I've recently discovered the joys of the tilt/shift lens. Anyone who has worked with large-format cameras (head under a cloth) will know all about this. I haven't so I didn't, other than in theory. It took a little time to get my head round it: tilting gives the ability to move the bits that are in focus (the depth of field) into different areas of the image. It can have some weird effects, particularly when deliberately misused, such as making a real scene look like a model.
Its normal use is always in danger of delivering a look like a picture postcard. It's another example of the sophistication of the modern eye: we recognise visual clues even if we don't know their names because we are bombarded with them all day.
This extreme focus control should put you in the picture. But it doesn't. It keeps you well outside, the detail once more contributing to alienation rather than inclusion.
Slowly, I'm learning where it will improve images, and where it won't. Usually the second is easy to do but useless, the first is difficult but rewarding.
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