Awesome Tilt Shift Photos from Around the World
It’s been a while since we first published our photo essay of awesome miniatures from around the world. We had good intentions to publish a second post shortly afterwards, but that seems to be well over a year ago. Who knew having a baby would be so time consuming?!
You may recognize a few of these photos as past Photo of the Week selections. In case you missed the first post, here’s the link.
The miniature effect is achieved by combining heavy saturation and sharpness with “over blurring” to the areas that are out of focus. In photography circles, this technique is called ’tilt-shift photography’. Although we must confess that we created the effect using photo editing software, not with our actual camera and lens. Old school photographers will call us cheaters, but we’re okay with that – we have fun making these photos.
We hope you like them!
Child bull-rider at the Temples of Angkor, Cambodia
Cute village in the Mosel Valley of Germany
The fiery orange desert plains of Wadi Rum, Jordan
River boat in old town Zurich, Switzerland
Mysterious moai statues at Ahu Tongariki, Easter Island
Cityscape of Old Town Prague, Czech Republic
Busy bus terminal in Ankara, Turkey
Passionate baseball fans in Yokohama, Japan
Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, India
The legendary lost Incan City of Machu Picchu, Peru
Little Venice on Mykonos Island, Greece
The ancient city of Petra, Jordan
The seaside village of Omis on the Croatian Coast
Harbour views of Vancouver, British Columbia
The peak of Mount Pilatus in the Swiss Alps
We’re curious – which one is your favourite photo?
Do you like the miniature effect?
Share your feedback in the comments section below, we’d love to hear from you!
I love the miniature of Easter Island. And of course Vancouver – home sweet home <3
I like those ones too! 🙂
The Vancouver shot and that little boy riding a bull are two of my favorites. Love this series of photos. So creative and fun!
Thanks Keryn! We happy you like the photos. It’s fun making them! 🙂
I always find that the miniatures turn out better when you’re at an elevated position from the subject you want to minify with a the tilt-shift effect.
I like the lot you posted here though, especially the Manchu Picchu one
Agreed – the higher the better!
Glad you like the post Tyler 🙂
It’s a toss-up between Petra and Easter Island. Great experiences and pictures, but I’m still puzzling over why the effect is called “miniature.”
Well, it’s actually called tilt-shift photography, but that’s a strange name if you are unfamiliar with the term. We find that “miniature” is a better description. The idea is that the images look like a miniature scene, rather than the real scene.
Can you share more tips how you did this with software?
If you do a Google search for “tilt shift with Photoshop” you can find a bunch of tutorials.
thanks, I’ll check.
p.s. I think you had “subscription to follow up comments”, but I can’t find it any more.
Well I’m gonna learn how to use edge blurs now too.
Great! Send us some links to pics when you’ve got some uploaded. We’d love to check them out!
I like both Easter and Mykonos Islands. Maybe because they’re both islands. Love your “miniature” series. So inspiring for me to get higher. All are beautiful in their own way.
Thanks Sherry! We’r happy you like the photos 🙂
I like the one of the child rider in Angkor Wat. I actually have a setting on my camera that does it without photoshop. I forget about it though. Will try to remember on this trip.
I like that one too Andrew. It’s not the typical “Temples of Angkor” scene.
Unfortunately I don’t have the proper set-up with my hardware, so until I do, it’s photo software!
Love the boy riding the bull and Machu Picchu!
Me too. I got some good height for those ones.
Thanks for stopping by!
Great snapshots. My favourite one is definitely the fiery orange desert plains of Wadi Rum in Jordan. AWESOME!
I agree – that one is pretty cool. I love how orange the desert turned at sunset. I had to hike quite a bit to get far enough away from our jeep to showcase the landscape, but I think it turned out well. Cheers!
Easter Island and Peru are my favorites.
Those are both in mu Top 5 too 🙂
These are some awesome pictures! I agree, Machu Picchu and Easter Island are my favorites. Is the location where you shot the Prague picture easy to find? We’re going back in a few months and I’m trying to find interesting places to shoot from.
Thanks!
I responded to you in an email, but to those that also have a similar question – it is very easy to find. We took that photo from the Prague Castle. There’s a pathway that leads down the hill, we captured that one someone in that area.
how lovely! Great idea for showing miniature world. Think my favourite is Machu Picchu.
Thanks Aga – glad you like the photos!
haha so cute!
Thanks!
LOVE this! The Croatian one and the Macchu Pichu ones are my fav. I want to learn how to do this….
It’s really easy. Do a quick google search on tilt-shift photo editing. Lots of sites offer a basic tutorial. The key is to have an aerial or distant photo with things to “miniaturize” – that’s the hard part. The editing is easy
It’s hard to believe that some of those are miniatures- they’re all incredible. I can’t really narrow them done to one favorite, but I do really like the fiery desert because the figure in the scene looks so lifelike.
Thanks Tonya! We’re glad you like the photos. The Wadi Rum photo turned out great. We love the bright colours from the sunset and desert.
What a great effect! Changes the mood of the image completely. Superb collection of images too, so vibrant. Great memories of your past adventures!
Thanks Charli!
machu picchu is my fave
My favourite for the miniature effect is your photo of the child bull rider. Overall I like the Easter Island one the most. Looking forward to the next set, guys.
wowwwwwwww what a destination i to like to explore
I am in awe of the Machu Picchu, Peru picture. Amazing!
It’s obvious that you built miniatures and then photographed them… Give up the ruse 🙂
These pictures are incredible, they don’t look even look real!
My favourite for the miniature effect is your photo of the child bull rider. Overall I like the Easter Island one the most. Looking forward to the next set, guys.
It’s hard to believe that some of those are miniatures- they’re all incredible. I can’t really narrow them done to one favorite, but I do really like the fiery desert because the figure in the scene looks so lifelike.