Tilt-Shift For the Rest of Us

Real Tilt-Shift photography refers to the use of camera movements, rotation of the lens (tilt) and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane (shift), to achieve very shallow depth of field and to control perspective. It has traditionally been done using medium and large format cameras or 35mm cameras with special lenses. Which also means it is a very expensive form of photography usually left to professionals, particularly those who do architectural photography.

The most well known effect using this technique is to make a photograph of the real world look like a miniature scale model. When done properly the effect can be quite incredible and you are sure you are looking at a model instead of the real thing.

The good news is that this effect can also be achieved relatively easily using photoshop and the right type of photograph. Images that work best are usually taken from an elevated viewpoint and a fairly wide angle of view. Subjects like cityscapes, railways, aiports and sporting events are particularly good. However the technique will work with most photographs taken from an elevated position to varying degrees.

Here is a link to an excellent tutorial on producing the tilt-shift effect in photoshop.

Below are some examples of 'fake' tilt-shift photography created from normal photographs of real world scenes modified in photoshop. As you will agree, when done well the effect is quite amazing.


Candy Floss Shop (Source)



Valley Station (Source)



Village Street (Source)



Airshow (Source)



Soccer Match (Source)



Digger (Source)



Hollywood (Source)



London Street (Source)



Red Train (Source)



Strassbourg (Source)



These are just some of the thousands of examples of 'fake' tilt-shift photography available online. If you would like to see more try the links below.

The Flickr 'Miniature faking with PSP' pool
41 Amazing Tilt-shift miniature faking photographs

Or simply search for 'tilt-shift photographs' on Google.