The Vertigo Shot

Setup

I used a Nikon D300 Camera with a Nikon 18-200mm Lens. In both shots I mounted the camera on a tripod facing directly forward and moved only the tripod, leaving the camera angle exactly the same. I post-processed all RAW images in each series using identical white balance and exposure settings.

The only significant difficulty I encountered was in aligning the shots. Because of the weight of the camera and lens, it was difficult to align the camera facing directly forwards.

As the most compelling examples of dolly zoom shots I found were of a long passageway and a window, I decided to attempt to replicate these. I chose a hallway in Shady Oaks and a window in my apartment as shooting locations, mostly because of the uncooperative weather.


Shot 1: Window

Frame Focal Length
Frame 1 62mm
Frame 2 52mm
Frame 3 40mm
Frame 4 31mm

Notes

Some pincushion distortion due to the lens is particularly visible in these shots. The screen in the window also had an unexpected blurring effect on the scenery outside.


Shot 2: Hall

Frame Focal Length
Frame 1 70mm
Frame 2 62mm
Frame 3 55mm
Frame 4 42mm
Frame 5 32mm
Frame 6 27mm
Frame 7 18mm

Notes

This shot was made somewhat more difficult by the uneven floor. I tried to compensate by changing the length of the tripod legs, but was only somewhat successful.