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.

Not Much Time Left

With just two days until we leave for Northern Ireland, my wife and I have very little time.  We went for an extremely quick bike ride today, though, and I grabbed my camera...thinking it might be my only chance for a picture of any interest...

Biking at Warp Speed

What looks like traveling at a great speed is really just a pretty slow speed on a bicycle.  Apparently motion lines/blur can be deceiving.

 Holding the Walls Up

These ladders appear to be holding up the walls of an old building.  They are not.

A Camera At Night

My wife and I were walking home through town at a late hour.  Things always look so different at night.  I decided to capture those differences.

Stairs at Night

The shadows are creeping up these old steps.

Alleys at Night

The graininess adds something to the photo.  Profound statement right there...it's late.

Linear Park

Ephrata, the town in which I currently reside, has a nice little walking and biking path.  They call it Linear Park.  Much of the trail is currently covered with pretty little yellow petals.  Observe.

 Linear Park

This photo seems to continue yesterday's photo for Fall idea.  Though it appears otherwise, this really was taken today.

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.