Opinion Please

kygarden

Do you prefer the rounded off corners on the photo...or the straight corners? I lean towards the rounded off corners. Not that big of a deal, just trying to find the best presentation possible for when I DO have something I want to make look as good as possible.

NickBull

kygarden wrote:

Do you prefer the rounded off corners on the photo...or the straight corners? I lean towards the rounded off corners. Not that big of a deal, just trying to find the best presentation possible for when I DO have something I want to make look as good as possible.

This is obviously a very personal decision and opinion. I tend to prefer the straight square corners rather than the rounded. I think a rounded corner might suit some pictures, but that would depend on the subject matter whereas I find square corners not to be so picky with the subject matter they associate with :-)

With regards the two samples you have posted, I would suggest that the drop-shadow effect doesn't quite look right. I think it is because the shadow isn't wide enough (on the right and bottom edges), so there is a much wider white space on those edges than on the other two edges. Having said that, however, I would also say that I'm not very keen on that effect on the border.

As I said at the beginning, this is a very personal decison and opinions and these are my opinions. I guess I'm just a traditional kind of guy when it comes to borders!

Nick

kygarden

Ok. thanks for your input. Are you saying make the white area bigger all around and then also make the shadow affect wider on the bottom and right? I was using Gimp to do the shadow and I see no option available to put the shadow anywhere but on the right and bottom.

I do understand about the round vs straight being a personal opinion....but I do think too there would be times rounded corners might look out of place...like maybe on outdoor landscape photos?

NickBull

kygarden wrote:

Ok. thanks for your input. Are you saying make the white area bigger all around and then also make the shadow affect wider on the bottom and right? I was using Gimp to do the shadow and I see no option available to put the shadow anywhere but on the right and bottom.

I do understand about the round vs straight being a personal opinion....but I do think too there would be times rounded corners might look out of place...like maybe on outdoor landscape photos?

I think either make the white area bigger around the left/top edges, or make the shadow darker/extend further into the right and bottom. As it currently stands, it appears to me that the left and top edges are about 1mm wide, and the bottom/right edges are about 3mm wide. But the shadow effect only seems to extend about 1mm, which leaves a percieved gap of 2mm (which is wider than the other side). Hope I've explained this ok.

Yes, I would agree that an outdoor landscape photo would look out of place with rounded corners. It is probably one of those situations where you should just give it a try and see what it looks like based on the picture you have in front of you.

Hope this helps.

Nick.

kygarden

NickBull wrote:

I think either make the white area bigger around the left/top edges, or make the shadow darker/extend further into the right and bottom. As it currently stands, it appears to me that the left and top edges are about 1mm wide, and the bottom/right edges are about 3mm wide. But the shadow effect only seems to extend about 1mm, which leaves a percieved gap of 2mm (which is wider than the other side). Hope I've explained this ok.

Yes, I would agree that an outdoor landscape photo would look out of place with rounded corners. It is probably one of those situations where you should just give it a try and see what it looks like based on the picture you have in front of you.

Hope this helps.

Nick.

Ok...understood. Thanks. I'll see what I can do...might not be able to use Gimp though.

LiquidAir

The framing you have done looks off balance to me. I think you should center the photograph on the white frame and let the drop shadow fall where it may rather than making the frame wider on the side with the shadow.

As for square vs. round, I'd go with square. I think that rectangular framing is an integral part of the photographic medium so I would never present a photograph with any other frame without a very specific reason. The only common exception I can think of is presenting portraits with eliptical frames and even that I would only do if I wanted that antique look.

jsedlak

I think rounded corners are for the web, if it flows with the layout and style of the website and can look great for an image that leads to a gallery. That is to say that the round corners should match or hint at round corners used in the main design of a site. Keeping continuity instead of bold contrast will keep distractions to a minimum. For presenting a photo I am a big fan of the old 5-10% black canvas size increase and a white or colored 1-2 pixel stroke around the image.

kygarden

Ok...here are two variations. I do likethe drop shadow effect but had to lose it for these...