how has this been done???!

[rbarker]

Although it's called "tilt/shift", that's really a misnomer, as shift does nothing to the angular placement of the focus plane. "Tilt/swing" would be more accurate.

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

There's a photographer who's all the rage now because he do such things with an aerial camera and a kite, I think. He's doing a series taking such pictures of cities, I know he did it for Montreal for an exhibit at the Centre Canadien d'Architecture.

Found his name: Olivo Barbieri is the man. http://www.hamiltonsgallery.com/phot...b-virtual.html

Extra shallow DOF and whatnot somebody will explain better than I creates the effect that big cities look like a small-scale model.

[Bill R]

Earlier this month I saw this technique used on the cover of a magazine touting the golf course offerings of the San Diego area. It's definitely getting a good amount of use.
I think something similar to this could be achieved with a wide open antique portrait lens. Alan Greene shows an example ("Ramnoeurs en Marche" by Charles Negre, 1851) in his book "Primitive Photography" of such a scene. Good sharpness in the center of the frame, lots of out of focus in the areas immediately adjacent. Not as pronounced, but similar. It has the effect of making the people in the photo look somewhat like miniatures.
Overall I think it can work if used for a good reason. Plenty of potential to become a cheap gimmick when applied indiscriminately.