Whilst many cameras and phones now give you the option of doing a tilt-shift simulation, the simulation used to be done in photoshop.
The key elements to make a good tilt shift are.
Have a high viewpoint if possible
Make a subject with lots of identifiable objects, e.g. cars, buildings people etc.
Increase saturation to give the toy effect
Blur the foreground and background to give a narrow slice in focus
Alternatively you could buy a real tilt-shift lens which allows the photographer to take pictures of buildings without the falling back effect. Or create deep depth of field photos without focus stacking.
Another option would be to use a Lensbaby, which gives the choice of focus point and manipulation of out-of-focus areas. I have one and may make some posts using it if there s interest.
There are even "home-made" tilt-shift lenses using old lenses and flexible tubes.
Below is a tilt-shift effect photo created in Photoshop. The picture is the Auld Brig at Stirling, taken from Stirling Castle.
