Tilt Shift Panama Canal Mules

[Firemaine]

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.

[dlaf]

No expert here, but this process amazes me and I think you did a great job, firemaine!

[xxpinballxx]

Excellent job....enough depth and the right amount of blur.....
I think this might be one of the best i have seen to date......

Only thing I can see that doesnt make sense in my mind is the blur to the left and right of the foremost building and the car on the foreground being in focus....
this wouldn't happen in a macro shot with a narrow DOF.....the focus range should be pretty uniform all on the same plane.....
Still a great shot and I think even with that bit of contradiction its still a great shot.

[miles]

Great work.

[Nicole]

This works really well as a tilt shift

[Alex168]

I think this effect is quite funny! Not only does it make things look like toys but it enhance the main subject. Gotta give it a go

[wulf]

I think it still looks a bit too deliberate, with the blur carefully picking out the subjects. The work on the colours is very effective though - definitely keep that.

Wulf

ps. since you continue to be enthusiastic about the technique, maybe you should think about getting a Lensbaby lens to play with?

[Firemaine]

First let me say Thank You for all the comments.
I know that in spot it does look a little deliberate, but the program I am using does not have a lens blur filter which I think would be a great help.

Wulf: I read up a little on the Lensbaby lens and it does look like something I might like. I see that you have one, Have you tried to use it in the way?

[wulf]

I have a growing collection of Lensbaby shots and some more waiting to be processed which are more along the fake scale model effect you are going for here.

This is one of my favourites so far:



Look at it in a larger size and you'll see lots of tiny stars in the blur because I was playing with the creative aperture kit as well.

Wulf