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DIY: Shift Photography

Shift photography, otherwise known as tilt-shift photography, is a technique that uses a tilted lens that is focused by moving the lens up and down as well as closer to and farther from the subject. It also uses a combination of tilt and big aperture. With both methods, a shallow depth of field results. The technique was first used to fix convergence in architectural type photography. This technique is also used to make objects look miniature when photographing objects for use in models or art.

Things You'll Need

  • Knife
  • Plastic body cap
  • Bellowed rubber toilet plunger
  • A large lens
  • Stiff, smooth cardboard or stiff black plastic
  • Black paint and a paintbrush (if using cardboard)
  • Hot glue and glue gun or small hobby nuts and bolts
  • Single-lens reflex (SLR) or Digital SLR camera that has a changeable lens mount
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Instructions

  1. Making the Lens

    • 1

      Hollow out the body cap with a knife. Make sure the inside is smooth.

    • 2

      Cut a hole in the plunger where the stick is.

    • 3

      Put the lens in the plunger to make sure it fits. Trim the plunger as needed.

    • 4

      Cut a circle out of the plastic or cardboard that's the same size as the back end of the plunger to make the backing.

    • 5

      Cut a hole in the center of the circle big enough for the lens.

    • 6

      Paint the back of the backing black if you made your backing out of cardboard.

    • 7

      Attach the lens to the plunger using the hot glue or nuts and bolts.

    • 8

      With the black side of the backing in, attach the body cap to the backing.

    • 9

      Attach the backing to the bellows.

    • 10

      Attach the lens to your camera.

    Using the Lens

    • 11

      Take sample shots from different angles and distances from your subject or object.

    • 12

      Focus your camera using the manual focus on the lens, rather than the digital focus on the camera itself.

    • 13

      Change the aperature by switching to a different manual aperture lens. The camera aperature settings won't generally be good enough for this type of photography.

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