Going back to process unretouched photos in my SF album. The Body Shop and Hearts of San Francisco: I did something new here. I didn't add a standard vignette in Aperture, instead I made a diagonal gradient overlay in Pixelmator and adjusted the opacity to get a custom vignette across the top left and bottom right of both photos.

For The Body Shop, I had shot wide but I saw I wanted a tighter crop. I knew I liked the diagonal lines of the sign and wanted to emphasize that.  I was unsure of whether or not to crop in on the banner on the left and decided to leave it in and give space and context. If you're like me, you know "The Body Shop" is one of the many, many strip clubs referenced in the Mötley Crüe song "Girls, Girls, Girls" (Very NSFW, and farewell Nikki, Vince, Mick & Tommy).

At first I didn't like the shot for Hearts of San Francisco at Union Square. The couple reading the plaque and the camera in the lower left corner bothered me. Now that my eyes are several months older and maybe wiser, I realize how much I like and appreciate it. I had thought I wanted a shot of just the heart without tourists in the way. Now I feel it's appropriate, as without them it would seem sterile and eerie. The photographer on my left was enjoying the same sight as me. Again, context.