Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Sunrise on Georgian Bay with the new 24mm Tilt-Shift lens

I seem to be doing more socializing, exploring and photo work lately than actually getting out shooting. There are many old friends to catch up with now that I'm settling back into life on the Bruce Peninsula. And after being on the road for a year, I'm finally tackling business projects that have been on the back burner for far too long. Top of the priority list is a searchable photo database for my website, which is pretty much essential to run a stock photography business.   

In the overall scheme of pacing, taking regular breaks from shooting keeps my photo mojo fresh!

The weather over the past couple days has been incredible, so I hiked out in darkness this morning to the Georgian Bay shoreline in Bruce Peninsula National Park for a sunrise shoot with my new tilt-shift lens. What a beautiful, crisp morning!

It's going to take me a bit of practice to become comfortable and efficient shooting with the tilt-shift lens. With full depth-of field my goal for landscape photos, getting the tilt adjusted just right and paired with an optimal aperture, requires a bit of fooling around.... I'm sure I'll have the hang of it soon. 

Although I've only shot this lens a couple of times now and am still learning how to use it, I am already amazed by the sharpness! And I'm similarly impressed by the depth of field that can be achieved at middle-of-the road apertures. Sweet!





Above photo: Predawn glow over Georgian Bay in Bruce Peninsula National Park; EOS 1Ds mark III; TS-E 24mm II tilt shift lens; Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer & 3 stop hard edge ND grad (handheld in front of lens); mirror lock-up and cable release; ISO 200; 4s @ f/16



Above photo: Waves crash at sunrise, Georgian Bay shoreline in Bruce Peninsula National Park; EOS 1Ds mark III; TS-E 24mm II tilt shift lens; Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer & 3 stop hard edge ND grad (handheld in front of lens); mirror lock-up and cable release; ISO 400; 1/15s @ f/11

For this photo, I needed a shutter speed of 1/15s to blur the wave slightly, yet still have defined streaks of water. I also wanted full-depth-of field in the photo. The solution: tilt the lens and set a moderate aperture which allowed for the desired shutter speed.

Check back soon for more tilt-shift photos. And if you want to see some results from Canon's new 17mm tilt-shift, check out this post on Mac Danzig's blog.

5 comments:

  1. Carolyn9:19 PM

    Wow, particularly the water crashing over the rocks.

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  2. Anonymous10:05 AM

    Brilliant work. Must have been an incredible pre-dawn hike. That tilt-shift is amazing. Excellent use of the ND grad, too. I've never managed to find more than a 1-stop ND. Hand-held in front of the lends, eh? Nice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful pictures!

    I don't see photos of a shore lined with smooth stones like that too often. Very nice. I'm sure Canada has some of the best opportunities for great nature pics!

    Paul Bates
    Paul Bates Nature Photography

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous shots, you are doing some nice work with your new lens. More please!

    ReplyDelete
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