I came across this site with some really great examples of tilt shift photography. I’m not sure what the site is about, as it’s in Japanese.
If you’re unfamiliar with tilt shift, you can find a very technical definition on wikipedia. Basically, the end result is a real scene that ends up looking like you photographed a miniature model (yes, the image above is a real beach).
Historically, tilt shift has been done in the camera, but you can simulate the effect in Photoshop as well. See the links below.
Lensbabies – pre-made tilt shift device
DIY tutorial – make your own with a plunger
Photoshop tutorial – fake it on any photo
found via Vestal Design
That’s really weird but pretty cool!