1 - The best place to photograph your booth is not at an art show
where you don't have control of the environment or weather.
But if you do shoot at an art show, the rest of the tips are still
applicable.2 - 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.
3 – No signs, people or any other identification.
4 - The booth picture needs to be representative of how your booth
will look at a show.
5 - 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 juror’s eyes.
6 – The canopy must be white and all three walls need to be seen in
the picture.
7 – The floor must be clean of debris or leaves or use a carpet.
8 - If you’re photographing 2D work it’s best to take the glass
out of the frames before shooting to eliminate reflections.
9 - If you’re photographing 2D work and have multiple pieces on
each wall, make sure the tops of pieces on the top row are all at the
same height around the booth.
10 - If you are a 2D artist and use unframed bins, make sure to
include a representative amount of bins in the booth picture
11 - If you’re photographing 3D work and are using tables, consider
hanging large photographs of your pieces to take up wall space and
make the booth look fuller.
12 - If you use tables with covers, make sure covers are wrinkle
free. It’s better to use pedestals or at least raise your table height
to 40 inches.
13 - Use a tripod. It’s the only way to check object placement from
the camera angle.
14 – If possible, don’t have objects overlapping from the camera
position and make sure they face the camera.
15 – Shoot wider than the canopy so the walls can be squared up
before the image is cropped.
16 - You can shoot from a corner but still need to see along the
third wall.
17 - Shoot the back and right wall (seeing along the left wall to
satisfy the three wall booth rule) so that your booth works to keep
the jurors eyes centered in your presentation when applying to a show
that projects the images.
18 - Do not use a cell phone camera. They tend to loose detail in
the highlights.
19 - Follow my suggestions on
how to set
your camera for maximum quality.
20 - Consider the camera perspective as the picture, not how you
normally set up the booth.
21 - Take the initial picture and go inside and bring it up on the
computer.
22 - Take note of everything that can be changed to improve the
picture. Go out and make the changes, shoot again and check again on
the computer.
23 – If you’re working with a friend or consultant, ask for
feedback while you’re shooting, not after you break the booth down.
24 – If you’re bracketing or shooting different exposures, it’s
better to end up with a picture that’s slightly too dark than a
picture that’s slightly too light because detail can be brought out of
dark areas more easily than putting detail back into areas that are
too light.
25 – Every image can be improved in post processing.
26 - Consider having me do your post processing. I’ve worked with hundreds
of artists helping them improve their booth photo. Or come to my house
to set your booth up for me to photograph it.
