Lately there seems to be an epidemic of artists forgoing their cameras to shoot pictures of their artwork and booths with their iphones or ipads. Over the weekend, I received unusable images from four different artists.
In all cases, the artists thought that the pictures they took with their iphone/ipad were better than they could have taken with their camera - even the camera in the one megapixel ipad 2. Actually most people have no idea of the pixel dimensions (height and width) of the pictures taken with their mobile devices. About the only thing they are good for is taking a selfie of themselves with their friends or pets.
My advice is that any point and shoot camera, when set up on a tripod and set for maximum image quality, will blow away pictures taken with mobile devices that blow out highlights and are usually not sharp because they don't take well to being used on a tripod.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Comments
i am guilty of both using my iPhone and my nikon. Two years ago in a fall outdoor show my wonderful and most excellent nikon fell from the table and damaged it beyond repair... i bought a point and shoot to replace it until i could afford something more substantial, and i am not fond of the new nikon - does not have some of the amazing features i had on the previous one. So i forget to drag it with me. But at home for the shots of my work, and for the images on the blog i go for the nikon. And yes, for the jury it has to be the best.
I shoot my paintings and booth with my slr, but I recently bought a Galaxy S5 phone and the 16mp camera is really impressive. My wife and I were playing around and comparing the same random shots done with phone vs slr. Viewed on the computer, we could barely tell them apart, I'm sure printing them would have different results. No, I won't be using my phone for jury images anytime soon, but it might be possible in the future.
Oh I shoot my booth with my Nikon full frame DSLR. But it probably always has the macro lens on it...
I have never taken a photo using my ipad or telephone camera. I have a nice point/shoot camera that is pocket sized for carrying around and when I want to take photos of my work or anything else of importance I use my Nikon DSLR camera.
Shameless plug for myself. I improve jury images and/or photograph artwork for artists:
http://bermangraphics.com/digital-jury-resources/jury-slide-photogr...
Larry Berman
Larry,
Thanks for your reply. I thought, wrongly, that artists at the level of many here (including yourself) had professional photos taken of everything. I am glad to hear it only needs to be a few pieces. I will remember that about getting into more upscale, professional shows. I am looking at one, at least, for next year. The deadline to apply is early, end of Feb. for a fall show. So I need to get my ducks in a row.
The only reason I use my phone to photograph the booth are to post in facebook and to see what I doing wrong at the show. You need perfect images for jury process. Your booth image must close to perfect. How you present your work is an representation of yourself. Your presentation is what invite people to spend money.
Cynthia, A great many artists say what you're saying about not being able to afford professional photography of their art. But what you're not considering is that you only need professional photographs of not more than a half dozen pieces for jurying, not of everything you produce. And if those photographs can get you into only one show you haven't been able to get into, they pay for themselves many times over.
Another thing to consider is that some artists keep their jury pieces hoping to find a better photographer down the line.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
I take pictures of all my jewelry using techniques I've learned via various websites and tutorials. I have a decent camera and have really gotten a lot of compliments on my photos. I am however very bad since I took my booth shots with my phone and will change that in the future. I usually take them to document how I set up at a show and then I can compare how my sales were using a particular configuration. As I am moving up in the level of shows I will have to take a more professional picture.. (hangs head in shame) (and yes.. I am joking and able to make fun of myself)
This is probably the first year that I am working on my jewelry with an eye to the business side of it not just the artist side. So that is why I am here to learn and improve.
What Karole said! I will use my phone for a photo when I have my booth set up to make a post to FB to update my status and say something like .... "Come out and join us! The weather is great!" and I name the event. I don't know how many people it's actually drawn in because I have not tethered the post in such a way to find out. Like ... mention this post and get 10% off or whatever.
I use my good, though not professional, camera to take photos of my products for my website. I am at a point I cannot afford professional photography considering the volume of product I have put out. But I do the best I can and have learned a few things along the way such as placing the product on a dark background to provide contrast. (My coasters are light enough that a light background does not work well.)
Anyway, I hope to keep learning and making my photos better.
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