Landscape photography - using a shift lens and how diagonal shift changes the balance of the image

Landscapes: diagonal shift, clouds and composition.
Keith looks at some simple landscape photography examples making use of a tilt-shift lens, shifted in a diagonal direction.
Using diagonal shift allows you to have the camera pointing away from the centre of the frame, whilst still using vertical shift to lower the horizon and/or correct for converging verticals.
The offset camera direction can also alter the relative scale of objects in the frame.
See more (architecture) examples showing the effects in this video: • Tilt/shift lenses - us...
Keith's book about how to use such lenses is widely available
PHOTOGRAPHY WITH TILT AND SHIFT LENSES
Publisher info: www.crowood.com/products/phot...
ISBN: 9781785007712
Keith has many articles, videos and reviews covering the use of tilt and shift lenses: www.northlight-images.co.uk/ph...
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[@RasTuft]

Excellent video Keith, thank you. Very informative, I can't wait to get out there with my new shift lens :)

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - if you've ever any questions about an aspect of their use, let me know. It's often where I get ideas for the videos

[@giorgio4407]

Very nice video, your passion might be contagious so keep on…

[@KeithCooper]

Thank you, I will ;-)

[@TallSomeone]

Very nice. My friend who’s a university photography instructor told me that I’d quickly lose interest in a TS lens, but your fun work here tells me I might find it very, very interesting.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks! - Perhaps you could suggest they get a copy of my book ;-) :-)

[@roberttaylor8488]

Thank You Sir, this video has been very informative. I've used Tilt & Shift lenses before but not to any extent, I'm now looking at Canon's 17mm T&S lens more seriously. You mentioned you wrote a book, I'm going to look to see where i order it. I haven't even bought the lens yet.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks! The book is available via any bookstore. This is the publisher's site: www.crowood.com/products/photography-with-tilt-and-shift-lenses-by-keith-cooper/ If you're curious most of my videos are supplements to my written work at: www.northlight-images.co.uk/photography-articles-and-reviews/tilt-and-shift-lens-articles-and-reviews/

[@jbairdexp]

Landscape Photography is "large scale street photography" - honestly, you'll need to write a book of Keith"isms" one day. :-)

[@KeithCooper]

Perhaps I can get Karen to edit/contribute ;-)

[@gaperklake]

Excellent video, Keith. Thanks you,

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks

[@runningwithscissors3280]

Had the Canon TS-E 24mm lens for two weeks and discovered 'the other angles' (diagonals) and it's very powerful. My typical pano shots are comprised of left, center, right + down, center, top + three images in each of the four diaganol planes. That equals 18 images, it's BIG, and usually yields a near-400mb .dng after Merge > Panorama in Lightroom Classic. Thank You for making this video because I knew others must be doing this. Horizontal panos are, can be, shot with the camera in portrait orientation. I adore this lens :)

[@KeithCooper]

Glad it's helped your enjoyment of the lens!

[@harrygilliland5675]

An other excellent video I was looking for a tilt/shift lens for some time and bought a Samyang 24mm tilt/shift lens in mint condition at a good price just bought your book looking forward to reading it.

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - hope it's of help. Do contact me if you've any questions - many of my videos/articles start that way...

[@pedroparado60]

Thank you Keith for another great tutorial of diagonal shift.,I will practice this in my landscape pictures!

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - I hope it works for you!

[@gaperklake]

Hello Keith, I purchased your tilt shift book. Very handsome paperback with great photos, of course. I just got into it and am looking forward to an excellent read. Thank you,

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks! I dip into the copy on my desk every so often, forgetting how much I put in it - not quite as bad as doing an online search for something and finding one of my own articles I'd forgotten about :-)

[@davidbentley8848]

Very interesting and Informative again. Thank You. I have shared this into my amateur photography group as an item of interest. 🤔 possibly up to 79 extra plugs for the book. Oops did I say that? 😋

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - much appreciated ;-)

[@williamchan8866]

Great stuff👍 I’m very inspired to use my 24mm PC lens to the max now.

[@KeithCooper]

Excellent - have fun!

[@dunnymonster]

Very interesting Keith. Certainly I've never considered positioning a shift lens diagnally for composition and I'd venture to bet many others haven't either. A thought provoking idea for sure and something I'll have to try myself one day 👍

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - it's something that is probably the least intuitive aspect of shift.

[@giorgio4407]

Hello Keith. I just bought your book and it looks very very good, with clever and nice ideas on how to get the best out of a tilt shift lens. I bought a second hand Nikon 85mm; it's sharper than the macro 105mm, which is already excellent. Congratulations for your book and the work you did to do it. Surely will get in touch with you if I have a question or a doubt...😏

[@KeithCooper]

Thanks - hope it gives you some ideas!

[@amaitra]

Great video - would be helpful if you had side by side comparison o f with and without the diagonal shifts.

[@KeithCooper]

There is an article about diagonal shift www.northlight-images.co.uk/diagonal-lens-shift/ However, your comment has reminded me I had meant to update it with the seascape examples...

[@Lance_Magillicuddy]

Keith, like some other commenters, I had never considered a single diagonal shift for landscape photography. I have used vertical and horizontal shift on many occasions. I have done some landscape shots where I was fairly up close to a tree or similar and I did a center image and 4 diagonal shifts and then stitched the image together in post. I would be interested if you would do a video on that technique, and shed some light on best practices, whether to keep the same focus throughout each image or focus individually, what f/stop you would recommend, and any insight on the post-production stitching process. I have the Rogeti frame, which I would assume is almost a requirement for a 5 frame diagonal stitch?

[@KeithCooper]

I'll add that to the to-do list! F stop depends on the lens, but generally is smaller since you are using the edges of the image circle. Focus should be locked - most lenses focus breath, not good for stitching. PS It's all covered in my book! ;-) ;-)

[@Lance_Magillicuddy]

@@KeithCooper I meant to add I haven't been through the whole book yet, maybe I'll check there! :)

[@KeithCooper]

There's not much specific detail, since it depends a lot on software and the exact lens you are using. Definitely one to add to the videos, although I only use Photoshop CS6 (I dislike LR greatly)

[@bernardfranck1318]

I have a problem... I want all of them... Nice to hear that it gives great images with z7... I've got a question for you : (in the best world of use) quality image of the PC-E 45mm is as good (or better ) as the 50mm ais... And the 85mm PC-E vs 85mm aïs... These are my lovers and I was asking me if the results are as good as... Thank you

[@KeithCooper]

I can't help with comparisons - the Z7 and lenses I've reviewed (19/24/45) are all loans from Nikon UK - the Z7 is the only Nikon camera I've ever shot with (it's a nice one). They don't have an 85mm at all, to loan me, so that is a bit of a problem. The 19mm is an excellent modern lens - the 24 and 45 show their age a bit (needing tilt/axis modification by Nikon if you need it). Both are good lenses. All are limited slightly in some uses (shift vignetting) by being F mount with it's restricted opening. The 19 would be excellent as it is, produced as a Z mount version, whilst the older lenses need whole new designs to match the capabilities of the Z mount.

[@bernardfranck1318]

Tank you. I'll try to rent a 45mm and if it's OK, I'll probably buy a second hand waiting the super z version ( if it comes ) best regards

[@KeithCooper]

Yes - 2nd hand tilt/shift lenses are what I started with, and there is always a stream of people buying new ones, not understanding them, and selling onwards ;-)

[@bernardfranck1318]

We'll finally get a golden 4x5inch sinar with Adaptateur for our camera... And a big truck to transport all our precious material 🚚

[@bernardfranck1318]

Hello, Did you already try to tilt down pc lens for landscape then shift right 📷 then shift left 📷 and stitch pictures together to get a result with more resolution, more 4/5 or 1/1 proportion and more great angle of view? Is it possible or do we have to chose to be only able to shift / tilt for one picture ( stitching 2 pictures not possible due to the tilt effect?)

[@KeithCooper]

Stitching with tilt takes more care, since the focal plane is offset by the total lens shift amount. A left/right stitch with a downwards tilted lens should however match up just fine. I more regularly use an up down stitch, but rarely find any practical use for tilt in the sorts of landscape images I take. It is more something I'll use in interiors to throw the plane of focus along a wall or other surface. Both movements are however potentially subject to parallax issues if you're not careful, so may benefit from techniques that keep the lens still and move the camera back.

[@bernardfranck1318]

At the end, we'll get a 4x5 inch sinar or another gold folding camera 📷😁

[@KeithCooper]

I have one, but it's film, so a 100% non starter for me I used it with an adapter I made for some experiments www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-mpp-view-camera-adapter/ This was in 2007 - I need to make a new adapter plate for mirrorless...

[@bernardfranck1318]

@@KeithCooper indeed...and The best camera is the camera we have in our pocket... It's always difficult for hi end results! After that, binging flashes on location in case we need it. Compromise in flexibility with better results. Dilem... Thank you

[@VeMujahid]

Hello