[tweetmeme]Tilt Shift is an incredible lens effect that transforms normal scenes into tiny toy worlds. It’s a topic that’s already been shown extensively here on PhotoGuides with tilt shift collections and photoshop tutorials, but these new examples take on a new level of amazingness.

ArtCyclopedia has created an astonishing range of Tilt Shift photographs which apply the effect to some of Van Gogh’s famous paintings. The results really are stunning. Check them out.

[tweetmeme]‘Tilt Shift School’ is a short film I put together for my media class at school. It’s based in the Year 12 common room, and it basically just shows everyone chatting, laughing and playing around in front of the camera. It’s a fun little film.

Don’t forget there’s an awesome tutorial for tilt shift on PhotoGuides.

You may have noticed that I’ve written Technical Exercise in the opening credits. A technical exercise is a short film we had to produce which focuses on two of the technical properties of film production. I chose editing and music in this one so that I could play around with the tilt shift effect. This was then submitted along with a writeup detailing how these two properties effect a film. My fingers are crossed for a good mark.

I do wish I’d made it longer. Even when I watch it, I find it ends disappointingly early. I plan on making a few more throughout the year though, so think of this one as Episode 1 of the ‘Tilt Shift School’ series. The next few will be a lot longer as well, because they won’t be restricted by the Tech Exes time limits.

Anyway, I hope you like it. And if you do like it, feel free to share it, tweet it, comment on it, blog it or anything else that’ll let more people know about it. As always, tips and criticisms are welcome below.

[tweetmeme]Tilt Shift photography is becoming a bit of a trend lately, with a great deal of photographers using the technique to transform normal scenes into a tiny toy world.
Here I’ve compiled the best Tilt Shift photographs on the web. I’ve searched for different, unique photos which use the technique in a way that just makes you go ‘wow’. Hopefully they can act as inspiration for your own tilt shift photography.

Be sure to check out the PhotoGuides tutorial for photoshopping tilt shift. It’s really very easy and the results are stunning.
Enjoy!

Old Gaffers Festival by alastair_mitchell

minigolden by californiabirdie

Kleiner Harz von oben by JoHa-.-

Tilt Shift City by AshDav

Tilt Shift Town by AshDav

Tilt-Shift by WatchinDworldGoBy

Mini Multnomah Falls by pforbinesque

The Pitch by californiabirdie

Faux Tilt Shift 1 by pathandpixel

Tilt Shift by wakeboy

You Can Tell by B Tal

Tilt Shift Fairgrounds by yarnzombie

My Miniature City of Sydney by :chris:

Tilt-shift Madrid Masters by envisionpublicidad

Cleveland Clinic Miniature by House Photography

Fake Miniature – Roller Derby 2 by baldheretic

Little Game by pattagon

Eiffel Tilt-Shift II by ArnarBi

Mini Airlift by dutchb0y

Gold Dust Saloon by wmandra

Miniature Tate Modern by jeangenie

Tilt-Shift Serpentine by Harald_Kirr

Miniature Airport by C.S. 2.0

Fake Miniature Astronaut by Grimmwire

Little Boats by Tom Crease

Flower Maze Resize Tiltshift by gordon67

Tilt Shift Grid by mre1965

AdVantage…Stop n Go by pic fix

Tilt Shift Fun by DanielloPL

Tilt Shift Football by fadeddays

[tweetmeme]Make sure you click this blue bit of text for the Podcast version of this tutorial.

Tilt Shift Photography is the latest ‘big thing’ in the photo world. It uses a very shallow Depth of Field to transform a scene into a tiny toy from a tiny world. It may only be in my eyes, but lately it’s popping up all over the place and is showing some truly spectacular and eye catching results. However, Tilt Shift Photography is very difficult to create in camera. It involves a special lens and of course a lot of money to buy it. Here then is a guide for all you Photoshop owners so that you can create the incredible effect on your own photos with a few simple steps.

Here then is a video guide to creating your own Tilt Shift photos using Photoshop. Remember there’s also a text and image based guide for you to follow along to.

Also, if your internet doesn’t like this Vimeo version and it’s high quality and size, there’s a youtube version as well.

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Before we begin…

This guide is also in a video.

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Step 1: Choosing the Right Photo.

This is a very important part of the overall process. Some photos simply don’t work with the applied effect. To create the best Tilt Shift photo possible you need to remember that miniature models are viewed from above. Thus you need a photo overlooking something from a reasonably high angle. It doesn’t need to be hundreds of meters up viewing a whole city though. Even a single street could work nicely. Just make sure you’re high up and everything should function smoothly.

This is the picture I’ll be using. Left to it’s own devices it’s nothing special. The high angle and the cars buzzing around though make it the perfect photo to Tilt-Shiftize.

Overlooking part of Johannesburg, South Africa. My thanks goes to Paul Williamson (a friend of mine) for letting me use this photo. It really is perfect for the job.

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Step 2: Quick-Mask It.

This is a fairly simple part. Just click the little icon and you’ll be in Quick Mask Mode.

Enter Quick Mask Mode

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Step 3: Choose your Gradient.

For this you’ll need to use the reflected gradient (the 4th gradient icon from the left). This will create your depth of field effect so that there is one main focal point and everything else in the foreground or background is blurred.

This will create your Depth of Field effect.

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Step 4: Draw a Line.

Start your line from your main point of focus (that being the object you want most to look like a toy) and then draw down. The start point will be the object in view and the end point will be where the transition from clear to blurry is complete. You’ll need to experiment with the length of the gradient because this is the make or break aspect of your final image. In my image my central point of focus was the car. I drew the gradient roughly to the bottom of the image because this created the best effect in my opinion.

Experiment with this step. It can make or break your image.

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Step 5: It’s all gone red!

You’re in the right direction. This red section just shows you the gradient you drew before and won’t appear on the final image. If you don’t like the length or think it could be better, just draw your line again.

If it isn’t red then make sure you’re still in quick mask mode.

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Step 6: Exit Quick Mask Mode.

This is pretty simple. Just click the Quick Mask button again to exit the mode (or Q if you like using shortcuts). Your image should now change from being red to having the top and bottom section surrounded by ‘marching ants’. The main point of focus shouldn’t be selected.

The parts selected will be blurred out completely, gradually becoming clear as they near your focal point.

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Step 7: Open Lens Blur.

You’ll find it in Filters – Blur. Selecting this will bring up the interface where you can create your blur and thus your tilt shift.

Click it.

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Step 8: Fiddle.

Now your Tilt Shift will start taking shape. Fiddling is all you can really do here. There’s no right or wrong answer because it all depends on your specific image. To change the intensity of the lens blur you’ll need to play with the ‘radius’ bar. In my case I’ve gone for 25. This level of blur I felt pulled of the tilt shift effect nicely and still looked rather natural. Too much and the background would be too blurred and have no real place in the image. Push ‘ok’ when you’re happy with your lens blur.

Play around here until it looks right in your eyes.

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Step 9: Get rid of the Marching Ants.

To do this simply push Control+D, or for mac users push Command+D. If you don’t do this then any further edits will only occur in the selected region.

Simple enough. It isn’t a real step but some people might miss it otherwise and then their photo would be ruined.

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Step 10: Open the Hue/Saturation option.

Selecting Hue/Saturation will open up a small menu that gives you quick and easy control over the colours of your image.

Press Control+U or Command+U if you’re in a hurry.

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Step 11: Increase your Saturation.

A toy world always has much simpler, brighter and more vibrant colours. Increasing the saturation will change the colours to make the objects look more like plastic. Don’t do it too much though or it will just look too fake. The level once again is up to you and unique to your photo.

Once again, determine your amount based on what you think looks good.

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Step 12: Tweak your Image.

This is pretty much the final step. All thats left to do is whatever you think can make the image look better. Advanced photoshop users might like to adjust the levels (control/command+L). Making the dark points darker can have quite a nice effect.
In my case, I fiddled with the levels and also cropped the photo to get rid of part of the sky. I felt there was too much sky which tampered with the illusion of this being a toy world.

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Finished!

Here’s what I ended up with…

Tilt Shift Town.

I’m very happy with how mine turned out.
If you’ve got your own you’d like to share then feel free to post a link in a comment.