Adding a vignette yes or no?

I have been watching a bunch of YouTube tutorial videos on Lightroom 5 and in one series in particular, the photographer (Anthony Morganti) likes to use a vignette on his photos. I've played around with it some and I can't decide whether I like it or not. What are your thoughts and feelings about adding a vignette on a photo? I'm not talking about circa 1988 glamour shots white border vignetting either, just a subtle black border. I am going to include two sample images I took yesterday where one has a vignette and the other one doesn't to help compare.

No vignette:

IMAGE LINK: http://s31.photobucket​.com …0240_zpsd1a149e​3.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s31.photobucket​.com …79-2_zpsfb5d7ec3.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s31.photobucket​.com …40-2_zps1a54b529.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s31.photobucket​.com …0279_zps065eda7​a.jpg.html

I dont see either of these two shots benefitting from the vignette. its a useful and sometimes beneficial technique but also way overused.

lens manufacturers spent years correcting lenses to no vignette. Now everyone uses software to add it back. I don't get it...

I just don't see any benefit to adding a vignette, it wouldn't really do anything to make the photos any better.

I don't like them much but in some occasions they seem to work from an artistic point of view but only in a select few.

Thanks for the responses guys.

I do use vignetting to emphasize the subject - mostly in candid pictures of people.
The water tower with vignetting does look more interesting and breaks up the flat blue sky. For the turtle it doesn't work for me.

I use vignetting frequently, but very subtle and feathered. Since LR 5 brought the Radial Filter I often make it asymmetric or on fewer than four corners, which corresponds to the center of interest not being in the center of the frame. IMO, in the turtle shot it is too heavy, obvious and phoney looking.

venom3300 wrote in post #16776669
lens manufacturers spent years correcting lenses to no vignette. Now everyone uses software to add it back. I don't get it...

LOL. And don't use photoshop either... not even for simple adjustments like brightness, contrast, or saturation. If you do, you're evil! You're ruining photography!

Yes, vignette away. It is a useful tool to draw viewers attention toward the center. But use it strategically, on the right image. Here, yes for the turtle, no for the tower. On the turtle to draw attention in, but not on the tower because the sky is a beautiful shade of blue and the vignetting makes it look dingy, dark. The tower has a nice "open" feel which vignetting removes.

A subtle vignette may be useful in many subjects. If you notice it, it's probably too much. It was common with hand enlarged prints in a wet lab to strengthen the edges by burning in slightly so they wouldn't look as if they faded away on the edge. Both of your images are stronger to me with the vignette, especially the lower right corner of turtle shot.

On the other hand, portraits and other photos with strong central subjects may benefit from a much stronger vignette. It draws the viewer into the center of the image. In such a case, a close observer may notice it but if the vignette draws attention to itself rather than focuses attention on the subject, it's too strong.

I have never found slight vignetting by a lens to be the problem some seem to think it is.

Picture North Carolina wrote in post #16777003
LOL. And don't use photoshop either... not even for simple adjustments like brightness, contrast, or saturation. If you do, you're evil! You're ruining photography!

Yes, vignette away. It is a useful tool to draw viewers attention toward the center. But use it strategically, on the right image. Here, yes for the turtle, no for the tower. On the turtle to draw attention in, but not on the tower because the sky is a beautiful shade of blue and the vignetting makes it look dingy, dark. The tower has a nice "open" feel which vignetting removes.

That made me laugh too. Thanks

In the tower shot there is a slight vignette from the lens, at least in the top corners anyway. That's actually probably enough for that subject. It probably helps the turtle but I think it's just a tad too strong. I would try to reduce it so that it looks more like the natural effect in the first tower image. The only time I might use a stronger vignette is when trying to create a very vintage look in a B&W conversion, I'd probably throw in quite a bit of "grain" simulation too.

Alan