There was one batch of Washington photos that I think need special attention. The Space Needle is a tilt-shifter’s dream come true. You have 360 degrees of scenery, but it’s interesting enough to make great subject matter for fake tilt-shifts. More importantly, the images aren’t distorted by window glass, so you’ve got even better starting material.
For tilt-shift to be effective, you need an overhead view. I tried some from the Peachtree Tower in Atlanta, but was never really happy with the results. I got a decent tilt-shift from the Cumberland Gap overlook, but that was almost too far away. The Space Needle isn’t so high that the surrounding neighborhoods lose their detail. I think that’s whats missing from many aerial tilt-shifts – they are just too far away to be effective.
Regardless, here are a few the shots I shifted from that visit. You really need to click on the links and view the images large to get the full effect…
Those cityscape pictures look eerily familliar. When i was in Junior High and High school, I drew these large cityscape pictures that were from about that kind of vantage point. Pen and color pencil. In mine, there were no cars to plug the streets. They were kind of my signature pieces for quite a few years. the origin was likely those drawings of the French countryside in teh Michelin travel guides. thing is, some of them were quite vast, with an amazing amount of detail. Brings back memories for sure.