OK I think I getting hooked on this Tilt Shift.
Before
After
I used Photoshop Elements 4.0
Everything I had read about this process was using PS CS2 or 3.
I was looking for a easier way to do this.
What I did was.
1. Made a copy of the original
2. Used a Gaussian Blur on the copy. (Filter >Blur>Gaussian Blur about 28.0)
Seeing as Elements has no Mask tool I had to fake it.
Using the little black and white ball in the layers pallet I chose Levels and then clicked OK.
This made a levels Layer that I then moved between the original and the copy.
3. I clicked on the Copy to make it active. Then went to Layers>Group with Previous. This Grouped the copy with the Levels.
I made sure that the colors were at default (Black over White) by hitting the "D" key.
Choosing Brush tool and a Fuzzy edge brush I then clicked on the levels layer to make it active and started to sharpen the area I wanted.
There is no lens blur in Elements. So I had to keep changing the Opacity of the blur to get a lens blur.
After that I used some saturation and Hue to brighten some of the colors and make them look a little more plastic.
If anyone as any suggestions as to how I can better this. Please let me know.