There is an letter in the newest issue of Sunshine Artist asking how important is the booth picture. I'm sending in a response (which I won't post here) but will post my thoughts on how to photograph your booth.
How important is the booth photo? Besides the artwork images, the booth image can easily make or break an artist's career doing art shows. Like the art images, the booth image needs to be read easily without causing the jurors to spend even an extra second understanding exactly what they're seeing because for the better shows that project the images, the jurors are seeing all the images simultaneously for under 20 seconds.
The best place to photograph your booth is not at an art show where you don't have control of the environment or weather. It's better to set it up for the picture on an overcast or cloudy day so there is even lighting and no sun streaks which might draw the juror's eyes. Additionally the sides of the canopy need to be in place behind the booth walls so there is nothing distracting showing through the booth to draw the jurors eyes. Use a tripod and consider the camera perspective as the picture, not how you normally set up the booth. Take the initial picture and go inside and bring it up on the computer. Take note of everything that can be changed to improve the picture. Go out and make the changes and reshoot and check again on the computer. A good display picture is not easy and it takes time to get it right.
If the jurors are distracted and waste even a second or two noticing something out of place, you are loosing approximately 10% of the time they are looking at your work. Be careful of an overly bright white canopy because it's human nature that our eyes are drawn to the brightest part of an image or brightest image in a presentation. Crop most of the white canopy top off and crop in tight on the sides. They only need to know that it's an outdoor picture under a white canopy and need not see the entire top to understand.
If you're photographing 2D work, it's best to prepare the artwork in advance by taking glass out of the frames to eliminate distracting reflections. If you're photographing 3D work and have mostly tables for your display, consider hanging large format photographs of your work on the walls to take up the empty space within the booth. Inexpensive 20x30 prints can now be had from Sam's Club, Walmart and Costco. I think they are even available premounted on board. Use tape, pins or staples to try and get the table covers as wrinkle free as possible.
Make sure to position the tripod mounted camera so that all three walls can be seen. More shows are now specifying in their applications that all three walls need to be seen inside a white canopy. You can shoot from an angle showing two walls clearly but you still need to see what's on the third wall to meet the requirements of every show. The last thing you want is to be forced to create a different booth pictures for each application. The obvious is absolutely no identification or people in the booth. Take out all signs, banners and ribbons before shooting.
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
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Not sure if you agree that is a good image to use Larry but this is my booth shot. I had a show at a local church and took advantage of the large room and the fact that all my framed work was already there. Set up the pro panels and shot this for my booth shot. I hadnt a clue what I was doing but had help from a friend who had been doing art fairs for many years. She told me I didnt really need to include the tent and that the shows are looking to see that you have enough stuff to fill the booth and that its professionally done. Im a newbee though and welcome suggestions. Ive only done 2 fairs but have applied to 6 and have been accepted to all of them. I dont want to fix something that isnt broke but I see you say some shows are asking to see the tent too. Are there many doing that?
Larry Berman > Robert SzaboNovember 23, 2010 at 8:00pm
There are enough of the better shows asking to see three walls and a hint of a canopy to understand that it's an outdoor booth without the jurors having to think about it. Do you have the original image and is there more of the left hand wall showing? It almost looks like a canopy at the top that you might not get challenged and ask to submit a different booth image.
Yes thank you Larry for all the advice and help with my booth shot. Anyone even thinking about redoing their booth shot I highly recommend working with Larry. I found it difficult to see some of the faults with my own pics because I was to close to the work. Considering how much we pay for all the jury fees, professional help with the jury photos is a drop in the bucket.
Replies
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Great Info as always Larry!
-Josh
http://JoshTrefethen.com
http://facebook.com/JoshTrefethenPhotography
Larry's feedback was invaluable and I really appreciate it! I highly recommend his services.
Thanks!
-Josh
http://JoshTrefethen.com
http://facebook.com/JoshTrefethenPhotography
I don't charge anything for jury image evaluations, only if the artist wants me to improve them.
http://zapphelp.com/evaluation.htm
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Thanks for your help with my booth shot. It does look much better. Even my wife agreed....
Larry Berman
Digital Jury Services
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100