A Little Flat Shift

This seemed like a good frame for use of the tilt shift process, with one problem - it's not high enough of an angle. The best shot is usually from above and then with a gradient cut across the focal area. Then "lens blur" filter on the back ground aú vòila. But not when you catch the distance in the "sharp" zone and although it looks good on some compositions, this tale-tale signature is a deal breaker for me. I thought I had come up with a solution to this..... but not quite.

Must try harder, preferably with my Wacom tablet and more patience next time.