[Jedi_Strings]

Hey there folks,

I'm planning a personal project involving shooting pictures churches in my area. I bought the HD DA 15mm a few days ago & I'm really digging it. I'm wondering if some experiences on shooting buildings & their interiors without a tilt/shift lens can be shared. The only tilt/shift within reason (for me & my budget at the moment) is the Rokinon 24mm but I haven't heard much about the lens in this application. Also, I've never used a tilt/shift lens before so while I understand in theory what they can do, I don't know what the actual effect on the image and on my shooting in the field will be. I know what I don't want as my final image: https://flic.kr/p/Ar3gZU, https://flic.kr/p/B1x2X6. I'm hoping to maneuver enough to capture images closer to: https://flic.kr/p/w1AxrR, https://flic.kr/p/yedQec, or https://flic.kr/p/xhkvfV. I know the last two are interior shots but I haven't had much luck in getting many perpendicular/straight on shots of building exteriors. I'm not sure if I'm making much sense here.

Is getting a shot with minimal distortion a matter of finding the right distance & holding the camera sensor at the right altitude while perpendicular? All and any comments are welcome & if I'm getting anything wrong here please feel free to correct me, I'm still green & appreciate the feedback.

[dms]

I use photoshop: layer/duplicte layer/edit/transform/and usually perspective (or skew) and for non-professional applications (i.e., there is some loss of resolution versus a true shift lens) this should be fine. This is in CS2 (and seems identical to CS6) and CS2 apparently is available for no cost now. Cannot comment on other software and their PC ability.

[Jedi_Strings]

I'm currently learning how to use PS (usually use LR). I'm definitely going to try my hand at working it out in post but because of my lack of skills with PS I want to try to get the best shot I can in camera.

[interested_observer]

You have a shift lens built into your K5 camera body, already.

• https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/275602-compositi...u-using-5.html

You can also use Lightroom. It has a number of controls that can be used as prespective corrections.

[Canada_Rockies]

DxO Optics Pro has an excellent viewpoint add in. It works really well -- if you carefully allow for the losses in the crop. Shoot wide, wide, wide no matter what you are shooting. Better yet, get a Pentax 28/3.5 shift.

[tduell]

Shooting overlapping shots with stitching, perspective correction, photometric optimisation etc using Hugin works well. This approach also allows you to shoot bracketed shots and apply exposure fusion which can help a lot when the interior light varies.

Cheers,
Terry

[Kerrowdown]

Better yet, get a Pentax 28/3.5 shift

Great lens but it's a bit narrow on a DSLR (damned crop factor), bring on the FF oh happy days.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-K-28mm-F3.5-Shift-Lens.html

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Last edited by Kerrowdown; 12-20-2015 at 03:53 PM.

[Canada_Rockies]

Great lens but it's a bit narrow on a DSLR (damned crop factor), bring the FF oh happy days.

SMC Pentax 28mm F3.5 Shift Reviews - K Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

It was sweet on my MZ-S in Chicago. All those tall buildings. It doesn't work as well on forests, so I let it go.

[mikeSF]

"shift" is the operative term here, not "tilt", btw.

Yes, the more level you can keep the camera, the better, including engaging your built-in sensor shift feature to help.

[Canada_Rockies]

"shift" is the operative term here, not "tilt", btw.

Yes, the more level you can keep the camera, the better, including engaging your built-in sensor shift feature to help.

To amplify, the camera back must be parallel to the face of the building both vertically and horizontally. Use a lens that is wide enough to see the top of the building with the camera perfectly vertical. Crop out the bottom in post processing.

[Jedi_Strings]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's really appreciated. I haven't used the K-5's built in sensor shift yet, but I plan on getting some practice with it tomorrow. This is a shot I took yesterday-it wasn't planned though, I was by the Church & had my camera so figured why not? I used the viewfinder's level meter but I think the street itself isn't flat on this part of Broadway, then again I was shooting handheld so it could have been me. I haven't done anything to this shot other than crop it but I plan on messing around with the options in LR. Thanks again for the feedback!

[Jedi_Strings]

Here's after some messing around in LR, I didn't do much though. Thanks again for your advice everyone, it's greatly appreciated.

[mikeSF]

great first attempt and processing here!
You may be set on a front-on view, but shifting to your right to show a little of the side may add dimension to the image as well.

When I am planning a building shoot, I conduct a mini stakeout to notice how the light will be hitting it at various times of the day. Also, if you bring an assistant who can stand in front to discourage cars from parking, that can be useful. Another idea there is to set out 2 or 3 traffic cones and shoot the image with them and then clone them out in post.

[Jedi_Strings]

great first attempt and processing here!
You may be set on a front-on view, but shifting to your right to show a little of the side may add dimension to the image as well.

When I am planning a building shoot, I conduct a mini stakeout to notice how the light will be hitting it at various times of the day. Also, if you bring an assistant who can stand in front to discourage cars from parking, that can be useful. Another idea there is to set out 2 or 3 traffic cones and shoot the image with them and then clone them out in post.

Thanks! Those are good ideas regarding the parked cars. I know this area pretty well but I'm starting to notice how different the light is during the winter. I know that Earth is in a different position for winters & the general changes that come with it regarding light but I hadn't realized how much that can affect a familiar area. I'm thinking of taking a weekend to observe how the light changes throughout the day.

[mikeSF]

Thanks! Those are good ideas regarding the parked cars. I know this area pretty well but I'm starting to notice how different the light is during the winter. I know that Earth is in a different position for winters & the general changes that come with it regarding light but I hadn't realized how much that can affect a familiar area. I'm thinking of taking a weekend to observe how the light changes throughout the day.

i keep a calendar where I mark favorable light angles throughout the year for some of my usual locations. If you check out The Photographers Ephemeris or a similar tool, you can flip through the days and see how the light will change through the year.