My son was showing me how to use photoshop. I actually like the first picture better but we were just playing.

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#1 is my favorite, but I'm not sure with that frame.

Whatever you do, it will look beautiful. I just want to throw in my recommendation of mpix.com. A lot of pros use them, for good reason. I have all my best enlargements made there, and the prices are quite reasonable.

Either #1 or #2 will look stunning printed on their "metallic" paper. (Don't worry; it doesn't really look metallic. Just impressive.) Have it mounted on a single-thickness mat while you're at it. And then show us the result!

Susan

Beautiful frame! I like #1 then #2.

That frame's design has a native american feel so I think no. 2 would fit better. The rugged mountain, the color reminds me more of native american art.

No 1. just feel really sad to me while I like the hopefulness & strength of no 2.
Just personal observation.

I love #1, and that was my choice until I saw the frame. Then it has to be #2.

I think #1 is soft and curvy in feeling, and takes you deep into the picture in almost a dreamy way. The frame, wonderful as it is, is very angular and has a definitive direction and focus. It needs the angles and breathing space of the second pix.

I sure would find a spot for the first pix, tho. Perhaps in a bedroom, or in a quite space somewhere.

I'm on board with the sepia tone. I still think number one is the best. lol

Thank you all so very much for your votes, and for the suggestions on where to look into having enlargements made.

I've counted 18 votes for #1, 10 votes for #2. And to be honest, my head is still swimming with ideas! I've printed out each photo on my color printer at work and brought them home, and I'll play around with them in a bit with the actual frame to see if one really jumps out at me as the clearer choice. As it is, I'm still a bit torn, and maybe the thing to do is to have my dad make another frame so I can use them both. ;-) (Actually, that's not really a good idea ... I'm already out of wall space and am going to have to be very creative in moving things around to make room for this particular new piece.

Still wondering about the sepia too. Yayagal's the only one who says she's on board with it ... I do desperately need Photoshop so I can play around with choices such as this!

Eileen was kind enough to send me the .jpg of the modified version she created of #1 with Photoshop, and it looks great. So it's definitely a possibility to use what she's provided.

Auntjen--I LOVE the first photo and couldn't resist
photoshopping the combination I'd choose:

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Much as I love the picture #1, the frame just does not suit it. Much too angular and vertical.
I definitely agree with Les. "I think #1 is soft and curvy in feeling, and takes you deep into the picture in almost a dreamy way. The frame, wonderful as it is, is very angular and has a definitive direction and focus. It needs the angles and breathing space of the second pix."

I'd still want a dark brown/black matting for either pic. to complement the inlay of the frame
(as I view it on my monitor) and the darkest shade in the photos:

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Aunt Jen,

Check your work email. I resized #2 pic like I did #1. It does not look as good to me as the #2 pic did. But you judge for yourself. You may want to have a special sized mat to make the original pic size work or use a different frame for #2.

#1 is my favourite picture-love the way it leads you on in- but with that Navajo-feeling frame I agree #2 would look best. You have a good eye for photography and your dad's framing looks classy.

Hey Jen. I think the trees work nicely like this, just using a portion blown up. The canyon scene is more colorful. I like it filling the frame with color like this. Can you see the heart? Actually there's a heart in the trees too, just not as obvious : )

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What beautiful photo's and such a gorgeous frame!! And I love the different perspectives people have! For me, however, it's hands-down #1, with the dark matting as shown by hey j.
The softness of the image is complemented by the frame's wood grain and similar warm tone; both highlight and enhance each other.
Both frame and image are tempered by similarly strong, contrasting elements juxtaposed against their softness. Additionally, the dark limbs of the subject are mirrored in the frame: the inlay(?)of the frame's three top bands are repeated by the vertical branches below as if by design, which provides and in results in a cohesive and extremely pleasing unit.

The second image, although stunning, seems to fight with the frame, rather than be complemented by it (I see the frame, then the picture, then the frame and so forth, rather than the two becoming one as with #1.)----Penny G.

That frame is fabulous! Your dad is quite the craftsman. What wood is it? Lucky you!

I like picture #1 the best. I'm not sure I'd mat it at all, but if I did, I'd use the color of the center top stripe in the frame.

Have you thought about putting a Maxfield Parish in it instead? I don't know its size, but this also ought to be a time when you can find calendars at low prices. Ebay should have some too. Parish just seems so appropriate for that lovely frame.

Just a thought.

Oops--meant to add that although hey j's rendition of #1 matted and framed is very nice, the effect might even be better if the mat were narrower...Penny

In that frame, the second one is hands down the better choice. The first is a great shot but not perfect for that frame - and in this case, since the frame is made by your dad, I would argue that it is every bit as important as the image in it (if not more so) when usually that relationship is flipped - frame is secondary to image.

I know I am in the minority by the last count but it doesn't matter because I'm right :) I believe most of the votes for #1 were before the pic of the frame was posted.

I would also not cut down the image size a tremendous amount with a mat. Maybe 1/2 reveal in a brown that matches the brown in the frame - sort of like squirrel shows but not green.

My mat is green? It's supposed to be 'black.' Lordy.

I prefer the trees just not including the whole picture, showing it more abstract or architectural/linear. Don't care for a wide mat which is very distracting. I actually think the frame lends itself more to a portrait or something else related to its ethnicity. Maybe you have something else around as gifts or from trips with your Dad? Could even be a piece of jewelry, a textile, or something. Looks like a beautiful wooden backdrop to 'shadowbox' something special.

Your photos are beautiful.

Wow. If my head was spinning before, I'm positively Linda Blairing here at the moment! So many excellent points to consider. And I just got done emailing Eileen and telling her I was gonna use her version of #1 that she'd emailed me.

I hadn't even considered a portrait, but wow - wouldn't this frame lend itself nicely to an Edward S. Curtis photo?

The difficulty with Sheriff photo prints would be in deciding which one. I love so many of them.

As a side note, those who are familiar with Sheriff's work will probably recognize this photo:
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My parents fell in love with this particular piece, and had an opportunity to purchase it in photogravure form, and while dad didn't build the frame it went in, he and my mom bought a special one in Montana on one of their travels and it hangs in a prominent place over their fireplace mantle. The woman in the photo was obviously a young Hopi woman, but in spite of our search for info on her, we found very little. Then one year, dad and I went on one of our father-daughter hiking "adventures" and decided to go to the historic Hopi village of Walpi and take a tour. We stopped in at the community center there, and struck up a conversation with several of the Hopi women who were milling about, and one of the women that we met was the great-great granddaughter of "Hopi girl" in the photo (may need to add another "great" onto that - I've forgotten how many generations she went back)! She wasn't able to tell us too much, except that the young woman had been called Violet. I think it was so cool to learn that. It's like we were in the right place at the right time, and dad was able to get just a wee bit of history to go along with the photo he and my mom cherish so much.

I love those Parrish prints -- have always greatly admired his work -- but I don't think they'd fit in with the overall theme of the rest of my art pieces. :-(

Oh, and you ladies who did the mock-ups for me ... thank you so very much! That's a great help and I'm really able to visualize what the final product would look like!

Ohhhhhh ... so much to consider!

(I also have no idea why I referred to Curtis by his middle name above ... I think I need to go to bed, I'm delirious! LOL!)

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I love this photo of a Navajo boy. This particular print is 16.5" long (the exact length of my frame opening) by 13.5" wide (the opening width of my frame is 10"). Do you think it would mat up reasonably well?

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Here is a link that might be useful: Link

Oh, Squirrel! You're amazing! Thank you so much -- I am loving that type of portrait in the frame. What do you think? (And where have you been? We have all been wondering about your whereabouts!)

Is there any way you could Photoshop this one into the frame for me? I had forgotten all about this particular Curtis photo, but I have always loved it. It depicts young Hopi women during a village ceremony/feast day. I think the steps in the photo might look cool with the lines of the frame!
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Here is a link that might be useful: Link

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I think they're absolutely gorgeous. Let me pull in those two new ones : )

Wow. I'm lovin' it! Squirrel, I keep going back to the first one that you did ... the one of the woman in the blanket who is facing to the right. (I looked up the photo, and it's entitled "Sigesh Apache.") I think the way that the stripes on her blanket complement the inlay pieces in the frame is wonderful.

I've just found an original of this piece for sale. A mere $6,500. Yikes! I also found a $12 print of the image, which is much more my speed. Ya think the quality between the two would be noticeable? LOL!

Wouldn't the steps in the "watching the dancers" photo be wonderfully echoed by the stepped design on the top of the frame?

Both the first and second are really interesting the way their garb works with the frame details. I love the sharp dramatic photos of those two in your Dad's frame.

The dance was so big it really blurred when reduced. That was supposed to be a deep reddish background color but looks more brown to me now.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you! You rock! :-)

OK, I'm going to show my ignorance now, but here goes: Is the way that these Photoshopped mock-ups appear fairly representational of how much of the photo would be "lost" if it were matted with a very thin mat and fit into the frame? If so, I guess that's something that will have to enter into my decision ...

You're welcome!

Yes, I shrunk the whole thing down until I had to stop because it was within the frame opening's height or width. I'll have to go back and check, but I think that was the case for each -- tried to fit the whole thing but the dimensions are different so had to stop and crop at some point.

OMG ... I really love her ...

This image is 10" wide by 15" long. With the right matting, I'd get most of this print without having to sacrifice any of the image, wouldn't I? (Frame is 10" x 16.5".) Sorry for my "dummy" questions. I'm not hopeless at figuring out anything that has to do with dimensions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link

I really do like "Watching the Dancers" -- the way the frame seems to echo the steps, as Les pointed out. I just wish so much of the image wouldn't be lost (girl on the right is cut off), but I guess that can't be helped. The Navajo boy photo is nice, but not making my heart go pitter-patter for some reason.

The girl with the pot is making me giddy though. If she'll work in that frame, I think she may be the one.

Had to reconstruct how they were laid out, cause I pulled them apart to do the next ones. The frame is on an angle, so you'll gain a little in width from the opening in the virtuals.

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So ... what's showing all the way to the edge of the frame is actually representational of the entire image I'd get with any of these? Am I understanding you correctly?

She fits in just about right. I did widen the opening a tiny bit because the original photo is on an angle.

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Actually, I don't like the way her cape is cut off on the right. Was trying to get the whole pot in. I think maybe it looks better with a tad of the pot overlaid.

The size of the opening is undoubtedly off, so maybe there's just enough room : )

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That was how the virtuals were laid out. After you asked about that, I realized the frame picture was taken on an angle, so the width was foreshortened. I widened it for the girl just a little.

I would cut a piece of paper out the size of the print and see how it fits in the opening. Maybe a plain wooden fillet on the interior edge (if it doesn't interfere with the details of the frame). I think they're maybe 3/8" or 1/2".

I wonder how much it would cost to have a photocopy made of the online image to its accurate size, just to play with it first. I see the prints are a good chunk of change.

The first three were great, (my fav was #1 but would have chosen #2 for the frame) but the portraits take my breath away. Truly take my breath away. Everyone of them. I love them all. Really, really love them all but Watching the Dancers would be very nice to look at in that frame.

Squirrel, I just cannot thank you enough. I am going to sleep on all of these options, but am really leaning strongly towards the Hopi girl with the pot. I think she's just lovely.

Lv_r_golden, I know ... the portraits just really grabbed me too. I've decided I'll still definitely do something with my original photos #1 and #2 -- I can probably shuffle some things around and make room in the sitting area of our master bedroom. Since they do have a lot of sentimental value, I think I really should incorporate them into my decor somehow.

:-)
Thanks again, all, and especially to Squirrel for her PS skills!

Did you check out Art.com? They have his prints in giclee and in various sizes. Looks like your girl will fit just about perfectly, though, given the dimensions above.

Isn't it nice to try things on first!

Wow, I was coming to see what's up and I really like the portraits too! I think they all look great in that frame. Could you maybe get a different frame for your original options and hang them with the new idea in that spot? Maybe that won't look right but it's a suggestion.

I much prefer to look at photo number 1. It's peaceful.....like the path less taken.

However, when I saw the mockups with the actual frame, I don't think it looks that good in it. Number 2 I guess looks better in it to me.

What I would do with image #1 is to mat it in black and place in a black frame. Hubby has something similar in his office done by a local semi-famous photographer, and it looks fabulous like that (imo).

I'm sure whichever you choose will look great to you, esp. with the memories attached. Oh, and I didn't finish reading all the replies, but saw some great mockups with the Indian pics in the frame.....they look really good in it. I think they match the personality of the frame better than the photographs.....

Shoot, Jen. I'm not making any sense. I've been reducing and enlarging the photo without dimensions like it was your own photo! I guess you could do that. Will have to look up the dimensions on those prints. The girl pretty well fits though.

ok, measured these out. For some reason the original pic doesn't work out to the dimensions in the ad. Must skew during zoom. Used the smaller and it's about right, not perfect. It's height is the same as your frame, so you can move the image side to side as pleases your eye. It's not his original composition, but I think it does look nice.

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With the posters running 16"-17" long, they work out about the same. I don't find the dimensions of the young child (2nd pic).

Interior opening of frame is the 10" x 16.5" you noted above. These measurements won't be exact, just rough, so always check against real life.

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Well, jen, I liked many of them, but then came the native portraits( Hopi girl, etc.) Though I'm not into Western Art even a little bit, these just made me want to look and look...wonderful....and perfect in your dad's lovely frame.
And SQUIRREL!! Is this a mere pass through, or does it mean you are...FINALLY!...back with us? I have missed YOU! And missed the fun we'd all have "helping" with our ideas you would implement on a poster's request. I especially enjoyed the landscape/curb appeal projects.
jen, look forward to seeing the finished work!

Hi leah! Thanks very much :) Yes, those group projects are so much fun! I love the curb appeals too. I'd thought Squirrel had gotten hit by a car! Who knows what that little rascal will be getting into. Not me.

This thread has been interesting. Can't wait to see it in place : )

AJ, here's #3 with a 1/4" border: