seneth marsden photography: Tilt-shift Photography

History

Movements have been available on view cameras since the early days of photography; they have been available on smaller-format cameras since the early 1960s, usually by means of special lenses or adapters. Nikon introduced a lens providing shift movements for their 35 mm SLRcameras in 1962,and Canon introduced a lens that provided both tilt and shift movements in 1973; many other manufacturers soon followed. Canon currently offers four lenses that provide both movements, Nikon offers three. Such lenses are frequently used in architectural photography to control perspective, and in landscape photography to get an entire scene sharp.
Camera lens can provide sharp focus on only a single plane. Without tilt, the image plane, the lens plane, and the plane of focus are parallel, and are perpendicular to the lens axis; objects in sharp focus are all at the same distance from the camera. When the lens plane is tilted relative to the image plane, the plane of focus (PoF) is at an angle to the image plane, and objects at different distances from the camera can all be sharply focused if they lie in the same plane. With the lens tilted, the image plane, lens plane, and PoF intersect at a common line, this behavior has become known as the Scheimpflug principle. When focus is adjusted with a tilted lens, the PoF rotates about an axis at the intersection of the lens's front focal plane and a plane through the center of the lens parallel to the image.

ref-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt%E2%80%93shift_photography

Images

Tutorial

1)

Tilt-shift photography tends to work best for photos that have a wide view and are taken from higher ground. The photo doesn't necessarily have to be an aerial shot, but it should be something that is composed of many small parts that make up a whole.
*optional step, you can pre-edit your photo in Photoshop Camera Raw to prep it before adding additional effects. Open up the Open menu in Photoshop, select your file and then select Camera Raw in the Format drop-down menu.*
Open up your photo in Photoshop and switch to Quick Mask mode. You can do this by either hitting the Q key on your keyboard or clicking on the Quick Mask mode button at the bottom of your tool box menu. *This will basically "mask" your selected areas from whatever effects you apply next.*
Select the Gradient tool, which looks like a rectangle with a gradient across it. You can also just hit G on your keyboard.
Using the Gradient tool, draw a vertical, perpendicular line. This is a tricky step. You want to start the line in an area that you want to be in focus, and then end the line in an area that you want to be out of focus.
In your options bar, make sure you have the fourth choice selected, which is the Reflected Gradient. This will make a gradient that has a mirror-effect
After you draw your line, there should be a red bar over the area that will be in focus. It usually takes a few tries to get this exactly the way you want it, so play around with the gradient until you're satisfied.
Click on the Quick Mask mode button again to return to Standard Mode, or simply hit the Q button on your keyboard again. Now, you should see a series of marching ants selecting the area that you don't want to be in focus.
Once you're satisfied with your selection, go to Filter > Blur > Lens Blur to put a lens blur effect on the area you've selected.
A new window will open, and here you can preview your effect before applying it. You can adjust how blurry you want the background to be, but just be careful to not make it look too fake by making a sudden jump from in-focus to out of focus.Once you're satisfied with the effect, click OK to accept and exit the lens blur window.
Get rid of the marching ants by deselecting your selected parts under Select > Deselect.
Now it's time to make the photo look more model-like by adjusting the color and contrast of the photo. To adjust saturation, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation.Slowly increase the saturation of the photo until it looks more toy-like. Again, the idea is to lay on the effect in an amount that tricks the eye, but not too much that it looks fake and unbelievable. Click OK when you're satisfied with the effect.
Adjust the contrast of the photo by accessing the Curves panel. Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves.Making a slight S-curve will increase the contrast of your photo to make it look even more toy-like. Play around with curves until you have a desired effect, then click OK to accept the effect and exit the pane

ref-http://mashable.com/2013/09/24/photoshop-tilt-shift/

2)

When choosing a photograph for the tilt-shift effect, bear in mind that you want to give the impression of a miniature model. Miniature models are usually viewed from above so try and choose a photo with an elevated viewpoint. Buildings, roads, traffic and railways are excellent choices but make sure there is a reasonable wide angle of view.
Open the image in Photoshop and enter Quick Mask Mode by pressing Q on the keyboard, or select the Quick Mask icon
Choose the Gradient Tool by pressing G on the keyboard, or select the Gradient Tool icon. Be sure to choose the Reflected Gradient option (the fourth icon along before the Mode drop-down).
Draw a vertical line; the start point will be the centre of the in-focus area, and the end will be where the transition from in-focus to out-of-focus is completed. This step, and the subsequent two steps, will need a fair degree of trial and error. If you look closely at the image below, you will see the line has been drawn from the back door of the silver car up to just under the word Hollywood beneath the street lamp.Once you release the mouse button the area of focus will appear as a red band across the image
Before progressing, review the position of the red mask. The middle of the mask is where the in-focus area will be, gradually losing focus towards the edges. Note the out-of-focus effect is yet to be applied.
Press Q on the keyboard to exit Quick Mask Mode and return to Standard Mode, or press the icon on the Tool Palette as shown below. The area to apply the focus effect to will be surrounded by the “marching ants” selection lines
Choose Filter > Blur > Lens Blur:
Hopefully, you will now see a pleasing focus effect. The Photoshop default settings for Lens Blur seem to work well, but experiment with them to improve the effect. If you are unhappy with the position of the focus area, go back to Step 4 and try drawing a line in a different place or with a different centre of focus.
Assuming you were happy with the image preview in Step 8, click OK to accept the settings
Press CTRL-D on the keyboard to remove the “marching ants” selection bounday:
You may want to boost the colour saturation, to improve the effect. Remember that model scenery is often brightly painted so enhancing the saturation helps trick the eye. Press CTRL-U on the keyboard or select Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation:
It may help to increase the contrast of the image slightly using the Curves adjustment. Press CTRL-M on the keyboard or select Image > Adjustments > Curves:
In this example we use a very small S-shaped curve to increase contrast. Take care not to over-do this step; in fact, it may not be necessary at all