Tilt-Shifting Belfast

Today I ran around Belfast with my homemade tilt-shift lens.  As strange as it may look to have half a plunger extending from a pretty expensive piece of technology, sometimes it's worth it.  Here is today's walk...all tilted and shifted...

I absolutely love what this lens does for my architectural shots.  It's kind of funny actually, one of the tilt-shift lens' main uses is to correct issues that arise when shooting architecture...I use it to create more issues (i.e. the beams in the back that are in focus at some points but not so at other points)

 This shot definitely didn't need to be tilt-shifted.  It just amused me.

Here's a shot that really shows what the lens is capable of.  All three of those locks are on the same "plane" in reference to the lens, yet only one is in focus.  The middle one is kind of in focus and the one on the right is rather out of focus.  For a photo to look like this, normally the locks would all have to be at different distances  from the lens.  They are not.  Thus is the awesomeness of the tilt-shift lens.

I like this shot for the exaggerated soft focus...adding much depth 

Again with the exaggerated soft focus.  This time the area in focus is far away.

Alleys

There are a bunch of alleys around my house.  A bike ride down them will result in sights such as the following...

Paint The Walls

Here is my attempt at an "urban art" stylized image.  A can of paint was slowly emptying itself into the streets and down the wall.

  Pile O' Bricks

Nothing more than a pile o' bricks.  Except for the interesting pattens in the wooden planks, in the way the wooden planks are positioned, and in the shingled wall.

Meandering

I've been spending my free time preparing for my upcoming art show.  It is drawing nearer and nearer and I keep thinking of things I need to do for it.  This meant that it was awhile before I picked up my camera to consider today's photo.  It was dark by the time I finally did, but thought that maybe some night shots might turn out decently.  And so I went outside and meandered.

Follow the Stars

I didn't use a star filter on this shot.  Apparently a long exposure will result in starry lights.  I like the path that the three lights create.

Stoplight Shingles

A nearby stoplight caused a wall of shingles to light up.  I didn't really like this photo too much but my wife seemed to.  It reminds me of a peacock's tail.

Velo Transit

The last time my wife and I were out biking, for a split second we were going at the same speed and everything surrounding her and her bike was blurred.  She was the static part of the scene and though this happens all the time when you are looking at a moving object, I knew the next time we could get on bikes I would have my camera ready.  Well, today was a warmer day than the last few, so we went for a ride, and I tried awfully hard not to fall over while biking with no hands and looking through a viewfinder on a camera.

No Lies

Though I can't prove that I wasn't just standing there taking pictures, you can look at her spokes and see that she at least was definitely moving at a decent pace.  Getting a sharp image of someone speeding by while standing would be impressive as well, but you will just have to trust me, I was flailing around on a moving bike while shooting all of these. 

A Crack in the Road

The blur, focal point, colors, and cracked concrete make this image look like the earth is opening up, ready to swallow the bike and rider.  But no, more so, it's just what happens when you attempt to focus on a moving bike and miss entirely. 

Speed Demon

For whatever reason, the bike in this photo actually looks like it's going faster than the bike in the other photos.  The strange part being that you can actually better make out the spokes in this one than some of the others.   

  Through the Alleyway

Here is a normal photo of a portion of my wife making her way through the alleyway behind our house.  She adores that bike basket.