Tilt-shift photography, often made with a specialized lens, lets you put an area in focus while blurring other areas and distorting the photo’s perspective. One awesome side effect is at play in the above photos — toy-sized basketball players gathering on a court; mini-people enjoying a sunny stretch of beach. We’re used to seeing such a short depth of field in the photographing of tiny things. When this effect is applied to subjects that are actually far away, they appear strangely miniaturized. Ta da!

If this style of illusion is up your alley, the following groups have photos like these in spades: Tilt-shift Miniature Fakes | The Tilt-shift miniature style photos | Tilt-Shift 1-2 Miniatures | TILT SHIFT (It’s all nicey nicey in Toytown).

Photos from anniedaisybaby, Light Up The Night, Wally Baba, Aliceblueblazes, Dr. RawheaD, and ovalspleen.