Tilt Shift

San Francisco is a hilly city. It’s a hard place to find level ground, and all sorts of things (like this row of houses) point in unnatural directions. Tilt-shift photography does what it says on the tin: it rotates a camera’s lens plane relative to its image plane (i.e., tilting it) while moving the lens parallel to the image plane (shifting it). This elaborate process allows the photographer to control which part of an image remains in focus, adjusting their subject’s position relative to its background. Often, the technique is used to make a real scene seem artificial, but it can also make parallel lines seem to diverge. It is a means of playing with perspective.

Photo: Thomas Hawk/Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0. Image cropped.

Download PDF

Perspectives on History December 2023 Cover.

Staff

L. Renato Grigoli, editor
Laura Ansley, senior managing editor
Lizzy Meggyesy, research and publications assistant
Alexandra F. Levy, communications manager
Liz Townsend, manager, data administration and integrity

Other Articles

Pencils on yellow background

December 4, 2023

From the President

On the Renaissance
A black and white portrait of Norton

December 1, 2023

From the Editor

The Unselfish Ruler
Pen with paper and envelopes

December 1, 2023

Letters to the Editor

On “On Ideological Litmus Tests”
Pen with paper and envelopes

December 1, 2023

Letters to the Editor

On “My Libraries”
Light pink circles across pink and blue background

December 20, 2023

In Memoriam, Long Overdue

Merze Tate (1905–96)
AHA24 art

December 8, 2023

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

The Annual Meeting Is for Teachers
AHA24 art

December 11, 2023

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

Four Reasons to Attend the AHA Annual Meeting
A fence made of stones with three bare trees on one side and a puddle reflecting the trees on the other side

December 12, 2023

Perspectives Daily

Approaches to Teaching Israel–Palestine
AHA24 art

December 21, 2023

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

Asia and the World at AHA24