Posted by Steve Cebula on April 11, 2012 at 10:32am
We have had the experience of getting a new booth shot this past year. The best of plans were set, a photographer lined up etc. We arrived at the shoot and set it all up on a nice overcast day, but no the sun came out full right when we were ready to take the photos, as we were paying by the hour we went ahead with the shoot. The photographer used a wide angle lense up close to the booth and when we got the pics it looked like the booth was slightly a frame shaped. Lesson learned on that and it was too uneven and bright with full sun. Our experience has taught us some lessons. Don't shoot in direct sun or at a show. Pay attention to the work in the shot, it should be reflective of the images you use in the art photos. No chairs, signs with artist name and such. Try to hang the work so for example the tops of the picture frames are even at each level used. A floor of some kind is a plus. Just thought we would share this info. We would also like to extend a thank you to Larry Berman who took time on the phone to give us insights and advice. He ended up doing an excellent job on helping us fix our booth shot which was lacking in several areas. Kudos to you Larry!
Here's an example of what they don't want. This one is an entirely digital creation. I found it on an art site, and is about 7-8 years old. The state of the art has progressed beyond that I would imagine.
Nothing was said about not straightening up walls, evening out lighting, cleaning up debris on the carpet, finishing the tarps down to the ground, cloning out any identifying signage, getting rid of pop cans and candy wrappers, and so on.
What they don't want is someone taking a shot of a booth with empty walls, and then dropping in images of framed art work, 3D work hanging on the walls, placing pots on shelves, all by using PS. It's not anything new; I've seen virtual art galleries done 8 years ago that looked like they real. I was tempted to have mine done that way back then, but decided doing a decent set-up myself was a whole lot cheaper and incidentally a lot more ethical.
Just a note, I noticed that St Louis art fair specifically banned any Photoshopped images when I applied, don't know if this is a new policy or not. I can definitely tell the first image was Photoshopped. IMHO, I like this policy, I think it will help to dial down the expectation of perfection in a booth shot.
Don't sweat the tilted legs and A frame look; the Perspective Control tool in Photo Shop will straighten that out easily. I went through the booth shot process earlier this year and have "work in progress" shots posted in a blog post I did, along with comments from Larry and others. The jury slide post I did for the St. Louis workshop has information and comments from others on setting up the booth shot.
Comments
Steve, your "after" booth shot looks great. Your work looks very nice, too. The display is very attractive.
Here's an example of what they don't want. This one is an entirely digital creation. I found it on an art site, and is about 7-8 years old. The state of the art has progressed beyond that I would imagine.
Nothing was said about not straightening up walls, evening out lighting, cleaning up debris on the carpet, finishing the tarps down to the ground, cloning out any identifying signage, getting rid of pop cans and candy wrappers, and so on.
What they don't want is someone taking a shot of a booth with empty walls, and then dropping in images of framed art work, 3D work hanging on the walls, placing pots on shelves, all by using PS. It's not anything new; I've seen virtual art galleries done 8 years ago that looked like they real. I was tempted to have mine done that way back then, but decided doing a decent set-up myself was a whole lot cheaper and incidentally a lot more ethical.
Just a note, I noticed that St Louis art fair specifically banned any Photoshopped images when I applied, don't know if this is a new policy or not. I can definitely tell the first image was Photoshopped. IMHO, I like this policy, I think it will help to dial down the expectation of perfection in a booth shot.
Don't sweat the tilted legs and A frame look; the Perspective Control tool in Photo Shop will straighten that out easily. I went through the booth shot process earlier this year and have "work in progress" shots posted in a blog post I did, along with comments from Larry and others. The jury slide post I did for the St. Louis workshop has information and comments from others on setting up the booth shot.
With Steve's permission, here's a before and after (top) picture.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Can you post the shot? I dread having to do this again, but it is time to do it....