiful Night Shots
• 50 Great Photographers You Should Know (with portfolios)
• 100 Most Breathtaking Fireworks in The World