Why I still shift by hand

Software can straighten a wall. It cannot put back the detail it throws away doing it, so I still correct the verticals in the camera.

Point a normal lens up at a building and the walls lean in. Fix it later and the program stretches the top of the frame, softening the very edges where architecture lives.

The shift

A shift lens slides the glass up while the camera stays level. The sensor stays parallel to the facade, so every vertical stays vertical and every pixel stays sharp.

In the bag

• One 24 mm shift lens
• A geared head for small moves
• A level on the hot shoe, always

It is slower. Each frame takes minutes, not seconds. That time is spent looking, which is the job.