Tilt shift photography seems to be de-rigueur these days, just do a quick search on reddit to see what I mean. The new (already old, last episode aired tonight on BBC) Sherlock Holmes series uses it extensively, particularly in the opening titles.
from the BBC
Tilt shift lenses allow the lens to be tilted at an angle tho the focal plane – normal lenses are parallel to the focal plane. This creates the unusual effect of an apparent shallow depth of field where there wouldn’t normally be one. In practical terms – tilt shift images look like miniatures or models. This happens because we are conditioned by our familiarity with miniature macro photography and its inherent shallow depth of field.
from thegraphicmac.com
Tilt shift lenses have been around for a while, their popularity being mainly for their shift capabilities, especially for interior and architectual shots. The tilt effects seem to be very fashionable lately – there are photoshop tutorials springing up all over the place showing how to create faux tilt-shift.
They’re rarely as effective as the real thing though.
