Note: To protect the privacy of our members, e-mail addresses have been removed from the archived messages. As a result, some links may be broken.
Find Lesson Plans on getty.edu! GettyGames

[teacherartexchange] How To Miniaturize a Scene in Photoshop

---------

From: Rebecca Burch (mamallama_at_TeacherArtExchange)
Date: Tue Apr 22 2008 - 14:42:44 PDT

Here is a link for miniaturizing a scene in Photoshop. It could also
be called a faux tilt-shift effect. Either way, it's pretty easy.

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/magazine/15-10/st_howtoscene

Tips:

* Start with a photo that has a well-defined foreground, middleground
and background, with something from the foreground near the "horizon
line" (doesn't have to be smack in the middle, but along the midline)
of the picture for best results.

* An example of a good photo to use would be a photo of buildings and
traffic on the street taken from a 3-4 story window, with a car just
getting ready to go through the light in the center of the picture.

* Photos of things we identify as "big" work best -- buildings,
trains, traffic, etc... Things that are smaller or of indeterminate
size are more difficult to make convincing miniature pictures with.
(Probably a big "duh," here, but I have had students try to
miniaturize each other with vague backgrounds, or iPods, or
whatever... and it doesn't work. If you really want to miniaturize
your friend, have him stand beside a building or tree or something.)

* It is really cool to miniaturize a scene that isn't perfect -- a
building with a boarded-up door, or a shop that has been vacant for
years. Little details that let the viewer know that this is probably
not a real miniature make it interesting, especially if you can get a
really good tilt-shift effect.

* You might also want to experiment with the amount of blur you use.

* Adjust the color saturation to make the colors a little brighter
than normal to really make the photo look like a convincing miniature.

* Some images just work better than others, so take some time to experiment.

In other words, experiment, experiment, experiment! It's not a
difficult effect to master, but the more you experiment, the more you
can refine the technique to get a convincing miniature scene. (I had
my principal believing that I had built a miniature Nashville in my
basement. She was floored when I told her it was a Photoshop trick!)

Have fun!

Rebecca
Charleston WV 

-- 
Carpe You Some Diem!
http://www.rebeccaburch.com
---
To unsubscribe go to 
http://www.getty.edu/education/teacherartexchange/unsubscribe.html