Heavily vignetted, B&W portrait for C&C

crimbfighter · Jul 22, 2010

So, my girlfriend (left) and her sister wanted a fun portrait of them. Soo, I thought this might be a good route to go.

The heavy vignetting is intentional, but I'm not sure if it's...too heavy. Maybe a tighter crop with less vignetting? :scratch:

The one thing that bugged me about this shot is the busy background. I think it sort of ruins it. :grumpy:

But, I'd like to hear from y'all if I'm even on the right track. If so, I will recompose it with a better background and reshoot, otherwise I'll scrap it and start over.

Also, what do you guys think about the pose? :thumbup: or :thumbdown:

tirediron · Jul 22, 2010

I think it's a cute idea, but you're spot on about the background. It detracts massively from the strength of the image. A couple of other factors are that your conversion is rather mid-tone rich and lacking in contrast. A little more black and white would help greatly. I would like to see the density of the vignette reduced and it opened up so that it's not impinging on the subjects.

I think this would work much better outside on a flat lawn with a nice, softly focused hedge as a background. Don't forget to level your images in post.

crimbfighter · Jul 23, 2010

tirediron said:
I think it's a cute idea, but you're spot on about the background. It detracts massively from the strength of the image. A couple of other factors are that your conversion is rather mid-tone rich and lacking in contrast. A little more black and white would help greatly. I would like to see the density of the vignette reduced and it opened up so that it's not impinging on the subjects.

I think this would work much better outside on a flat lawn with a nice, softly focused hedge as a background. Don't forget to level your images in post.

Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't even look at the "horizon" line in this one, I guess I was paying attention to the vertical lines rather than the horizontal ones... For a quick edit, I adjusted the vignetting and upped the contrast a bit. Is this one better with respect to the vignetting and contrast? Obviously the other issues I will have to take care of when I reshoot...

1.