Some photographers enjoy portraiture, capturing the essence of a person;
others enjoy capturing a fast moment in a football game, or a delicate
moment of a newly wed couple. I like to shrink things. Tilt-shift
photography (or “miniature faking”) is a photographic genre that seems
to have been gaining popularity in the last few years. Essentially, it’s
taking a photograph of a real-world scene and making it look like a
miniature scene, such as you’d find in a model railroader’s setup.
Highly detailed miniatures have always fascinated me, so tilt shift
photography was a natural draw. The White House? Shrink it. Piccadilly
Circus? Make it Lilliput Lane. What’s not to love?
Tilt-shift effects are done either optically, via a special (and
expensive) lens, or more usually, in Photoshop. The procedure in
Photoshop is not complicated; it can be accomplished in as little as one
minute by those with experience.
Like anything in photography, it can be done, but can it be done
well? That’s the question. Not just any photo can be used; and once a
candidate photo is considered, the tilt shift post processing procedure
must be done right as well.
I want share some tips which you should always keep in mind while Tilt shift Photography
The photo must be taken from above, but not directly overhead. This
only reflects what someone taking a photo of a miniature scene would
likely do; it’s unlikely they would (or even could) be level to the
subject. If you have a direct over shot, you won’t be able to get a
decent depth of field that is required.
A simple scene is usually better than a complicated one. This
is because miniature scenes are usually very simple; you wouldn’t find a
dense city block, for example, in a model railroad scene.
Photo sharpness is a must, as well as good lighting. There will be enough blur in the photo as it is; your focal point must be sharp.
If people are in the scene, they need to be fairly obscure and small. Again, reflecting what you’d see in a real miniature scene. People are very small, and not well detailed in miniature scenery.
Generally, avoid wide shots, and make sure the scene is interesting
– for instance, an aerial photo of a cathedral with spires and flying
buttresses is interesting, while an aerial photo of a flat-topped
shopping mall would not be.
Once the photo is selected, then the tilt shift treatment can begin.
I use Photoshop, and while a complete tutorial is out of the scope of
this post. Yet, I can give you a brief over view of the process. First,
you determine what your point of interest (and therefore focus) will be
in the photo. You create a mask, they use the gradient tool on the mask
to select was is to be in focus, and how the blur gradient will be
placed. The the Lens Blur filter is applied. The gradient placement and
amount of Lens Blur usually requires some trial and error to get right.
Once it is satisfactory, the look of being a miniature is already
apparent. Next, I kick up the master saturation level about 30%, giving
more to greens sometimes, or other colors that you want to pop out. In
miniature scenes, typically colors are very bold and saturated, hence
this step. Finally, using the Curves tool, I will enhance the contrast
in the high tonal highlights of the photo. That’s pretty much it, in
brief.
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