Aperture for tilt-shift photography with 8x10" and 300mm

[pkr1979]

Hi all,

I tried to do a tilt miniature photo from a distance (several hundred meters). I used a 8x10" camera with a 300mm lens using f/22. I assumed that this aperture would be shallow enough since it is LF (Im a newbie), to get stuff out off focus, but it wasn't.

So I am curious to know what kind of apertures you guys using 8x10" and 300mm are operating with when doing tilt-shift on various distances?

Cheers
Peter

[koraks]

I never tilt to get things out of focus; rather the opposite. But why shoot at f/22 instead of wide open if your goal is a shallow depth of field? That's what I would do!

[Tin Can]

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...niature-effect

[Drew Wiley]

The amount you can tilt or shift a given lens at a particular aperture without vignetting part of the image is dependent upon the usable image circle of that specific
lens. Not all 300's are the same. Some has lots of wiggle room, some don't.

[pkr1979]

I'm keen to try out that miniature look you get when you tilt, and I assumed that a shallow dof enhances that effect. Helpful link - thanks :-) I got the 300mm f5.6 Fujinon W so coverage is fine I suppose. Cheers :-)

[Drew Wiley]

You typically use tilt to get everything from near to far IN FOCUS. If you just want shallow depth of field, the combination of a long lens and wide aperture
is the ticket. But if you're just trying to do something weird, well, fool around with you camera adjustments any way you wish, and simply evaluate the result on the groundglass.

[Drew Bedo]

"The ground glass is TRUTH". If you do not see it there—it is not there.

Use a dark cloth or hood and watch what happens on the GG while tilting and focusing. Compose and focus wide-open. Use the movements you want and create the selective focus you want. Make your exposure decisions and stop down as little as possible. You may have to use a fast shutter speed and widest aperture.

Let us know how it turns out.

[pkr1979]

Thanks for that. I'll let you know and post a photo as soon I have tried this out.
Cheers

[Jordan]

I imagine you'll want the lens somewhere between 5.6 and 11ish.

[pkr1979]

Cheers - thanks for the tip :-)