Doorway

[Michael Lloyd]

I shot this yesterday (Sunday). It's the doors to a church near Frelsburg,TX. It's not one of the "famous" painted churches of Texas but it is a beautiful church.

I was using a TS-E 17mm lens and I shifted the lens to bring the focal point to the carving on the doors. I don't mind the black mat leading to the doors. I like the offset of the doors in the image frame. I'm not sure what to think about the window at the top. Part of me wants to leave it and part of me says it needs to go. Opinions are welcome

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Michael ... sweet lens !!!

Agree the window has to go and don't mind the mat either, would consider getting real close and being tight around the door with just a some white showing !! .. btw that lens will take some getting used to, back of camera is not parallel to the wall, see the shallow dof at bottom and start to loose it at top. To set it up best to square the back to the wall then use the shift for framing the door and give it some tilt for dof !! Excellent !! .. btw that lens is great for flowers !!!

[Michael Lloyd]

Thanks for the confirmation Alfred.

I was actually trying to make the focal point be the carving on the door so I angled the camera and used the tilt function to bring the focal point to the carving. I hear what you are saying about being parallel to the wall though. One thing I'm learning with this lens is that it prefers to be used on a tripod and it takes time to set it up. It's a good trainer for using my Master Technika and I need all the help I can get with that camera :D

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Michael I had a Master Technika .. sweet machine !! Did take all the rangefinder parts out for less weight. You are not going to be hand holding since dof is limited in 4X5 and more often than not exposures are long !!

For the tilt/shift it is necessary to place on a tripod and will be slow going, close to using a view camera !! All principles apply just harder to see the movements but now with live view its easier !! If you need any help let me know ... btw also had an 8X10 Deardorff .. talk about slow going and shooting few frames :)

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Nice use of DOF Michael. I like the window at the top as I think it adds interest to the picture.