Starting Up Again

ricke46 · Sep 13, 2009

Hey There,

I studied photography in high-school which was almost ten years ago and thought I'd pick up the camera again. We had a small family get-together and shot this picture. Is the vignette effect a bit much? Any and all comments/critiques are welcomed.

Thanks!

MikeBookPro · Sep 14, 2009

I love it! I think the vignette may be a bit much, but it does add to the "antique" effect, in my opinion. Nice shot!

Village Idiot · Sep 14, 2009

How did you do it. Looks a bit uneven and it comes on too strong. A good natural vingette has a smooth gradient from dark to light and should not outline the entire frame.

Stock Photos · Sep 14, 2009

I like the idea but the face seems a bit blurred. A sharper focus on the face would be better.

Samanax · Sep 14, 2009

ricke46 said:
Is the vignette effect a bit much? Any and all comments/critiques are welcomed.

No, the vignette isn't too much...in fact, it works fine with this kind of PP effect (mono-chrome/sepia-tone).

Did you soften the image on purpose?

ricke46 · Sep 14, 2009

MikeBookPro said:
I love it! I think the vignette may be a bit much, but it does add to the "antique" effect, in my opinion. Nice shot!

Thank you! Glad you like it

Village Idiot said:
How did you do it. Looks a bit uneven and it comes on too strong. A good natural vingette has a smooth gradient from dark to light and should not outline the entire frame.

I took a brush in PS and painted around the edges, then blurred the painted area until I got what I thought looked right.

Do you have any examples of a "natural vingette". I didn't know it was a natural effect and am curious as to what it really looks like.

Thanks for the opinion Village Idiot, I appreciate it!

Stock Photos said:
I like the idea but the face seems a bit blurred. A sharper focus on the face would be better.

I thought I focused on the face. I try and sharpen it and see how that comes out.

Samanax said:
ricke46 said:

Is the vignette effect a bit much? Any and all comments/critiques are welcomed.

Click to expand...

No, the vignette isn't too much...in fact, it works fine with this kind of PP effect (mono-chrome/sepia-tone).

Did you soften the image on purpose?

The only thing I blurred was the vingette edges. Other than that, no blur effect was applied on the photo, just color correction.

Derrel · Sep 14, 2009

Being a little kid and all, I'll bet she was wearing a pair of cute little shoes that her mother or grandmother carefully and lovingly bought for her to wear. Those little applique-covered overalls--also, probably lovingly picked out by Mom or Grandma or Aunt Beth. The clothes kids are dressed in for family reunions and events like that are often chosen with care, by the parents. But by framing this horizontally, we can't see her outfit very well. Instead we see the background quite a bit. The child is looking out of the frame,and her expression is, I think, one of worry if the flowers she's handling are off-limits or not.

I think the expression is working against the picture overall,and I think the framing choice of horizontal is not nearly as strong as if the camera had been turned to frame the child from head to toe in a vertical framing. The vignette does add a bit of an old-time flavor, as does the slight sepia toning of the image.

ricke46 · Sep 14, 2009

Derrel said:
Being a little kid and all, I'll bet she was wearing a pair of cute little shoes that her mother or grandmother carefully and lovingly bought for her to wear. Those little applique-covered overalls--also, probably lovingly picked out by Mom or Grandma or Aunt Beth. The clothes kids are dressed in for family reunions and events like that are often chosen with care, by the parents. But by framing this horizontally, we can't see her outfit very well. Instead we see the background quite a bit. The child is looking out of the frame,and her expression is, I think, one of worry if the flowers she's handling are off-limits or not.

I think the expression is working against the picture overall,and I think the framing choice of horizontal is not nearly as strong as if the camera had been turned to frame the child from head to toe in a vertical framing. The vignette does add a bit of an old-time flavor, as does the slight sepia toning of the image.

Thanks Derrel, I'll try and remember to turn the camera over and get a tighter shot next time I find myself in that situation.