Wednesday, March 31, 2010

perspective

Okay, so you're outdoors, at a beautiful park or garden or Buddhist temple, and you want cool photographs. You take a bunch of 'em but honestly, although they're pretty, they're kind of...busy. You know what makes a great photograph? A shot where you know what you're supposed to be looking at; one thing in the picture to focus on. This is why most touristy photos suck. Because the New York skyline in the middle of the day might look amazing to you because you were there, but to everyone else who just sees a blob of sky and a row of fifteen buildings, it's a bit boring.

Enter TiltShift.

The tilt-shift maker takes your photographs, blurs the foreground and background a bit, pops the color up a smidge, and viola!, it looks like your nature photographs are cool little miniatures. Wanna see?


Original photograph:


Meh. It's okay. Sort of boring, really. (It's okay, I have to be harsh with my photographs. I'm a photographer!)


Now check out this photo, post tilt-shifty goodness:

I KNOW, right? So much better.

So here's some more tilt-shift photos I took at The Huntington:









and the Buddhist Temple:






Much better, yes? Now you can show your friends and they don't have to feign interest. Yay!

PS tattoo pictures will be up by Friday. I promise. :)

27 comments:

g. fox said...

That is so cool. I wonder if this: http://vimeo.com/9679622 used a similar technique...

Anonymous said...

Wow!! This is so cool.
Wonderful pictures.

Wine and Words said...

OK, devil's advocate...sorry...but some of the tilted photos look like miniature models you made of places you've been. They just don't look real. Artsy, yes. Real, not so much. Fun though...

Ashley said...

these/photos/are/completely/serene.

Mrs Anne said...

You're so resourceful.
and helpful!
love the pics and the smiling Buddha!

Deech said...

Yup! I like em! Something I am going to have to try...

Hannah said...

looove tilt shift - the pics look awesome!

Lira Kellerman said...

I think you should go on CafePress and make a few calendars, mugs, etc using your photographs....I bet you could sell a few....

Irenicineri said...

Wow! Those pictures are great! I especially love the bridge with the cherry blossoms in the foreground. Fabulous!

Robin said...

What a cool feature. Not sure I'd want to use it all of the time. But, it would definitely be fun to use sometimes. Like you said, it makes the average picture look arty. I love learning new things!

Carissa Thilgen said...

oh my goodness, love it! I've seen the tilt shift thingy on other blogs but still... wow! you've made me want to go tilt shift all of MY Huntington photos-- all 124 of them, haha!

p.s. thanks for the birthday wishes yesterday!! :)

A New England Girl said...

I have never seen that before, but I am definitely going to look into it now. Those photos are fabulous on their own, but the added tweaks are phenomenal! And girl, don't make us wait til fridayyyy!!! :)

Happy Hour...Somewhere said...

I just spent an hour or so online reading up on aperture, depth of field, and on and on...then I remembered I only own a Canon Power Shot point and shoot~! What a fun technique. I love the Huntington Library and about a mile from my mom's house is a Buddhist temple. It sits so incongruously in the neighborhood but it is beautiful.

Thanks for the award and I will be posting on it soon~!

Patty said...

Gosh what a snazzy little feature, thanks for the tip!

Lori ann said...

how do they do that??
thanks for sharing, i am going to go try it.
your photos look great tracy!

Elisabeth said...

Wow, Phoenix. How do you do that?

What's it called 'tilt shift'?

I shall have to tell my photographer husband about it.

Barbara said...

Very nice! Never heard of it, but I'll sure give it a try! Some closeups would be much improved this way...I'm not sure about all.

jenn said...

This is so cool! It reminds me of a little lego world! :)

Juliana said...

These are absolutely wonderful...I want to go check out that site now!

Okie said...

That is a very cool effect. I love the way it makes the photos 'pop.' Does the tool allow you to specify which portion of the image should be clearest or is it always across the center?

Nice find...and nice photos.

Iva Messy said...

this is totally awesome!!! fabulous!!

Shaina said...

Okay, this is amazing!!! So super neat!

Unknown said...

Real cool and I love it. You too are great photographer. Thanks and have a lovely weekend, Tracy.

Shanna Suburbia said...

I LOVE THIS.

Heather Taylor said...

Very cool! The buildings look like miniatures, I like the effect!

krista said...

we're taking finn to huntington gardens tomorrow.
tilt shift showdown.

Tiffany Kadani said...

Beautiful photos! Great perspectives going on here.

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