Vignette or no vignette?

[Granddad]

Roche Abbey (abbey ruins in South Yorkshire, UK) yesterday, the sunlight was very harsh so we eventually moved to a shady corner. I don't usually do monochrome or vignettes but for this shot a conversion and a vignette seemed to fit. I'm not sure if I like the vignette or not.

The shady corner was also home to a number of blackberry bushes so when we finished shooting we filled our empty lunch bag.

 

[Space Face]

A little less imo.

 

[NS: Nikon Shooter]

-

Vignetting is like salt… add to taste.
The first is quite ok but less would be better!

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

2nd is much more pleasing to me.

 

[Granddad]

Roche Abbey (abbey ruins in South Yorkshire, UK) yesterday, the sunlight was very harsh so we eventually moved to a shady corner. I don't usually do monochrome or vignettes but for this shot a conversion and a vignette seemed to fit. I'm not sure if I like the vignette or not.

The shady corner was also home to a number of blackberry bushes so when we finished shooting we filled our empty lunch bag.

A little less imo.

-

Vignetting is like salt… add to taste.
The first is quite ok but less would be better!

2nd is much more pleasing to me.

Thanks Guys, I agree. I've seen so many vignettes in Facebook groups recently I thought I'd give it a whirl... I'm not going to reject them out of hand but they're not going to be a part of my normal workflow. I think this one may have worked with a "darker" theme but not on this image. Like many other people photographers, thanks to Covid, I'm out of practice.

 

[smoke665]

When thinking of vignettes, many times people think in terms of the boring symmetrical vignette filter in LR. I tend to follow the literary definition of a vignette, where it's intended to leave an impression on the audience’s mind by focusing on a particular moment and providing more information about a character, theme, mood, or idea. Accentuating the contrasts between light and dark throughout the frame in the style of Chiaroscuro to sketch a scene within the larger frame, much as the eye would see in real life, IMO makes for a more interesting work.

Nice shot by the way, the lady is quite talented in her connection with the camera.

 

[Donde]

Much better without the vignette in my opinion.

 

[Warfarin]

Guess I’m the odd duck out. I like the vignette better.

 

[jeffashman]

Nice shot! A little less vignette, but the vignette works.

 

[slat]

I like the vignette just a little less.

 

[johngpt]

I'm a fan of using light or shaping light to draw the viewer's eye to where I feel it needs to go.
I've gotten away from using standard vignetting sliders if provided in an app. They aren't versatile enough.

I'll use gradients fairly often, either luminosity or color/luminosity combinations.
For example in your photo I might try a luminosity gradient coming in from the left to the person and then one coming in from the right to the person. These would be standard linear gradients, from darker at the edges of frame to lighter near the person.
This way the eye is brought toward the person like a circular vignette or oval vignette but we wouldn't lose illumination at her lower body.
When done subtly the viewer might not even be aware that it was done.

 

[adamhiram]

Great shot, and I personally like the vignette, I think it adds to the mood of the photo and directs attention straight to your subject. I might try backing off with the vignette a little to see if less is more, but overall I definitely prefer it. For what it’s worth, I will often use a radial filter to add a vignette instead of the vignette tool, which allows me to change the shape of the vignette to match the subject.

 

[SquarePeg]

Thanks Guys, I agree. I've seen so many vignettes in Facebook groups recently I thought I'd give it a whirl... I'm not going to reject them out of hand but they're not going to be a part of my normal workflow. I think this one may have worked with a "darker" theme but not on this image. Like many other people photographers, thanks to Covid, I'm out of practice.

Nicely shot. Somewhere in the middle of these two is the vignette sweet spot I think. Vignette is definitely part of my normal workflow. I start with a subtle (in my opinion) vignette of -11 on almost every shot. I adjust from there but rarely end up removing it entirely. I agree with John. Placement is important so apply it manually with brushes or use the gradient tool.