I've been reading through lots of the booth reviews here, and it's frequently suggested that the images be Photoshopped to eliminate grass, drop new photos onto frames to eliminate glare, and similar things.
Two questions, closely related, but not identical:
- Is it allowed by show rules?
- Is it ethical?
I assume there's some limit, but perhaps hard to define. Presumably you can't fabricate the entire booth in Photoshop. How about putting fabric over the tent frame?
Replies
It depends on what you're doing in Photoshop. It's a no-no to submit a booth shot that exists only in your computer. No illustration examples are expected, it should be a real one. That said, cleaning up the image in PS is okay if you have decent skills. Straighten up keystoning front legs of the booth, do dodging and burning as needed, and blur or clone out identifying signage.
As an example for my last booth shot, I dodged most of the white mattes in the framed pieces where the light fell off. The booth was set up inside on some nasty carpeting so I changed the color and healed the stains on the carpet. The ceiling was visible of the tent and excessively bright so I burned it in. I picked up color noise at the bottom of the display panels so the entire image was ran through Neat Image noise reduction. I ran three strobe heads up in the rafters of the EZ-Up and cloned out the cables where they were seen. I later changed the booth to have B&W photos instead of color pieces so the color pieces were replaced in PS. This gave me a second alternative booth shot. I looked at the finished shot at 300% on my monitor and I can't tell that the prints were replaced.
I'll be replacing the EZ-Up with a Trimline in a few weeks and will redo the booth shot anyway. I still may not have enough framed B&W pieces ready so those may have to be dropped in. Unethical? I don't think so. If accepted with that body of work, I would have time to finish those pieces in time to have an accurate representation of what I submitted.
As far as replacing images to avoid glass glare, it beats taking a frame apart so you can remove the glass. Unless you're using non-reflective glass, it is difficult to avoid reflections. I've had reflections of myself and the camera on the back wall pieces, and reflections from the side walls to the back wall happen despite the best lighting I could pull off. The best piece of advice is to set up your display in your driveway and take your time making it as good as you can get it without the distraction of getting ready for customers.
I am by no means an expert on this subject. I've weighed the same issues in my mind.
Although it is possible with proficiency in PS to make it almost undetectable that it was altered...
A) the operative word being "almost"
B) I've had shows state "No alterations / manipulation of the booth image"
C) You do not have to drop photos into frames, afterward to eliminate glare, this can be done via proper lighting and exposure with original shots.
D) I'm old school, I've taken shots with a digital camera, printed the .jpg directly without any post processing at all, and sold it.
I don;t want to get flamed nor blasted on here for my thoughts. We can improve a booth image a lot with PP. Not everyone has the expertise to shoot a very good booth image without alteration afterward.
Therefore the question might be, the weighing of what may be needed to achieve getting through jury, into that sought after show VS integrity and ethics.
What if one shoots a perfect booth shot but has to PP to remove the name on the tent or signature identifying the artist? That would be altering / manipulation of the image also. Perhaps the operative idea might be "any manipulation to improve or falsify the original shot".
I had a show I submitted to where in everything was as shot, no manipulation... except. The carpet I had was to small for the entire grass to be covered. So I manipulated the carpet over the exposed grass areas. In being honest, I did not try to conceal my changes. They contacted me informing of the rule for no manipulation. So I went out, bought a bigger carpet, re-set up my tent and the entire booth. Took three days before the lighting was good enough and then re-shot it. I also feel better about myself now.
My extremes go further as I'm a photographer who does not like to use PP to alter my shots, period. Difficult to compete out there without doing so.
Darn morals, values & ethics. They get in the way. But I sleep well at night. Albeit it not in a penthouse funded by selling my artwork.
Summation.
Don't alter at all if possible.
If needed to PP just to remove signage, ok.
If you are not proficient to do the original shot well enough, hire someone to do it for you but instruct them to do so in such a way that no PP will be used.
Being ethical, we can achieve the same thing, just have to work a bit harder.
Not all shows are as strict with the booth shot.