Artists Slide Hints
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Slide Hints
 
The jury has a very short time to consider your slides. Everything you do to keep their focus on your work will help. Any distractions which take a juror s attention away from your work will hurt.
DO NOT INCLUDE A FRAME IN YOUR SLIDE

Painters should not include the frame or matting in their slide unless they are integral to the work. The frame and mat distract from the work and make the work necessarily smaller. In addition, many times the entire frame is not photographed leaving a sloppy looking slide.
DOfill the slide with your painting.DO NOTphotograph the frame. Use slide tape to cover up portions of the frame that were inadvertently photographed.
USE A SIMPLE COMPLIMENTARY/NEUTRAL BACKGROUND

Images that may be fine for advertising or postcards may not necessarily make good slides. A distracting background can make it difficult for the juror to focus on your work, they can also be annoying to a tired juror (not the reaction you are trying to illicit!). Keep your background simple.
DOuse a simple complimentary/neutral background for your work.DO NOTuse a busy or distracting background.
AVOID DISTORTING THE WORK IN THE PHOTOGRAPH

Oddly shaped objects do not make good slides. It is very difficult to photograph them without some distortion, they should not be used for jurying. When photographing an appropriately sized piece be sure you are centered on the piece and the camera is parallel to the piece. Otherwise the image will appear wider on one side and narrower on the other. It looks sloppy and cannot help your case with a jury.
DOphotograph work of the proportions that works well for a slide format.DOphotograph the work parallel to the camera.DO NOTuse work that does not fit in a slide format well.DO NOT photograph your work at an angle or off center and introduce unnatural distortions.
TAPE THE EDGES OF YOUR SLIDES

White edges on your slides can be very distracting to a juror. The eyes are naturally drawn to these flaws on a slide. Extraneous images accidentally captured by the camera such as photographing beyond your seamless background can be just as distracting. Tape over these problems with slide tape to clean up your slide.
DOtape over all distracting imperfections on your slides.DO NOTleave sloppy or bright white edges on your slides.
FILL AS MUCH OF THE SLIDE FRAME AS POSSIBLE WITH YOUR WORK

Make a juror s job easy by providing the best/largest image of your work that you can. If a juror has to spend time trying to see your work they will have less time to evaluate it.
DOfill the slide with your image.DO NOTleave wasted space around your work and make your work difficult to see.
DO NOT USE SLIDES WITH ARTIFICIAL OR POOR COLOR

Slides taken under poor lighting or with old film can appear to have an artificial tint to them. The jurors are unable to fairly evaluate your work if they sense the colors aren t real. It also implies a carelessness on the part of the artist that the juror may take into account when judging work.
DOlook at your slides with a projector and reject any slides that appear artificially tinted. Use proper lighting (photo bulbs or natural light).DO NOTtake slides under florescent or common incandescent bulbs. Use natural light or photo bulbs (expensive but worth the cost).
 
SLIDE PRODUCTION
Gamma Tech
www.gammatech.com
 
Files may be uploaded directly to Gamma Tech's server using the "Upload Files" form on www.gammatech.com or you can fill out and pint the mail order form on the side and sent it with a disk to have slides made. Accepted file formats: jpg, tiff, photoshop.

Charlie Dodge
cdodge@gammatech.com
1100 McKee Drive, NE
Albuquerque, NM 87112
877-293-9440

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