Tilt-Shift fun - Turning Downtown Disney into a model

I enjoyed the images posted months ago, and the samples, showing the 'tilt-shift' processing style...and decided to give it a go with a few of mine. Knowing that pics with an overhead perspective work the best, I was limited to just a few shots to try it with...but it's alot of fun!

Here's a shot from the upper floors of the Buena Vista Palace hotel - the hotel is in the focus area, and Disney's Marketplace is beyond:



Here's Fulton's Crabhouse and Pleasure Island, from the same vantage point:



This one isn't Downtown Disney...but it was the only other one I could produce the effect with due to the overhead perspective. This is the Victoria Gardens of Canada Pavilion, viewed from the top of the waterfall wall above the restaurant:



I followed the basic instructions on the other thread...adjusting brightness and contrast, saturation boost, gradient mask, gaussian blur...obviously alot more practice will be needed to get the effect really down pat. I will be thinking of these next time I am there, so I have more such shots to play with using tilt-shift processing!

Comments, questions, critique always welcome.

 

Good shots Justin! I'll need to add those to my list as well.

BTW PSP has a filter for doing this built in.

 

awesome shot of queen victoria's gardens. very nice.

 

Justin these are amazing! Nice work.

 

An example of PSP's tilt-shift focus filter

Not the greatest source file for this, but here you go:

<img src="http://www.themeparkphotos.us/cpg140/albums/uploads/121307/G/IMG_8996a.jpg" />

 

Thanks all. BTW, for those who haven't been around since the early days, here's the link to that original thread I got the idea from:

http://www.themagicinpixels.com/forum/h ... ic.php?t=2

It's got links to the instructionals and good samples.

It wasn't my original idea...but it's fun to try out.

RLongenbach - that's a great subject for the treatment - the subs lend themselves very well to a toy-like feel!

 

That would be pretty cool - get some overhead shots around the parks, and make the entire theme park look like a model!

Some of those who have shots from on top of the Contemporary looking into Magic Kingdom probably have some good shots for this effect, too.

 

BTW - Here's the normal garden shot without the effect:



The blur is important for that catheder-camera look with the shallow depth of field...but the bright, saturated colors lend that 'plastic' look that really helps sell it.

 

I had seen it elsewhere, though I can't remember now what the link was as it was a few years ago...but the site Jeremy linked reminded me of it again, and it describes the technique well.

The key I think is to have a shot that has the downward angle - best to use shots taken of a scene from higher up looking down a bit. That's what gives that model perspective.

 

I'm not sure if there is a filter in all photoshops for this, but I think I recall there being one on the newer versions.

It's not really too hard to make your own mask filter for the effect, or even do it quick-n-dirty by hand. Just boost the saturation very bright and colorful, make a duplicate layer, apply gaussian blur as much as you like, then take the erase tool and with varying opacity, wipe out the middle section for where the focus point will be. Don't wipe it out evenly...the ragged edges or slight angle add a bit of believability to it. feather the eraser tool so the opacity fades at the edges and you'll get a gradual fade to blur.

You just want the sections of the photo that are closer to you and farther from you to be blurred while some point near the middle distance is in focus.