Fake miniatures without bothering to build models

Photographers use a process called tilt-shift miniature faking to take pictures of life size locations or objects and manipulate them the depth of field to make them look like miniature models. By distorting the focus of the photo, the artist simulates the shallow depth of field normally encountered with macro lenses making the scene seem much smaller than it actually is.

Some examples…

The photography process can also be simulated using photoshop if you want to try it here;s a link to a good tutorial.

Photoshop Tutorial