August 21, 2012 - Chinese Garden

[FONT="Palatino Linotype"][/FONT][SIZE="2"]Tilt-Shift



Image by Lachlan Sear

"Tilt-shift photography is a creative and unique type of photography in which the camera is manipulated so that a life-sized location or subject looks like a miniature-scale model."

"To add good miniature effect to your photographs, shoot subjects from a high angle (especially from the air). It creates the illusion of looking down at a miniature model. A camera equipped with a tilt-shift lens, which simulates a shallow depth of field, is essentially all you need to start."

From Smashing Magazine[/SIZE]

You don't even need a special lense: you can easily recreate the effect in Photoshop/GIMP, once you've taken your photo from a high angle as suggested above. It's a two-step process:
1. Increase colour saturation (colours in a macro-mode photo seem brighter than in a long-distance colour).
2. Apply a blur filter so the upper and lower parts are blurred and the central area stays in focus (this fakes the limited depth of field of a macro-mode photo of a small model).

I'm not too keen on Chinese gardens. You mow one, an hour later, you need to mow again.

:rolleyes: