Lauren wrote:
How do people make these kinds of shots? where different things are focused and the DOF is like, perfect and it almost looks like a photo of a model set


It's a technique called Miniaturization (because it looks like a photo of a model set).

If you want to take a photo like that in real life, you'll need to get a decent quality camera and a lens that lets you control the f-stop value (f-stop is just the ratio of lens diameter to focal length). Lower f-stop values will narrow the range of the depth of field, causing a much smaller portion of the scene to be in focus. For example: f-stop of 2.8 has a very narrow depth of field, and most things will be out of focus. f-stop of 24.0 has a very wide depth depth of field and most things will be in focus. Most good cameras will automatically adjust the exposure time to compensate for the f-stop values, but if you don't have a camera that automatically adjusts exposure time, be aware that you'll need to decrease your exposure time with lower f-stop values.

If you want to take a screenshot like that in Skyrim, you'll need to download an ENB which has either Matso's Depth of Field, or my own Depth of Field (search for SkyRealism on SkyrimNexus). Open the enbeffectprepass.fx file and change the fApertureScale or fCameraAperture. Higher values will give you a narrower depth of field.

Cheers!

To achieve this in game I'm sure IndigoNeko method would work I just wanted to explain a bit more about the technique. You could also google "tilt-shift online tools" or use Photoshop to alter your Skyrim images or videos. Using Photoshop rather than a lens in real life has annoyed the so called purist photographers to no end.

Yes, you're partially right. I was wrong...it's called "Miniature Faking".

However, any camera that lets you control f-stop can control depth of field, since depth of field is a side effect of the lens aperture, circles of confusion, and focal length. Bokeh is also a side effect. It requires a good lens to get f-stop values low enough to achieve miniature faking effects (2.8 or lower).

Miniatures can be simulated optically by using lens tilt, although the effect is somewhat different from the shallow DoF that normally results in close-up photography.