Which Frame Enhances The Image?

Which Mat/Frame combo?

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I like the black one

I like the white one. Since you have a lot of dark tones on the left hand side of the image it doesn't compete as much and makes the image stand out more.

Nice image by the way.

White works nicely IMO...

The black one, brings out more detail in the blacks to the left.

Whit one

The original image was not this dark, and I had intended to frame it using a black mat.

The print I got back from the lab is much darker than the image I sent in. I adjusted the gamma on the digital file to closer match the final print (0.70!).

My monitor is calibrated to the lab's specs, and I always set my tonal range from 5-248 before sending an image to print to compensate for the shadows and highlights.

Lab says they're using new paper from Kodak that better preserves the highlights, but blocks up the shadows (nice to know this beforehand, but what can you do?).

A lot of the shadow area still ended up being completely blocked up so now I think the black mat is overpowering the image, and closing it in.

Not saying I'm picky, but I'm picky

I like the black better. For some reason the colors pop more than on the white.

Thanks for the help guys n gals.

I was hoping that it was going to be a clear cut situation that I was missing, but alas I'll have to make my own decision.

I'm going with white. I just think the black is going to be way too overbearing, and won't allow the image to stand on its own.

You've already chosen, but I like the black, also. To me it brings out the colors better.

I think I would like to add that it's a beautiful shot...I didn't say that before.

first one...can't go wrong with black frame and white matting.

I have not read any of the comments yet because I did not want to get confused by logic and facts before giving my opinion. At first glance, I had to scroll back and forth a couple times to convince myself that I was looking at the same image in both cases -- it is very interesting how the color of the matting can affect the overall appearance.

After some thought, I have reached the following conclusions:

• I do not like the white mat because it forces your visual perception to adopt the mat's white point which may not necessarily be the same as the image's white point. Personally, I feel that white mats should be reserved for special cases such as B&W images -- and even then, you need to be careful about the selection of white to make certain that it has the same white as the photo paper.
  
• I do not particularly like the dark gray mat either because it seems to be too wide for the image and in too stark a contrast with the vibrant colors of the sunset. It also has the effect of making the overall appearance of the image seem darker than it actually is.

• So what would I like? This is just a guess, but I think that a neutral gray mat that is a bit lighter than middle gray. I tried a gray value of A0A0A0 and thought that the results looked satisfactory. It manages to set the image off without swamping it with too much light or darkness.

Try a different color - white is too bright for this photo and on the black you are losing your edge in the lower left. You never want the edge of your photo to blend into your mat.

Try a color that appears in your sunset somewhere.

Or try a dark grey. You won't lose your edge and your colors may still be brought out.

OdiN1701 wrote in post #6632710
Try a color that appears in your sunset somewhere.

I found the terra cotta color about 3/4 inch to the right of the sun (I am still trying to drum up support for terra cotta ops.

I am seeing the dark mat as being a very dark gray (actually with a very slight mauve tint if the luminosity is increased). I get the impression that everyone else is seeing black -- is this correct? The actual color value is R=18, G=16, and B=17.