Folks in a town that was quite remote heard…

Back in January, Chris DiClerico posted an interesting article on a type of photography, using a “tilt-shift lense“, that made aerial shots of life-sized buildings and objects look as though they were models. I was highly intrigued by the concept then, so when I came across this article detailing how a similar effect could be achieved in post production using image editing software, I started looking for pictures suitable for experimentation.

The second article I mentioned above talks about it, but it takes the right kind of photo to fool the eye, even when you are doing it in camera. Generally speaking it has to be some sort of aerial photograph, or taken from somewhere high up, and should have long, clearly defined shadows; so taken near mid afternoon or shortly after mid day. This is because most models are shot from above, or three-quarters, and are also lit from above with harsh studio lights; it’s what the eye is accustomed to seeing when viewing a model. Every rule has its exceptions, but these are the general guidelines. It should also contain bright, saturated colors if you’re trying to do this in camera, but this can be added with software when you’re adding the effect. This last bit adds to the ruse that the objects were painted by a modeler.

Poking around Flickr, I finally found a suitable picture and I share the final product below. I followed the steps, to apply the mask, listed in the article. I then used a Gaussian blur instead, playing around with the radius until I got the blur I wanted. Setting the gradient for the mask is a little tricky as well, but a bit of playing there too gets the desired effect. You basically only want to draw the line of the gradient over the bit you want to be clear. Finally, I tweaked the curves a little to saturate the colors.

For a look at the original image, and so credit is given where it is due, click here. I like how this effect turned out and I’m going to be looking for opportunities to take pictures I can do this to. I like the idea of tiny, detailed spaces. Maybe this is why I have such a fascination with miniatures gaming.