Freelensing - turn any lens into tilt shift or macro

Freelensing is not for the faint of heart! To do it, you must DETACH your lens from the camera. That's right, detach. There is a chance of dust and dirt and little gnomes getting caught up into lens or the sensor... EEK! But, if you live on the wild side like I do, you'll just GO FOR IT! Actually, you should be fine as long as you're not walking around with your lens detached completely. Only detached when you're ready to shoot.

With that being said, let me introduce you to this awesome world of TILT SHIFT! I love it! It may not be a look for everyone, and it is definitely an acquired taste, but it's definitely a look for those interested in extreme focus/extreme out of focus. Freelensing can also be a way to get a macro look.

My best advice for those that would like to experiment with freelensing - take pictures of still subjects. This isn't something that you can just whip out your camera and start shooting. You kinda have to take your time and adjust your lens so you can get the right look. It will require you to stare inside the viewfinder and wiggle your lens until you get the right look. But it's super fun and definitely awesome looking.

Okay, now how to do it.

First what I like to do is with my lens attached, I go ahead and auto focus on a subject. Once I do that, I carefully take the lens off and then "set" it back onto the camera without actually fully attaching it (you're not going to hear the "click" from when it's officially attached back on). Now, slightly lift the left or the right side of the lens away from the camera all while looking into your viewfinder.. you'll see the difference right away. A little goes a long way, and a lot makes for a super crazy looking world... so choose wisely. I happen to like the extreme tilt shift. Then shoot away. Pretty easy, yet so freaking hard! It's challenging to get it right, but I really encourage everyone to practice. I even got a few of Wyatt when he was sitting still eating some raviolis.

I did run the pioneer woman's "seventies" action on these photos of Wyatt at 60% but that's it. i didn't want to sharpen because i felt it took away from the tilt shift.

These are SOOC pictures with Flora Bella's Morning Glory action at 100%. Again no sharpening.

Good luck everyone!!!

Jess Craig