Tilt-Shift Photography involves taking real photo and manipulating them so that they look like miniature model scenes. It’s a cool effect which can be created with LensBaby or in Photoshop. But, there is a FREE application which will easily create the same effect. It’s called the TiltShift Generator. The program is written in Adobe AIR, so you will need to have that installed first. (If you are using TweetDeck or Seemic Desktop, you already have Adobe AIR installed.)
The effect is created by selecting a focus point for the effect which will remain sharp. Simple click on the sharp location and adjust the Center Radius slider and Strength. The remaining area is blurred slightly to remove detail and enhance the “model effect”. By adjusting the Contrast, Brightness and the Vignette, you can further enhance the effect.
The LensBaby is NOT a tilt-shift lens. However, since this app simulates the selective focus of the LensBaby, the app should not be called TiltShiftGenerator, either. SelectiveFocusGenerator would be much more appropriate.
Actually, if you read the links in the post, you would see the original “miniature” effect was created using a real tilt-shit lens. These lenses are used for more than just architectural photography. The miniature effect has been widely recreated using Photoshop for movies and special effect shots. But, the average person would first notice the selective focus of these images which is what LensBaby achieves. You can also manipulate the LensBaby images to achieve the same miniature effect. This app, TiltShift Generator, can achieve just a selective focus effect or the miniature effect just by adjusting the sliders.