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Filed under: Fun, Photo, iPhone

Tiltshift Generator brings easy toy camera effects to the iPhone

I'm not a photographer by any means (although I hear Download Squad's newest blogger, Sebastian, is!), and the iPhone's built-in camera isn't exactly the greatest piece of photography equipment around, but the TiltShift Generator iPhone app doesn't really care!

This neat little 99-cent app applies cool toy-camera (think 'dollhouse miniatures') effects and vignetting to any photo, and makes even the crummiest iPhone photographers look good. It can apply two styles of adjustable blur, some color controls and, of course, those hot-looking dark edges.

We've covered ways to fake a tilt-shift effect before on Download Squad - yes, you could just buy a special lens, but software can provide a cheaper approximation - but this is the first on-the-go option I've tried. iPhone features include applying effects to photos you've already taken, saving new photos you take with the app, and sharing via email or Twitter.

If you're not sure where to start with tiltshift photos, try shooting a cluster of objects from above - the creator of the app has done some great-looking stuff with houses and parking lots. Even if you're not too confident in your photographic abilities, shell out a dollar for this app and see what you can do. You might be surprised!

Filed under: Fun, Photo, Adobe, Imaging Tips, Web

Tiltshift Generator helps you fake tilt-shift images in your browser

Tiltshift Generator

Tilt-shift photography, if you haven't heard of it, is a technique that results in only one small area of a photo being in focus. This tight area of focus often results in the photo appearing to be made up of miniatures, rather than real people and objects. The effect typically requires a special (and often expensive) tilt-shift optical lens. If you don't have the money for the real thing, or just want to play with the effect, check out Tiltshift Generator.

The Tiltshift Generator website hosts a Flash application that will allow you to open any image that is local on your file system, then apply effects that will approximate the tilt-shift effect. The default settings out of the gate are quite good, but if you're not happy with the results there are a number of tweaks you can make to get just the effect you're looking for. You can also apply the effect to portraits, to really focus in on the subject matter. While not a traditional use of a tilt-shift camera, the effect when using Tiltshift Generator on this type of photo is quite nice.

In addition to being a website, Tiltshift Generator is available as an Adobe AIR free cross-platform application, so you can take your tilt-shifting offline.

Filed under: Fun, Photo, Web

Create tilt-shifted photos with Tiltshiftmaker

Tilt-shifting, that spiffy photo effect that makes real people and objects look like part of a tiny toy set, has become really popular lately.

Tilt-shift time lapse videos by Keith Loutit were recently featured all over the Internet, inspiring others to figure out how to achieve the effect in their own photos. You could Google a step-by-step tutorial, or you could save yourself the trouble and use Tiltshiftmaker.

Pop a photo into Tiltshiftmaker, move the sliders around to choose the area you want to focus on, and that's all there is to it. It seems to work best with photos that are shot from above and from a distance. If you need some inspiration, there's also Tiltshiftmaker's gallery you can check out and add your own photos to.

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