Guide to Post Processing Tilt Shift Effect. Buckingham Place.. with a Shift.

Buckingham Palace Tilt Shift

So you can get a Tilt shift lens, but on my budget it all comes down to… Photoshop!

This is an effect where you can almost minaturise different situations by creating a very thing DOF (Dept of Field)

The process is quite simple, however i think it lies more within the shot of choice to create the effect.

The shot needs to be able to be blurred enough to still form the frame of the shot (i.e – you can still know what you are looking at even tho it is severely out of focus).

I currently do this Post Processing in Photoshop CS3 and CS4.

Method.

1. Load the image you want to edit into Photoshop
2. Press Q (to open Quick Mask)
3. Select the Gradient Tool (where Paint bucket is) and ensure you have the Center fading to top/bottom option selected along the top bar.
4. Now shift draw your line and you will see it create the gradient look… i find to get the best results dont try and keep too much in focus.
*TIP* The area you want in focus; draw your line downwards from roughly 50% through the area you want in focus. Draw this line a little below where you want the DOF to end. Also.. experiment with different effects.
5. Press Q again (to Exit Quick Mask) and you will see a rectangular selection of your photo.
6. Go to the Filter Menu. Filter -> Blur -> Lens Blur.
7. Ensure that Hexagon is selected, and start with level 20.
8. Apply the effect and see how it has turned out. From here, you can go back to Step 6 (or click back in History) and adjust the settings to suit your taste.
9. Once you have the desired Tilt Shift Effect you can further enchance the look by adding some Sharpness and Saturation.
10. Go to the Filter Menu. Filter -> Sharpen -> Smart Sharpen
11. Start with 20%, Radius 20.0 pixels and Remove: Gaussian Blur
12. Apply the effect and see how it has turned out. From here, you can go back and adjust the sharpen effect until you are happy.
13. Go to the Image Menu. Image -> Adjustments -> Vibrance (On CS4, earlier versions please select Saturation)
14. Bump the Saturation level up to 30 – 40. Add some Vibrance too, anywhere up to 50 and see the effect. From here, repeat or go back through the process until you have enhanced the image the way you like.
15. Crop the image to suit (If you have not cropped pre-edit). Please keep in mind the idea behind the Tilt Shift is that you would like to create the minature feel, and this means the viewer must be able to make out what the OOF (Out of Focus) area is, as a scale size for the IF (In Focus) area.

In the above image I have;
– Slightly straightened and cropped the image.
– Created a thin DOF based on the people in the photo
– Lens Blur Settings: Hexagon & Level 30
– Saturation +40
– Vibrance +75
– Smart Sharpen of 25% at 20.0 Pixels.

This image was difficult, as I wanted to retain some of the details of Buckingham Palace, otherwise it would be lost in the image. I am more happy with the OOF area at the bottom of the image.

I hope you find this small guide useful.

Till next time..

You can view some more of my Tilt Shifts here.

Star Trails.. Hills Hoist.. RIP

Hills Hoist Trails

I am back from my trip up the coast.

RIP Robert “Barry” James

As a side I decided to take some photos as a momento and in memory of Barry.. so i decided to take some shots of the epically vast universe beyond our wee little planet. This is a shot I am going to reshoot at some stage in the future.. but I would i would share it now.

This is 3 x 5min exposures stacked in Photoshop using the Script > Stack Images function.

Till next time..

Cookietopia

Cookietopia - OCAU Iron Photographer Entry #1 May 2010

I have entered the OCAU (http://www.overclockers.com.au) Iron Photographer Competition for May 2010 and this is #1 of my entries.

I had given this some thought, and ordered the figure from ebay at the start of the month but left it a bit late. TYPICALLY it was much smaller than I first expected, thankfully… my friend Zeb had the great idea of mini cookies!

And so it worked out well 🙂

I am off for a few days to attend a funeral.. update the blog upon my return.

Till next time..

Week 22 – Not, Smarty Smarttrooper

Week 22 - Not, Smarty Smarttrooper

Stormy receives praise for his strength and honour on the battlefield..
When asked about his smarts, the Sith make ‘no comment’.

Another week down, getting closer to the half way mark!

Till next time..

Interlaken, Switzerland

Valley in the Alps

“The name ‘Interlaken’ actually means "between the lakes" – Lake Thun and Lake Brienz to be precise and water is omnipresent throughout the area with idyllic clear mountain streams and waterfalls running off the hills and into the lakes. Interlaken is the secret capital Switzerland’s beautiful Bernese Oberland. The town is located between the lakes of Thun and Brienz, at the foot of the towering trio of the Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau. Interlaken is located in the German-speaking heart of Switzerland.”

This was one of my favourite places in Europe due to the scenery.. ive never had my breath taken away by sheer spectacular beauty!

We headed up to Schilthorn where they shot the 1968 James Bond movie On her Majesty’s Secret Service with Australian George Lazenby.

Lauterbrunnen was gorgeous, however we didnt head up to Jungfrau.

I wish i had some more time, and a car because there are so many other places in the Alps i would LOVE to explore one day.

You can view the full set here.

Hope you enjoy,

Till next time..

Kraków, Poland

Krakow Palace Wall

From the vault.. as many may not know I spent 9 weeks backpacking across Europe in early 2009. I have over time created numerous sets of each city I visited and I am looking to get these all finished before July this year.

So here is one I just finished, this is Kraków, Poland.

From Wikipedia;
“Kraków (Polish pronunciation: [krakuf], also spelled Krakow or Cracow (English pronunciation: /?kræka?/, is the 2nd largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination.[1][2] Its historic center was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind.[3] Situated on the Vistula river (Polish: Wis?a) in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century.[4] Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centers of Polish academic, cultural and artistic life, and is one of Poland’s most important economic centers. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Kraków from 1846 to 1918, and the capital of Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland’s second most important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill, and was already being reported as a busy trading center of Slavonic Europe in 965.[5] With the emergence of the Second Polish Republic, and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic center, with the establishment of new universities and cultural venues.”

It is a beautiful town however unfortunately I did not make the most of the photography opportunities (combined with weather). I also decided not to take photos when visiting Auschwitz, perhaps next time i visit.

The people are vibrant, the town is pretty and it is highly recommended.

I will each day post up links to my other sets for each city in Europe.

You can visit the whole set here.

Till next time..

Week 21 – Can i join the club?

Week 21 - Can i join the club?

Stormy Stormtrooper facing off with the Lego Stormtroopers club.. elitists?

This one is a bit early this week 🙂

Had it shot and just wanted to post it up, planning some more shots for next week too.

Till next time..

Shrimp Shrimp Shrimp!

You talkin to me?

I keep shrimp as pets! Yes, little funky giant sea monkey type shrimp. They are Red Cherry Shrimp more info here.

I havent had them long, but they are a freshwater species. The females go the bright cherry red where the males are more clear with red veins and paler red colouring.

They are quite adaptive to their habitat, and lucky for me the darker the substrate (tank base) you have, the deeper more pronounced colour the shrimps turn.

At this stage they are yet to breed, but I am keeping them at around 25 degrees C and with a mix of males and females I am hoping they start breeding in the near future.

This was a first time for shooting my new little nano tank, and the first time ever with my D90.. infact.. it was the first time I have used my 50mm1.8D since i picked it up over 2 years ago.. quite happy with the pics however it is really hard to get tripod access due to where the tank is.

Ill just have to keep practicing.

Anyway, hope you enjoy 🙂

Till next time…

Week 20 – Fire(stormy) Stormtrooper

Week 20 - Fire(stormy) Stormtrooper

Mid week there was a lot of back burning done on the outskirts of Sydney. This sent a plume of smog, smell and ash and cast a great orange glow over the whole metropolitan. In the late arvo, whilst home off sick i noticed that due to the angle of the sun, it created a very intense firestorm red colour on a section of the dining room floor. I decided it would be a good stage for stormy to show his fire fighting prowess… or not.

Up to date now 🙂 Phew.. dont have to spam the blog to get it done!

Week 14 – Road Trippin’

Week 14 - Road Trippin'