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Vignetting


shmoo
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I have noticed a lot of people on DOL use a vignetting effect on their images. I am curious to know if this is intentional (I have only heard of vignetting being a problem that requires correcting) and if so, is your technical mechanical, optical or done in Photoshop?

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When I use vignette I add it manually either in lightroom or photoshop.

Few of my lens/body combos give it to me right in camera, but sometimes I will use combos that do. When I choose to do this usually I'll leave it in the image instead of "fixing" it as I pretty much went into shooting that image to get some.

I guess mostly I prefer to do it in processing so I can control it precisely (and change my mind over and over LOL).

I'm guessing almost everyone here does it in post for most images.

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Maybe it is a photography trend - sometimes it can make photos worse rather than better too. I just printed a photo with a very slight vignetting and quickly removed it for re-printing

Edited by helen
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sometimes it can make photos worse rather than better too. I just printed a photo with a very slight vignetting and quickly removed it for re-printing

Agree with this. I am guilty of overusing it sometimes but my husband usually pulls me up on it before printing! :thumbsup:

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I think it looks good when deliberately added provided it's not overdone. Never seems to look good when it's just the lens that causes it. I never add it but I do have a lens that does it under some conditions and then I dont like it at all.

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There are good vignettes and bad vignettes...

bad:

White (one on about 5000 images looks good with a white vignette *shudder* )

oval

Too sudden a change in the gradient (whether lighter or darker)

vignette for no reason

good:

subtle change in tones

highlights an element of the image without taking away from the image

handled with delicacy

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I actually HATE the LR vignettes. I feel they appear muddy and 'blech' when not handled right.

Me personally; when in LR I prefer to use an exposure brush and burn the areas I want darker. It doesn't end up looking gray and pastey.

but that's just me.

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Oval vignetting is a BAD IDEA.

*nods vigourously in agreement*

Can you show examples of oval vignetting and why it is so bad please. Since I dont use it I haven't really taken alot of notice of it.

When dealing with 'antique' or antique styled images - it's acceptable

vignettejane.gif

However when dealing with contemporary subject - it's a DO NOT GO NEAR zone

vignette01.jpg

(the white oval vignette is a style that seems to be popular with some dog show photographers :thumbsup: )

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Shmoo, this image has had a vignette applied

4105496740_476b0e61ac_o.jpg

The vignette was achieved by using an exposure brush at about -.50 in Lightroom (but a similar effect could be achieved using the 'burn' tool in photoshop.)

The vignette is used to draw attention to the bride and the groom and take attention away from the buildings... but still leaves the detail in the surrounding environment.

Subtlety is the key. Heavy handed vignetting is what kills many images.

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"bad" and "good" are going to be subjective.

My take on it is if the vignette is something that you really really notice as an element all to itself, it's probably in the "not good" category. If it's something that you don't really take much notice of or that leads you to think, wow, I like the way that subject is brought out, then it's probably in the "good" category.

LRs vignette is tough to work with if an image is cropped at all, for sure. On non-cropped images it's not too bad, imho. Other tools you can use in LR are the gradient filter on the edges - works a treat. I think LR3 has better vignettes, but I haven't downloaded it to play yet.

Oval, white and completely solid "vignettes" do nothing for me either.

BTW ash, nice OCF & pose!

Edited by kja
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"bad" and "good" are going to be subjective.

My take on it is if the vignette is something that you really really notice as an element all to itself, it's probably in the "not good" category. If it's something that you don't really take much notice of or that leads you to think, wow, I like the way that subject is brought out, then it's probably in the "good" category.

LRs vignette is tough to work with if an image is cropped at all, for sure. On non-cropped images it's not too bad, imho. Other tools you can use in LR are the gradient filter on the edges - works a treat. I think LR3 has better vignettes, but I haven't downloaded it to play yet.

Oval, white and completely solid "vignettes" do nothing for me either.

BTW ash, nice OCF & pose!

I had them posed differently when the bride goes, 'This reminds me of ballet' and she did a little arabesque. I started yelling at her, "Do it again! DO IT AGAIN!" and as she did the wind lifted her veil. It was just one of those moments :hug: (joint effort between the husband and I, my posing, his taking of photo, my magnificent placement of flash :thumbsup:, my editing :rofl: )

As for the rest of your post - yes, yes and YES!

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