How to take tilt-shift photos with a smartphone

How to take tilt-shift photos with a smartphone

Learn how to make cool miniature effect photos using nothing more than your smartphone.

Ben Thomas

Tilt-shift photos make the world look miniature, almost as if you are looking at a diorama.

Traditionally, to achieve these photos you need to manipulate perspective and depth of field with a dedicated tilt-shift lens and dSLR.

However, the miniature effect can be mimicked using tools like Photoshop, or even a smartphone.

Ben Thomas is a photographer who has captured cities around the world in their full tilt-shift glory. Although he often uses traditional photographic gear, he also uses a smartphone for many of his images.

Thomas suggests starting with something that reminds you of your childhood. "Cars, trains, planes even playgrounds and the beach make great subjects," he says.

The city of Melbourne looks like a diorama in this smartphone tilt-shift photo.Ben Thomas

Step one: The key to achieve a good result is to find a high vantage point. Try photographing subjects from buildings looking down to the ground; a bridge; Ferris Wheel or even in a sports stadium.

Keep your composition relatively simple and make sure any human subjects are small in the scene. Ensure there is plenty of light available so you can take the sharpest starting photo possible.

Step two: Load up a tilt-shift filter in your default camera app. Look for something called miniature or blur effect. Otherwise, you can use a separate app to edit an existing photo that you have already taken.

Some third-party apps to create tilt-shift photos include TiltShiftGen2 for iOS. Windows Phone users can try the Lumia Creative Studio app with a tilt-shift effect (look for the blur menu). For Android, grabPixlr for free. Otherwise, Instagram also has a tilt-shift effect.

Step three: If you are taking the photo from within the tilt-shift app, adjust the exposure if necessary to avoid blowing out highlights or losing detail in shadow areas.

Step four: Now it's time to add the effect to your photo and select your plane of focus. Depending on the app, you can usually adjust other variables like the amount of blur.

In Pixlr, tap the Adjustment icon then select Focal. Choose a linear (rather than circular) effect and move/rotate the lines where you want to keep your point of focus. Select the amount of blur you desire.

Adjusting the focal plane in Pixlr.Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET

Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET

The radial/circular effect will keep a circular area of the image relatively sharp, with the rest falling out to blur. It can look quite artificial with heavy use.

In Instagram (right), once you have loaded or taken the photo you wish to post, tap the wrench icon and scroll across to find the tilt-shift icon at the far right.

From here, you can choose a radial or linear effect. Adjust the focal point by tapping on the image and dragging up and down. Expand the range by using two fingers to pinch and drag. Here's a detailed run-down of how to use this effect on Instagram.

Step five: Thomas suggests boosting colours and other image attributes to bring the subject to the fore.

Saturation, contrast and vibrancy are all settings you may want to tweak for a more pronounced effect.

Lexy Savvides/CNET

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Sooall Next DNA eBike turns calories into battery life

Sooall Next DNA eBike turns calories into battery life

China's Sooall gives exercise an eco edge, letting you charge some batteries while you pedal away your excess fat.

Charge your batteries while burning fat with Sooall's exercise bike.Aloysius Low/CNET

SHANGHAI -- At the inaugural CES Asia, Chinese firm Sooall serves up an interesting spin on the exercise bike with the Next DNA eBike. Its name is a mouthful and inexplicably includes a DNA reference, but if you're thinking 'eBike' means electric, you're both right and wrong. This bike doesn't use electricity to generate speed, it uses speed to generate electricity.

Located at the rear of the trainer are three battery packs, which are charged when you start working out. Once charged, you can use these USB-friendly power packs to juice up your other mobile devices. There's no word on the exact capacity of the battery packs, and how long you'd have to pedal to deliver a full charge. I'll update should we get a clear answer.

That's not all the bike has up its sleeve. A Sooall spokesperson said the bike will also have a virtual coach that will help you train, and can alter the intensity required of the pedals based on a real route. If you're "climbing" a mountain, expect the pedal resistance to be pretty draining on your legs.

Remembering that everything in the world is meant to be smart and connected these days, the Next DNA eBike will also support multiplayer. If you have friends who also own the eBike you can cycle routes at the same time. This could deliver great motivation benefits, making you feel more accountable to completing a training session when you have friends putting in the effort at the same time.

The unit on display was a prototype so we couldn't take it for a test ride, and the battery packs weren't exactly real either. With that said, a Sooall spokesperson said the company has plans to launch this bike in the next two months in China, at 10,000 Renminbi (around $1,612, £1,040 and AU$2,058). So if you're getting this, you better be putting in the effort to get your money's worth.

One of the three battery packs you'll be charging.

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Etsy may face 'Handmade' rival from Amazon

Etsy may face 'Handmade' rival from Amazon

Craft makers, would you decamp from Etsy for someplace called Handmade at Amazon? The e-commerce giant is looking to gauge your interest.

Uh-oh, Etsy. Amazon may have a Handmade challenge for you.Screenshot by CNET

A decade into its run on the Web, the crafts marketplace Etsy may soon face its biggest challenge yet.

E-commerce titan Amazon has been putting out feelers to sellers on Etsy, pointing them to an online form thanking them for their interest in "Handmade at Amazon." They're asked to fill out the form with information about their business and the items they sell -- from jewelry to gourmet goods to toys and games -- with a promise to keep respondents updated "while we set up shop."

Etsy's artisans began posting notes about Amazon's inquiries to Etsy's online forums late last week, and the news was noted by the Wall Street Journal on Friday evening.

Etsy as it appears on iOS.Etsy

Amazon and Etsy both declined to comment to CNET.

Brooklyn-based Etsy has built a business by connecting buyers and sellers of arts and crafts, deriving its revenue from listing fees and from commissions on items for sale. The potential launch of Amazon's Homemade marketplace comes as it enters a new financial phase. In April, the 10-year-old Etsy began trading as a public company on the Nasdaq exchange.

At the end of the first quarter of the year, Etsy reported more than 1.4 million active sellers (up 26 percent year over year) and 20.8 million active buyers (up 37 percent). Its revenue for the period was $58.5 million on gross merchandise sales of nearly $532 million -- increases year over year of 44 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

The Wall Street firm Wedbush Securities last week called it unlikely that a big e-commerce company like Amazon, eBay or Alibaba would want to acquire Etsy "as they already have most of Etsy's customers and many of Etsy's sellers." Rather, Wedbush said in a note to investors, "We believe if the bigger players wanted to specifically address this [niche] ... they would only need to segregate a handcrafted section and funnel existing buyers and sellers."

But as the Wall Street Journal noted, Etsy's fees to sellers are notably lower than those of Amazon.

Amazon, which got its start as a bookseller, now has dozens of marketplaces in areas as far afield as fine art, laboratory and scientific equipment, musical instruments and business supplies. It already has a marketplace dedicated to "Arts, Crafts & Sewing." Through its Amazon Prime subscription service, meanwhile, it also serves up streaming video and music, unlimited cloud storage of photos and other perks.

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