Upcoming Show

[JamesD]

So, today I got my mats.

They measure 11.5" X 9.5". This, of course, makes sense, since the images are 7.5" X 9.5", plus two inches of mat all the way around.

My question is this: why are there no frames in these proportions? I've looked everywhere. The only thing I can find is 11" X 14", which is too big and the wrong aspect ratio anyway. WTF?

And no, I can't get the mats recut. I've got to be on site at 7 am.

So, no frames. Also, I was unable to get the big print made... so, I'm going with five 8X10 images.

And, I've got to figure out some way to prop these things up, since I don't have frames. ::sigh:: I'm never doing this again, I swear-- at least, not until the next time...

 

[mysteryscribe]

I'm sorry james I should have warned you that frames come in standard sizes of bx10 11x14 16x20 20x24. just about everything else is a specailty item. Either had to be made or searched for all over hell and not to be found at the last moment.

When I ran the studio, we also shot knowing we would be printing the negative for one of those sizes. It seems to be to be unfair to had a customer a print that he can't frame himself but lots of photographers have a size print made to fit the image not fit the image to the size print that can be easily managed.

I'll take part of the weight for this one.

 

[JamesD]

Thank God, it's over.

The photos I entered are in the General Gallery. I went back and adjusted them in Gimp to look more like the prints, but there's really no comparison...

If this is how shows are run, I think I'll avoid them in the future. The judges were supposed to start at 10 am, but didn't show until about 3pm, and when they came by, they didn't say anything, just looked over everything for about five or ten seconds--no exaggeration--then left. Rather than selecting a winner in each category, then Best in Show, they only selected Best In Show for Fine Arts and also for Crafts. Everybody else got part of their money back.

I was over at the arts & crafts center, which is also run by MWR, where one of the staff is also a photographer. I mentioned that I was going tomorrow (well, yesterday now) and she was surprised. She was also surprised that I was the only entrant in the Photography category, and that the deadline was last month. She told me she would certainly have entered, and so would several friends of hers, a couple of whom were looking for some sort of event to enter.

As it happens, there were only two entrants in the new, unnanounced "Fine Arts" category. There was a painter next to our booth, and I'll give her props for good painting. The crafts people were everywhere, though.

Notes to self:

-The wind blows. Bring anchors.
-Foamcore does not expand at the same rate as mat board, and neither do photographs. Mount at display temperature and humidity.
-The rain falls, and when the wind blows also, you're just SOL
-If the schedule calls for being there at 6 am, figure two and a half hours before anyone else will show up, and go get breakfast.
-Don't doze off under the canopy, forgetting that the sun is moving. Sunburn on the elbow hurts.
-Under No Circumstances should you ever let children--even other people's children--have cotton candy of any sort if they are going to be occupying the same booth for all or most of the day.
-If you're there, you will set up and tear down. If it thunderstorms, you will set up and tear down at least twice, sometimes as many as four times.
-If you're showing shots of airplanes and suchlike, but fill in the extra (so you have a nice number) with the mushroom, everybody will come by and tell you how much they love the mushroom.
-Everybody will notice the tiniest flaws--and comment on them--in the main photographs, but will fail to notice that the mushroom's DOF is way too short, that it's focused at the wrong point, that it's enlarged way too much, and that it's so over-exposed that there's no detail whatsoever in it.
-Despite everyone loving the mushroom, they will not buy it.
-Take an eraser to remove dirty fingerprints (Ha! Figured this one out in advance!)
-If it's a barbecue festival, you won't get barbecue because you have to watch the booth.
-If it's an arts festival, make sure the organizers know what they're doing.
-If your site is downwind of the pony ride, get a different location. If all sites are downwind of the pony ride, don't enter.

 

[JamesD]

I'm sorry james I should have warned you that frames come in standard sizes of bx10 11x14 16x20 20x24. just about everything else is a specailty item. Either had to be made or searched for all over hell and not to be found at the last moment.

When I ran the studio, we also shot knowing we would be printing the negative for one of those sizes. It seems to be to be unfair to had a customer a print that he can't frame himself but lots of photographers have a size print made to fit the image not fit the image to the size print that can be easily managed.

I'll take part of the weight for this one.

LOL This is hardly your fault, Charlie. It's whoever designed the standard frame sizes.

I mean, really... 8X10 has been a standard photograph size for decades. And when you mat a photograph, it's supposed to be even all the way around, right? Or bottom weighted?

So, go figure... 8X10, + 2 inches all around... 12 X 14. So where does 11 X 14 come from?

It doesn't make sense to me... if you're shooting in portrait format, fine, bottom weight it. If your shooting in landscape, though, it just doesn't work. In fact, I can't think of a single image size that it would work for,

 

[mysteryscribe]

because frames come only standard in the demension of un matted prints. It's some kind of 11th commandment. So you ask for 11x14 matts with 8x10 cut outs and the cutouts are smaller than 8x10 of course. Hey it's like hot dogs why are their more dogs than buns. Or is it the other way around.

ps welcome to the world of festivals....roflmao

I still have the best story... sold a print on sat it came back on sunday... the colors didn't match her bathroom ... lol it was prdominatly brown why didn't it match something in there.....

 

[terri]

Thank God, it's over.

The photos I entered are in the General Gallery. I went back and adjusted them in Gimp to look more like the prints, but there's really no comparison...

If this is how shows are run, I think I'll avoid them in the future. The judges were supposed to start at 10 am, but didn't show until about 3pm, and when they came by, they didn't say anything, just looked over everything for about five or ten seconds--no exaggeration--then left. Rather than selecting a winner in each category, then Best in Show, they only selected Best In Show for Fine Arts and also for Crafts. Everybody else got part of their money back.

I was over at the arts & crafts center, which is also run by MWR, where one of the staff is also a photographer. I mentioned that I was going tomorrow (well, yesterday now) and she was surprised. She was also surprised that I was the only entrant in the Photography category, and that the deadline was last month. She told me she would certainly have entered, and so would several friends of hers, a couple of whom were looking for some sort of event to enter.

As it happens, there were only two entrants in the new, unnanounced "Fine Arts" category. There was a painter next to our booth, and I'll give her props for good painting. The crafts people were everywhere, though.

Notes to self:

-The wind blows. Bring anchors.
-Foamcore does not expand at the same rate as mat board, and neither do photographs. Mount at display temperature and humidity.
-The rain falls, and when the wind blows also, you're just SOL
-If the schedule calls for being there at 6 am, figure two and a half hours before anyone else will show up, and go get breakfast.
-Don't doze off under the canopy, forgetting that the sun is moving. Sunburn on the elbow hurts.
-Under No Circumstances should you ever let children--even other people's children--have cotton candy of any sort if they are going to be occupying the same booth for all or most of the day.
-If you're there, you will set up and tear down. If it thunderstorms, you will set up and tear down at least twice, sometimes as many as four times.
-If you're showing shots of airplanes and suchlike, but fill in the extra (so you have a nice number) with the mushroom, everybody will come by and tell you how much they love the mushroom.
-Everybody will notice the tiniest flaws--and comment on them--in the main photographs, but will fail to notice that the mushroom's DOF is way too short, that it's focused at the wrong point, that it's enlarged way too much, and that it's so over-exposed that there's no detail whatsoever in it.
-Despite everyone loving the mushroom, they will not buy it.
-Take an eraser to remove dirty fingerprints (Ha! Figured this one out in advance!)
-If it's a barbecue festival, you won't get barbecue because you have to watch the booth.
-If it's an arts festival, make sure the organizers know what they're doing.
-If your site is downwind of the pony ride, get a different location. If all sites are downwind of the pony ride, don't enter.

Poor James. I would bet the next one would be much better!!

 

[mysteryscribe]

Dont let him kid you terri he loved it. Every photographer loves the instant feedback. Its why we suffer the bad food also over priced, and sit all day in the rain dry cold heat and pretend we have some idea what we have done lol

 

[JamesD]

Heh. Well.

It was nice to hear a few oohs and ahs over my photographs. I won't lie. Someone even told me I had talent (thought I to myself: "Then buy it!")

I also believe that some of these photographs were the best work I've done to date. It was a learning experience, down to the hours spent slaving in the darkroom, printing and reprinting to get it perfect. And also the framing thing.

I'm not real keen on sitting in a booth again. It was rather a truly miserable experience. The fact that I was sharing it with others didn't help. They crowded my stuff into a corner, barely enough room for it to breathe.

So, yeah, I didn't enjoy it much while I was doing it, but I can look back on it and say that, yes, some parts were worth it.

Oh, and my mother's exact words were "I want the mushroom." Always a fan LOL.

 

[Torus34]

If nothing else, you proved beyond doubt that you could produce on time, on schedule. Chances are you also shook out some kinks in your thinking and your working procedures. These are no mean accomplishments. I suspect the gains were worth the hours spent downwind of the ponies.

 

[mysteryscribe]

You can not truly judge the event till the memory of pony dung fades. You will decide that it was more than worth it, when you can apply what the people really meant to what you do next.

If I might venture an observation about selling artwork... This is purely personal and might not have anything to do with anyone elses experiences. People generally buy picture of themselves, their family, and their experiences. Ie a helicopter pilot might want the shot of himself landing the chopper. Someone who had crewed on a chopper might want a really unusual picture of one. Johnny lunch bucket might love the picture for their artistic merit, but never part with the twenty bucks.

Universal in our memory is like an old house needing paint and with cracked windows. Dark and dreary in the prestorm light with heavy clouds and trees that are almost black. Now everyone remembers such a house from their childhood, or has driven by one and thought about it at least ina primorial sense. Will it sell at the pony fair? Probably not but you increase your chances as you broaden the appeal of your subject.

Now that was tip 1... terri you can do tip two... and any other festival types can jump in one tip at a time please... lets not confuse James lol..

After all he's a photographer and can't hold too many thoughts at once. Just kidding James.

 

[ksmattfish]

If this is how shows are run, I think I'll avoid them in the future.

You have learned that the key is to pick the right shows. IMHO, skip the shows/fairs that have something other than art as the main attraction. People go to a BBQ fair to eat BBQ. People go to an art fair to look for art to buy. I'm not saying you can't sell at a BBQ fair, but as you experienced it's a lot of work, so direct your energy to where you'll have the best chances.

 

[terri]

Exactly. I never bother with more than 3-4 shows a year, and those are ones I enjoy myself because they are simply well run arts festivals, complete with numerous bands and sometimes a parade. People are there purely to enjoy themselves - stroll around and view art, listen to music, drink beer, and will definitely start throwing twenties at you.

I've been at festivals where I've been almost completely skunked, and I've been at festivals where I started to worry that I didn't have enough stock to make it throgh the day because it was moving so fast. One time I won "Best in Show" - 2nd place to a woodworker. :mrgreen: That was validating.

I stay away from "harvest" festivals, or "old time craft" type festivals where people walk around in period costume and demonstrate things like candle making - etc. The festival organizers need to be pushing their vendors, not putting on a little show about yesteryear.

 

[JamesD]

Thanks for the tips, y'all. I was a little skeptical myself when they said there was an arts & crafts fair in conjunction with the BBQ thing, but then again, the only reason I entered at all is because it was suggested by the headshed, and when the headshed suggests, it's more of a request. When they request, it's more of a command. When they command, you know that TSHTF.

I exaggerate the downwind of the ponies thing LOL. I actually grew up around horses, so it probably bothers me a lot less than most people. Still, it would've been nice to have clear, fresh air.

Charlie, you're right about the subject wanting his own photo. The CO was the one doing the flying, and he wants the prints I took out there, and also wants to look at the contact sheets to see which other ones he wants. As soon as he saw them, he told me that if nobody else bought them, he would. So, I did get a sale... I'll have to reprint them, though, because between the rain, the wind, and the dirt on the ground, the ones I took out there got pretty beat up. I'll probably wind up hanging them on my own wall, since I really like a couple of them.

 

[mysteryscribe]

Hey get a grip on the period thing.

 

[terri]

Hey get a grip on the period thing.

Hey I didn't say it was bad. :mrgreen: