Apart from the tilt-shift lens fakery in the iPhone, you can also tilt the camera. One of the best things about the iPhone, in fact, is that, well, you can tilt the camera. Have an annoying background you do not know how to get rid of? Tilt the camera. Want to take pictures out of your car at the sky while you’re moving? Tilt the camera. Want to create an interesting portrait of somebody, something totally unusual and different because you’ve shot them the same way the same time over and over again and now want something new? Tilt the camera. That camera tilt, it works wonders.
In fact, it works almost too well. Allow me to explain. If you do not want to tilt the camera, with the iPhone, you almost have to work at it. You almost have to make sure everything is level and plumb and aligned just so perfectly, otherwise you might find yourself with a slight tilt. Since you’re going to get a slight tilt anyway, you might as well throw yourself all in.
Go on, you know you want to try it. Tilt the camera.
Stop being so straight already. Stop trying to level and plumb and align the universe. Go on, try it, just once and you’ll see how much you like it. Tilt the camera.
If you don’t like the camera tilt that you get, you can always pump the results into something like PlasticBucket (as I’ve done here) that gives you totally fabulous vignetting. Red around the edges, looking like fake light leaks. It’s wonderful.
So, go ahead, go on, tilt the camera.
Until next camera tilt…