Vignetting for Mood

June 25, 2008

Sometimes it’s nice to go out with some friends and just have some fun shooting photos. On this day, I set out to mindfully shoot photos which I planned to post-process using an extreme vignetting effect. Vignetting is a natural effect which can occur when shooting with certain lenses at wide apertures. Sometimes, rather than trying to “fix” vignetting effects in post processing, we can embrace and exaggerate them to create a certain moodiness in our image. Here are a few shots which I would like to share with everyone, as an example of using extreme vignetting (during post-processing) on some recent “fun shoots” I was on.

These examples are meant to illustrate the various moods that can be created by vignetting. Additionally, I wanted to demonstrate how an extreme vignette (although sometimes even a subtle one) can draw the eye in to the subject in your image. In this last image, I also used an Orton effect to make the skin “glow.”

If anybody would like further information on my post processing steps for these images, please drop me a line in the forums and I would be more than happy to assist.

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Posted in Photography Stuff, Photoshop Stuff