page title: Art Show Booth Slide


HOME PAGE BLOG
CONTENTS
JURY SLIDE PHOTOGRAPHY
FIXING JURY IMAGES
IMAGE UPLOAD FORM
ART SHOW INFO
JUROR INTERVIEWS & JURY REVIEWS
HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH ART

THE BOOTH IMAGE

Bookmark and Share

Defining the Art Show Booth Slide

scroll down to see example booth photographs
Working with me to improve your booth slide

Additional booth slide articles and examples
How to Photograph Your Booth - from Sunshine Artist September 2014

Working with an artist to improve their booth

Working with an artist to improve their booth part 2

The HDR (high dynamic range) booth

Changing an indoor booth to an outdoor booth

Changing the artwork in a 2D booth

Inexpensive banners for your booth

Why NOT to shoot your booth slide at a show

What's at the bottom of your booth image

How to photograph your own booth - includes 26 tips

Artisphere 2011 jury review

why the booth image is so important

What is a booth image for jurying?

A booth image for jurying is a picture is what your display looks like at a show, cleaned up so there's nothing to cause the jurors to look at it longer than just a glance, so they can spend their time looking at your individual art images, which is what you really want to be juried on.

I don't usually make judgment on canopy choices but read this e-mail I received from an artist who lost two EZ-Up canopies in one weekend.

I use the word "slide" to represent any transparency, picture or digital image used for jurying into art shows.

What is a booth slide? A common enough question for artists who have never applied to an art show. The simple answer is a picture of your display as if it were set up at an art show. And it must include your art.
How do art shows use your booth slide? Every show is different. Some art shows don't use it or even ask for it. Some art shows treat it with equal weight as any of your jury images or maybe even more so. Some only use it as a tie breaker if both you and another artist are competing for a single space. And besides showing the jury that you can set up a professional display, it gives the jury a sense of scale or size of your work. But since not knowing how important it is, you should strive to put together the most professional looking booth slide you can.
Additional information added in May 2010
There is a new trend among art shows to ask for a more accurate booth image. One major show is asking for very accurate booth picture. Even down to the number of pieces hanging or the height of the booth. Another major outdoor show is asking for an outdoor booth image and calling artists who submit applications with an indoor booth picture. It's getting tougher and more competitive out there.
If you've never applied to one, I suggest walking an art show and paying attention to how artists are setting up their booths. That will give you an idea of what kind of display props and tent you should be looking to purchase.
There are two schools of thought. One school thinks the booth picture should be exactly as your booth appears at an art show, bins and all. The other school of thought is that your booth picture should show your artwork as if it were being viewed in the finest art gallery or museum. Fortunately, art shows don't actually define the booth image or we would probably need a different booth image for each show we apply to.
Tip. I've recently started hearing that some art shows actually print out the booth image and use it for on site enforcement of how much is included in the booth. Tip. If you normally include more than one style of work in your booth, but only use one style for jurying, consider having all styles you intend to sell in your booth slide. It could save you from being asked to either put some work away or in extreme case being asked to pack up and leave the show.
Some photography guidelines. Use a tripod or some other means of camera support. An outdoor booth picture should be taken under a white canopy. I recommend hanging three canopy walls so nothing distracting is seen through your booth. Make sure to NOT include any identifying (or handmade) signs or people in your booth. Tip. The best booth pictures are taken when the booth is set up for the picture, not as an afterthought at an art show, though that's when most booth pictures are taken. If you do shoot your booth slide at a show, make sure to set the booth up for the photograph, then reset it up to sell after the photo is taken. Tip. A white canopy photographed in sunlight becomes a magnet in a jury room because your eyes automatically get drawn to the brightest part of an image, or brightest image when they're projected simultaneously. Therefore, when I work on images for artists, I crop to minimize how much of the canopy is visible in the image as you can see in the photography booth without bins.
With the introduction of digital jurying, artists seem to be coming out of the woodwork to apply to art shows. First time artists who have never done an art show usually have the most questions about a display. What most of the ZAPP shows have done is create an emerging artist category where either a grouping of artwork or just another individual artwork piece is specified as the booth in the ZAPP image upload. If you fall into that category, you must read the instructions carefully or call the show with questions on how the display image should be handled. For artists that get accepted in the emerging artist category, the shows (I know that Main Street Fort Worth does) usually supply the necessary display equipment.
Though it's mainly for 2D art, there are resources for purchasing display equipment on the companion web site of my Art Show Photography Forum
The photographs below are examples of different types of booth jury slides and can be used for ideas on how to photograph your own display. The one thing that they all have in common is the display items (racks, pedestals, canopy, etc.) and presentation of the art is professional looking.

Photography booth slides - with and without bins of unframed work. Because art shows are looking for more accurate booth images, I photographed my booth with a wider angle lens showing all three walls clearly and then I added the bin afterwards from one of my older booth pictures
Booth Pictures submitted with the Sunshine Artist Article
September 2014
Booth Pictures originally from older articles on this page

photography booth jury slide

Jewelry booth slides (below)

hdr booth slide
read more about how this jewelry booth slide was taken

jewelry booth jury slide

jewelry booth jury slide


outdoor jewelry booth


indoor jewelry booth

Before and after showing why your display needs to be perfect. I ended up taking the wrinkles out in Photoshop
Mixed Media booth slides (below)

Sculpture booth slides (below)

acrylic sculpture booth jury slide

 
Thanks to all the artists that contributed their booth images.
Disclaimer
. I'm not responsible for anyone getting rejected from a show based on reading the content of this web page. But you can give me the credit for any acceptances.

Digital Jury Resources

Hire me to Prepare your Digital Jury Images

 

All photos on this site are available for stock or fine art sales
contact Larry Berman for more information

Slide scanning for ZAPP and other digital jury systems

Jury Slide Photography

1970s ABA and NBA Basketball photographs
specializing in Julius Erving (Dr J) photographs

Order prints from any gallery

Support BermanGraphics

Contact Us

Participate in the Art Shows Forum

Web site content © Larry Berman

email Larry Berman - larry@bermanart.com

412-401-8100