Learning from students

One of the joys of teaching art is that you cannot know everything and sometimes a student shows you something that you missed. For me it was “Tilt Shift”. For those that are like me and missed this her is a definition from http://www.tiltshiftphotography.net/

“Tilt-Shift Photography (Miniature Faking) Definition
Tilt-Shift photography or miniature faking is a creative technique whereby a photograph of a life-size location or object is manipulated to give an optical illusion of a photograph of a miniature scale model.
Altering the focus of the photography in Photoshop (or similar program) simulates the shallow depth of field normally encountered with macro lenses making the scene seem much smaller than it actually is.
In addition to focus manipulation, the tilt-shift photography effect is improved by increasing color saturation and contrast, to simulate the bright paint often found on scale models.
Most faked tilt-shift photographs are taken from a high angle to further simulate the effect of looking down on a miniature. The technique is particularly effective on buildings, cars, trains and people.”
I have start my exploration using Snapseed (and app I love for you iPad that is great for playing around with images.)
Before:

After: (using Drama effect, then Tilt shift affect)

My next job is to get some better images, do further background reading and learn how to do it myself rather the using an app, or what are the bet apps for the job! as usual all advise and comments welcome!

Further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt–shift_photography
http://tiltshiftmaker.com/
Photoshop tutorial:
http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/tilt-shift-photoshop/
http://www.tiltshiftphotography.net/tilt-shift-photography-photoshop-tutorial/