Saturday, May 16, 2009

Tilt shift photography

Listening to: Some Guys have all the Luck by Robert Palmer

A while back I read on Bioephemera about tilt shift photography and recently Jessica posted about it as well. To be honest I didn't bother to understand the technology behind it - or why it's called tilt shift - since I was blown away by how damn cute it is! In short, you apply a filtering system to an image to make it look like it's a photograph of a model/miniature. It's something that prior to the digital age you could only do with specialised camera equipment.

Here is my best result using the online Tilt Shift Maker.
Photobucket
Colosseum, Rome. (originally taken in 2007)

On the site there is a good explanation about the technology, what you are simulating, and tips for making your own images.

Colours are enhanced and depth of field is reduced via adjustable sliders. Landscapes with a raised viewpoint- though not necessarily landscape format - seem to work best with the online simulator which is limited to horizontal alterations. It's surprisingly challenging to choose the right image to apply such a filter to convincingly. ie so it actually looks like a model and not a bad, digitally altered image.

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