vince pitelka on fri 22 mar 02
> "Having sat on juries and looked at 1000's of booth slides I have to say
she is giving out excellent advice. The main thing is that the booth look
clean, well-lit and uncluttered. It is especially distracting for the juror
if there are people in the booth."
Each to his or her own, I guess. Having sat on many juries and looked at
many booth slides, I can definitively say that the ones which were sterile
and clean and looked artificially lit didn't impress me at all, while the
ones which showed dynamic activity in a real-life situation, and proved that
the artist has ACTUALLY done a booth at a craft show were far more
effective. The former worked AGAINST the artist, while the latter greatly
enhanced the group of slides. Isn't this pretty obvious? Why present
something contrived, when you can present something real?
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
OWLPOTTER@AOL.COM on fri 22 mar 02
In my personal experience and humble opinion, Kathi is right on. A slide of your booth taken under ideal circumstances where you can control the lighting and have a lot of time to move the pots around to their best advantage is the best advice I've read in a long time.
Having sat on juries and looked at 1000's of booth slides I have to say she is giving out excellent advice. The main thing is that the booth look clean, well-lit and uncluttered. It is especially distracting for the juror if there are people in the booth.
In my opinion, what most jurors are looking for is a mini-gallery look, without all the clutter and over-stocked appearance of most booths at art fairs. And the camera compresses.
Only by setting up your booth for slide-taking purposes in a setting where you can control all of the factors, take your time looking through the camera lense again and again, and moving the pots around, will you be able to get the best booth slide possible.
You wouldn't set your pots out on the street under less than ideal lighting and etc for jury slide puposes, why not give your booth slide the same amount of thought and careful planning.
-Carolynn Palmer, Somerset Center, Michigan
Richard Aerni on fri 22 mar 02
Hmmm,
How have I taken my booth shots?? To avoid crowds, I take them before the
show opens. When there are no crowds, when I've got my best pots on the
pedestals, when they are arranged as I like them, when I can spend time with
my camera on pedestal, taking different shots from different angles, framing
them as best I can. I don't ever "clutter" up my booth with more pots when
the show opens. I pay an awful lot of attention to where pots are placed in
order to ensure maximum exposure.
I don't take them in my studio, where no matter how carefully I crop the
image, I always manage to get in some extraneous detail. Where, despite
Carolyn and Kathy's comments to the contrary, I have less control of the
lighting than I usually do in either an outdoor location (sunlight is very
good for my pots), or in an indoor location (where mostly the lighting is
unobtrusive). If you have a problem with the lighting in your booth at an
indoor show, you haven't spent enough time figuring your booth lighting out.
(I'll make allowances for a show like Baltimore ACE, where the overhead
lights were strong and tended to "discolor" both the booth lighting and
booth photography.) My current booth shot is from an indoor musuem show,
where some very nice wide board hardwood flooring is evident, as is some
molding around a doorway. In my opinion, it adds to the "flavor" of the
photograph.
Also, on a related note, the show venue is usually roomier than any studio
setup I can do. It's far easier for me to take the photo at a show than at
my booth. And I often don't take the time to set up my booth at home before
a show. I usually carefully pack it away so that I don't have to do that.
I hate extra steps.
When I've juried, I can say that it is the work slides primarily that I pay
attention to. The booth slide is there, for me, just to provide some
measure of verification that there actually enough of it to fill a booth,
and to see that the artist has exhibited in the past. One show that I
juried, which says that the booth slide counts for 25% of your score...well,
I won't say they lied, but I'll say that no one gave any scores to the booth
slide, and in fact, it wasn't treated separately from the other pieces. And
here's another dirty little secret from my experience with jurying: They
don't always go by the scores given by the jurors. In one show, which is
rated very highly by all the books and magazines, I asked specifically how
many of our top choices would be admitted. (this was after the jurying was
over...a two day, all day process...exhausting) I was told that in all
media, the top choice absolutely, and most probably the second highest
grader. After that, the organizers claimed that they needed to "balance"
the show, by media, and to ensure that a wide variety of techniques and
price points were covered. While I admit that I can understand that point
of view, I will also admit I found myself wondering what the hell I'd been
doing there for the past two days.
And, in my opinion, this is really not something worth arguing about. Just
make good work, take good slides, pay attention to your display, and all the
rest will follow.
Best,
Richard Aerni
Bloomfield, NY
> In my personal experience and humble opinion, Kathi is right on. A slide
of your booth taken under ideal circumstances where you can control the
lighting and have a lot of time to move the pots around to their best
advantage is the best advice I've read in a long time.
>
> Having sat on juries and looked at 1000's of booth slides I have to say
she is giving out excellent advice. The main thing is that the booth look
clean, well-lit and uncluttered. It is especially distracting for the juror
if there are people in the booth.
>
> In my opinion, what most jurors are looking for is a mini-gallery look,
without all the clutter and over-stocked appearance of most booths at art
fairs. And the camera compresses.
>
> Only by setting up your booth for slide-taking purposes in a setting where
you can control all of the factors, take your time looking through the
camera lense again and again, and moving the pots around, will you be able
to get the best booth slide possible.
>
> You wouldn't set your pots out on the street under less than ideal
lighting and etc for jury slide puposes, why not give your booth slide the
same amount of thought and careful planning.
> -Carolynn Palmer, Somerset Center, Michigan
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