Digital photo "frames" for that certain jai ne sai qua

[peterm1]

I have just posted to another thread (as a bit of an after thought as the thread was dealing with another topic) revealing the fact that there are some quite interesting Photoshop borders and frames available for download to jazz up digital pictures - including some that put a contact sheet or hasselblad or other analogue photo type faux border on a picture to make it look "artsy." I quite like this look on the right photo and thought that others might too - so I decided to post here as a new thread where more might find it . Here is the download link. Basic Photoshop skills are needed but its pretty simple, requiring only some simple use of layers that have already been created for you.

http://andrearusky.deviantart.com/gallery/#_browse/resources

and here is an example photo of my wife that I have given a "Polaroid" look.

PS If you do not like this idea, dont flame me! I am doing this for those who are attracted to it. If you don't want to use it thats fine.

 

[Keith]

Sorry but my two pet dislikes with current digital imaging trends are these borders ... and HDR!

But that's just me ... I know a lot of people are using them and obviously like them and feel they add something to an image.

And it's a free world of course! 😛

 

[Ken Shipman]

I like the borders, mais sacre bleu, votre Francais..."Je ne sais quoi". Merci. 😉

 

[David William White]

There are bonafide Polaroid artists who find those things annoying.

 

[JoeV]

I wonder if more folks had used the actual Polaroid process, rather than plug-ins, perhaps Polaroid would still be in business.

Oops, there I go, poking at the hornet's nest again!

Yes, plugins are interesting, but philosophically they smack of cheap fakery, as if there are too few rewards to merit investing time and money in a bona fide craft that has a difficult learning curve. Like those film-like vertical scratches and flicker effects that are commonly applied by video editors who just graduated from film school and haven't gotten over the novelty of a million different special effects available at the push of a mouse click.

Just put the damned mouse down and go shoot some 16mm film stock for cripes sake!

Seriously, rather than simulate film photography of the past with electronic effects you might as well make electronic imaging its own medium and not imitate the failed and dead imaging technology of the past. If film is dead, why resurrect it? Perhaps it's just for nostalgia's sake, like a fake kind of nostalgia, that smacks of a superficial resemblance but lacks the soul of the real thing.

And I hate the idea of plug-ins for Pro Tools when you can use a real tubed mike preamp and get the real deal. Is it that people are tool lazy to be creative? If the real thing is so special, why not go to the trouble of using the real thing?

~Joe

 

[Sparrow]

Sorry but my two pet dislikes with current digital imaging trends are these borders ... and HDR!

But that's just me ... I know a lot of people are using them and obviously like them and feel they add something to an image.

And it's a free world of course! 😛

Na, it's not just you

 

[whickus]

there's a few things that irk me about fake borders, none of this meant to flame you, specifically - first, most people only use fake borders on bad shots in an attempt to make them "better". if the photo is truly worthy of praise, it will be with or without the border. there are plenty of people who actually crop the borders off their real polaroids because the image inside the border is strong enough to stand on its own.

second, a lot of people use the wrong border. i can't count how many times i've seen a 35mm border marked "ilford hp5 plus" around a color photo.

third, people on flickr throw these fake polaroids into groups designed for real polaroids. they think that because they used a photoshop action that their shot qualifies as a real polaroid.

and i'm with sparrow & keith regarding hdrs as well.

</rant>

 

[capitalK]

I don't even like ANALOG fake borders, so the digital ones are already doomed for me 😀

 

[funkaoshi]

I find borders kind of cheesy. Usually they don't add much if anything to the shot. For shots where you might want to show off the fact you didn't crop, a rebate border might work, but even then i'm not so sure.

 

[dfoo]

...

And I hate the idea of plug-ins for Pro Tools when you can use a real tubed mike preamp and get the real deal. Is it that people are tool lazy to be creative? If the real thing is so special, why not go to the trouble of using the real thing?

~Joe

For me its a question of cost. The real thing is damned expensive!

 

[clayne]

Fake film borders on digital shots? Part of the problem and not solution.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Even the very expensive border plugins, etc, look fake. Other than a thin line at times, I prefer no borders.

 

[acheyj]

peterm1.

Many thanks indeed, in spite of all the above I find CS/PS to be a wonderful tool, and after all what was a darkroom other than a tool (I started in my first darkroom in 1948).
Keith HDR is exactly what I did in the wet darkroom with masking and multi grade paper !.

ron

 

[acheyj]

BTW great image of your wife, she should be proud, would prefer just a simple thin black with drop shadow border as the subjet is strong as is

ron

 

[skibeerr]

Avedon used them wel.
Can't beat the real thing 😛

 

[rxmd]

It's like putting Macaroni & Cheese in a wooden Camembert box. If you're the first guy to do it, it's original, after that it gets cheesy quickly.

If you want to be consequent about it, the next thing would be to print the Polaroid border on a passepartout and then changing the picture every now and then. And the thing after next will be to take a digital LCD photo frame and print a Polaroid border around it.

(The portrait is very good, though!)

 

[russianRF]

I think it's a personal decision for the artist. I'd also agree that:
1) digital boarders are not nearly as innovative as it was when it first came out, and
2) there are much better plugins, focused on improving the quality/noise of the image or manipulating the character of color, tone, etc. to be spending your money on