There is a moderately poplar photographic technique, a derivative of tilt-shifting which enables photos of real places to be modified in such a way as they look as if they are photos of scale models.
It’s quite a bizarre effect when done well, and using an online tool, I had a play with some of the photos I have taken over the past few years. You can use more sophisticated cleverness to get a more pronounced effect, but the online tool gives a good idea of what can be achieved.
You can click on each to see the original photo (over at Flickr).
A 1938 tube train on a special outing to High Barnet station
Side Street near the Brunswick Center
Soldiers passing under Wellington Arch by Hyde Park
(open on London Open House Weekend)
London from the top of Northala Park
From the top of a car park just off Oxford Street
Another photo of the 1938 train at the same location as above
And finally – St Giles in the Fields as seen from one of the upper floors of CenterPoint
(taken on London Open House Weekend)
The abrupt blurriness is particularly noticeable on some shots.
Kieth Loutit in Sydney produces some amazing videos, using his camera with tilt-shift lens http://vimeo.com/keithloutit
I tilt-shifted a couple of Little Venice pictures and one of the Thames.