Tilt-shifting "Real-life" into Miniature

I discovered Tiltshift Maker through How About Orange, where Jessica Jones posted both original and tilt-shift photos of Venice (that's her image above). Tilt-shifting is a photographic technique that creates special effects when taking a photo, shifting the focus in unusual ways. One effect is to create the illusion of miniature scale models out of photos of real-life scenes.

You can go to tiltshiftmaker.com to easily transform your existing digital camera photos into tilt-shift style miniatures; no registration or sign-up required. Needless to say, some pictures work better than others.

If you are inexplicably fascinated – as I am – with miniatures, you'll find this to be fun. I tried it with a few pictures I took in Holland a few summers ago when we were on vacation there. De Banjaard, where we stay, is already a bit like a miniature village (especially if you stand above it, near the ocean, looking down), so the photo process just exaggerates that. (I really like the windmill in the gadget at the left, as it is a "miniature" of a miniature.)

Here are a couple of photos from Deutschland, too. My sister-in-law, Heike, said that when she returned to Germany after her first trip to the United States she had the uncanny feeling that Europeans "live in dolls' houses." These photos magnify that miniaturization-effect.

Hello to Heike

It's time to give a shout out to Heike, my sister-in-law, who is recovering from surgery in Germany. She is married to Chris, Andreas's youngest brother, and together they helped bring us Lenni, the foreign exchange student living with us now. Lenni is Heike's godson.

Well, first of all: we love Lenni – he is a joy! He's a senior in high school with Jack, a couple of years older than Savannah. The three of them became easy, compatible siblings almost immediately. Lenni is smart, kind, funny, and he plays the piano each day, often when I'm fixing dinner, or just before school. So, thank you, Heike, for thinking of this arrangement – it couldn't be better! The hard part will be saying good-bye to Lenni in February.

I'm including a couple of photos here, one of Heike coming home after work at her house in Germany, when we were guests there. She is walking up through the gorgeous garden she planted that includes some flowers from mother-in-law Marlies. And there is Christoph on the left, on the same path.

Hey Heike – we hope you are recovering at home with your feet up, a cup of tea, and time to relax. We miss you and hope you'll send some words to elenabella, visiting often. Here's a photo of the 3 teens.