Tilt-shift photography
Photography with a lens that tilts the focus plane or shifts the framing, useful for selective focus and straight-sided buildings.
See it
What it is
Tilt-shift photography uses a lens whose optics move relative to the sensor. Tilt rotates the focus plane under the Scheimpflug principle, either extending sharpness across a receding surface or reducing it to a selective band. Shift slides the view without tilting the camera, which helps keep vertical building lines parallel. The Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II provides both movements.
Reach for shift in architecture and interiors when a level camera cannot frame the top of a building. Reach for tilt in product, landscape, or tabletop work when the natural focus plane misses the subject surface, or reverse the tilt for a narrow miniature-like strip.
Gotcha: tilt and shift solve different problems. Shift does not create the selective focus band, and tilt does not straighten converging verticals by itself. These lenses are manual focus, and through-the-lens metering drifts once the lens is shifted, so focus and exposure both need deliberate checking.
Ask AI for it
Photograph this facade with a Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II on a leveled tripod. Keep the sensor vertical, use upward shift to include the roof without pointing the camera up, leave tilt at zero, and adjust shift until the building's vertical lines remain parallel from pavement to cornice.