"Still" Life

If you have been watching Sherlock Holmes on CPTV4U, you have seen the tilt-shift effect, which makes real images look like scale models. Although there are lenses that capture live moving images (like the title sequence in Sherlock Holmes) where the depth of field is changed to appear unnaturally narrow, you can also take a pre-existing photograph and with a few steps make your own tilt-shift. Flip through my gallery of before and after pictures above to see what I'm talking about. Note: Clicking on the picture will make it bigger.

Thankfully we have the tools to make tilt-shift photographs in the CPBN Media Lab. Admittedly, it was a slow at first, just trying out the tools and finding my way around Photoshop again.  So the first few tilt-shift projects were just me having fun and getting comfortable, just seeing what the colors would look like if I went all the way from one end of the spectrum to the other. The same goes with the fourth step seeing how much of a blur was needed. The last few did come easier. Have fun, don't stress out, and you'll come up with something neat. Making a tilt-shift is not that hard. (really)  Follow along with the step by step Photoshop instructions.

1. Pick a picture that has a 40 degree angle
2. Make a copy of that picture
3. Make a mask layer.  This will show next to the copy layer as a blank layer.
4. With the gradient tool draw a line where you want your main focus to be. (The gradient tool is located under the tool the erase tool.  Make sure that you have the seconded from the right selected.)
5. Make sure you are on the copy background.  Click on filter blur, drop down to lens blur.  This will open up a new window and have everything blurred but the object that was selected with the gradient tool. 
6. While in this open window you can change the radius by sliding the bar back and forth to make it more in focus or not. Now click ok when you are done with all that needs to be adjusted.
7. Click on the mask layer and select the pant brush tool.  Make sure you are on the mask layer.  This tool can help you in two ways. (1^st use it to make an object come back in to focus.  By doing this just drag the paint brush tool over the particular object. Make sure you have the black showing in the foreground.  2^nd to make things more intense and blurry reverse so now the white is showing and do the exact same thing as shown in the 1^st.  For the best result don’t use a hard brush use the fuzzy one.
8. Next you would want to distort the color so it looks more like a model.  First click on the background layer.  Then click Image →Adjustments → Hugh/Saturation.
9. Slide the Saturation bar up just a little the click on the drop down button and select Red then increase so the reds will pop out. 
10. Click on Filter→ Sharpen→ Unsharp mask.  Next increase the amount and decrease the radius.  Sometimes you just have to play it by ear.      

Now you have finished your first tilt-shift project.  Go one make another. Wasn’t that fun! 

Think you know what changed comparing picture five to six in my slideshow? 

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