My weakness

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Jay H

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Dec 8, 2003
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9,908
Loc
KY
I would like to admit a weakness of mine. Photography kicks my butt. There I said it. I have an awful time designing photographs.

How do yall address this?

I started going for some linen or grayish/greenish silk (mushroom something I think its called). Lately I have just grabbing the dark gray suede “Shadow”. That works and I’m happy and all I would just like to offer a few more choices. For flare I’ll add a v-groove or an arch top (yawn). That’s about as exciting I can seem to get with photographs. There is something about the colors or something that really handicaps me at the design table.

HELP! Ideas?
 
Fabric helps build up the emotion of the shot.

Try working from the emotional message and go from there...

otherwise you'll end up at the bottom of that slippery slope of big white mat and skinny blk frame.
 
You could try to pretend that it is a painting of the same image... maybe.

Part of the problem may be that the photos you are getting are not that interesting to start with.

Think multiple openings, or forcing color with a triple mat (grey, color, white) or color core mats.
 
with pics that are things like family group shots where everyone is wearing different clothes, or school pics over the years where all the backgrounds are different colors - I usually suggest a neutral colored mat - like a beige or tan - or some of the nice new textured mats in the darker colors.

the thing I hate are Wedding pics where there is a white dress and a black tux - and that's all the color you've got to work with - but the white is never really WHITE....... drives me nuts.
 
White rag mats. Flat black frames.

My background is in photography. I got into framing because of photography.

But when someone brings in a dozen-or-so photos to be framed, I'm nearly blind by the end of the design session.

Not much help, Jay, but a little empathy.
 
Have you noticed the portrait background that starts green on one side and fades to red on the other? They must have had a special on that **** thing!! AARRGGHHHH!
 
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This is the B&W phot from the PPFA competition. When I got it, I was totally unispired. Framed it, brought it to regionals, won second. Almost didn't send it to nationals. Won first place.

The photo is about 11 x 14. The mats are about 5" wide. The mat is built up from the photo. I did a v-groove that was sliced through, and I raised the outer mat to give it a shadow. The frame is three Picture Woods frames, plus a PW spacer between the outer cap frame and the center frame.

When they sent this back to me, the glass was in pieces. Scratched mat, scratched frame, I had to do most of it over again. I still don't know why I got it returned. Usually the PPFA keeps the winner of the open competition.

I previewed this post. Looks big for some reason.. Hope it comes out.
 
Jay - I couldn't agree more.... I cringe when one lands on my design counter. Just had one yesterday - fortunately the customers were both artists and very color aware!! We still wound up with neutral beige/darker beige mats...both with the speckle affect - and it looks decent. Silks were out, as they would have been too dressy for their decor. I have gone wild with some scenic shots - not to my personal taste but the customer loved the colorful approach!!

And Pamela, that is one gorgeous frame job!! I can see why you won an award... black and white is so fun to design around - unlike color which is difficult and makes me crazy!

Roz
 
I have a basic rule for most things when it comes to frame, and more importantly mount (mat) selection - Don't compete with the artwork.

Decide dark or light, dark gives a 'spotlight' effect, light gives the reverse. Both cases takes the eye to the image, as long as the mount is wide enough to isolate it from its surroundings.

Another basic rule is KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I tell my customers that if someone walks into their living room and says "Oh, what a WONDERFUL frame" then I'm not doing my job properly!
 
Black and white, I love. Weddings? LOVE EM! I go crazy with the white embossed mats and silver. Silver fillet, frames, mats. No problem.

It’s the family photos taken in front of the woods. Picture this. Its early fall with lots of green leaves but lots of fall colors too. One is wearing a red sweater, one blue one, one green one and one that is either grayish blue or greenish yellow? One with white skin and dark and 2 tan kids and an exchange student (from Comona Wannalayya). Ohh and lest I forget the amber colored cat and the blonde dog. They have all decided that they would "match" shoes and are all wearing the florescent green Chuck Taylors.

I'm over exaggerating a bit but not much. That is what I see when I get these things. The last time that happened, I grabbed the "Shadow" suede and it looked good. The lady thought I was being flippant and asked why I grabbed the gray so quickly. She wanted options. I knew when I started giving her options, we would see exactly how inept I really am.

I remember reading once about color photography having an endless color pilot with no true color scheme. That seems to be my problem. To introduce any color is to ruin the whole piece.
 
Yeah, woods scenes, usually a green or earth tone -- use a rag mat fo the more "natural" look and there's usually something reasonable that can be worked out. B&W - even introducing color can work out fine. It's those artificial backgrounds drive me through the wall!
 
Originally posted by Handy:
the thing I hate are Wedding pics where there is a white dress and a black tux - and that's all the color you've got to work with - but the white is never really WHITE....... drives me nuts.
Click to expand...
NEVER NEVER NEVER put white on a wedding photo... it will ALWAYS show that the dress is NEVER white...

I love Frank's Countess Pineapple for wedding photos. The cream color will always bring out the warmth of ANY skin tone... paste white red-headed Irish, a Tanzanian Masai couple, traditional Japanese with her in "white face", and a ranch hand couple with leathery skin.

The front has a raw silk look with slubs and all for visual interest and neutral enough for that picture of "them". While the reverse side has shadows of the slubs but is a nice soft satin; which is perfect for that softened romantic picture of "her".

I did a picture where the couple was leaning against a huge concrete lion in Central Park [NYNY].... so I did a concrete gray silk...

The couple walking out of the parqued hall at Hearst Castle, with mahogany wainscotting and giant beamed ceiling.... a raw silk with the wood colors to extend the hall out to the royal gold frame..

I just love wedding pictures...

Pamela, that photo would have gotten a plastered mat so fast the water marks would still be drying.LOL
Love the frame... seems to mimic the raised panel door.
 
Originally posted by RoboFramer:

I tell my customers that if someone walks into their living room and says "Oh, what a WONDERFUL frame" then I'm not doing my job properly!
Click to expand...
Unless it's another framer! ;)
 
I like to keep photos simple, especially if they are ending up on a "photo wall". Older photos look great with a suede black core in a warm or cool tone depending on the photograph. Color core boards can introduce an additional color without having to go into a double mat which often can look to heavy on a people photo. Leather mats can be appropriate on certain photos (especially if the subject is sitting on a Harley or Indian motorcycle).

Artsy photos not going on a photo wall open up all types opportunities for creativity. The important thing to remember is not to overpower the photo. Pamela's example is excellent!

I also always tell customers that if the first thing you notice is the frame I have failed miserably. A frame should draw you into the subject and the artwork should always be the center of attention with a comment of "Oh, and the frame is beautiful too." a secondary comment.

Dave Makielski
 
If mats are a problem ... don't mat it. (Duh!)

Jay, take that photo and put a small woodsy frame on it, then add one of Larson's chunky gold fillets, top the fillet with the larger version of the frame you started with.

Ta-dah! Nice look, nice total on the work order, and no customer dithering over mat colors. What could be bad?

Kit
 
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