Tilt-shift lenses have a few specialized uses. For example, they can alter the plane of focus by “tilting.” This can be used to create a sharp focus along something that is not perpendicular to the film/sensor, or to create an interesting depth of field that can’t be achieved with a normal lens. Depending on the subject, this crazy DOF can make a life-size scene appear to be a miniature–pretty cool! The other function of a tilt-shift lens is, you guessed it, “shifting.” This is most commonly used in architectural photography to prevent converging-lines distortion. For a more thorough read on tilt-shift photography, visit the Wiki on it. Read on to see how to make your own.
(more…)

I recently upgraded to Elinchrom strobes but speedlights will always have their place. This post is long overdue as I built this beauty dish over a year ago… In an effort to make my speedlites as versatile as possible, I thought a beauty dish would be a nice addition to my collection of light modifiers. The hardest part of this project was finding a suitable bowl for the dish. I found an 18″ wooden bowl at a Ross/TJ Max-type store. I would’ve preferred something a little larger but it was all I could find. It performs better than I expected. If you want something a little larger, halfway through the project I found one: a 30 qt. stainless steel mixing bowl, which can be had for about $20 online.

(more…)

For all you facebookers out there, I started a Jan Christian Photography page. Now you can actually see some of my photos since I haven’t created the gallery here yet. Feel free to “Like” it or comment

Jan Christian Photography