The Canon Magazine 41
How to capture straighter shots
When composing to photograph a tall
building like this large church from
ground level, to get all of the spire in
frame, we need to use a wide-angle lens
and then aim the camera up – which
makes the building look like it’s leaning
back, not standing straight!
This is where Canon TS-E tilt-shift
lenses are essential as you can
compose straight-on to the building to
keep the lens parallel to the sensor, then
use the shift movement to centralize the
straight-on building.
Use a tripod as you’ll
need a stable base for
composing accurately with
your Canon camera and
TS-E lens. Due to the
mechanics of a tilt-shift
lens, you’ll only be able to
focus manually on the lens,
so use Live View and zoom
in to adjust your focusing.
Canon TS-E lens options
Canon offers five TS-E (tilt-and-
shift for EOS) lenses, which are all
primes, from ultra-wide-angle to
telephoto macro options. All their
clever tilt-shift mechanics comes
at a price though:
TS-E 17mm f/4L, £2029
TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II, £1799
TS-E 45mm f/2.8, £1199
TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro, £2199
TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Macro, £2199
TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro, £2199By using a tilt-shift lens we were able to
capture a straighter shot of the churchQuick tip
The extra wide field of view you
get with a fisheye lens means
you can end up with your feet,
your shadow or your tripod in
the bottom of the shot. This
usually looks like a mistake on
your part, so take a look at the
edges of the frame to make sure
you aren’t in the shot!specialist lenses