RELATED TOPICS
Freelancing Home
Internet Marketing Home
Spam
Junk Fax

OTHER
Lawyer Jokes

Premium Content

PORTFOLIO SERIES - article 5 - PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR WORK ... MAKING SLIDES / TRANSPARENCIES
by Rachel Goldstein
owner of Allfreelancework.com - 1000s of freelance jobs


Artists are frequently asked by hiring art directors to submit transparencies and/or slides. For this reason, I feel it is important to cover this subject. As I am sure that you know already, slides are 35mm-sized transparencies that are contained within cardboard, matboard, plastic, or other material. Transparencies are normally 4x5 or 8x10 and are more expensive than making slides. Transparencies duplicate better, but are probably not worth the extra money.

When possible, have a professional photographer take shots of your artwork. (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIRING A PHOTOGRAPHER. IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD ONE, TRY HIRING A COLLEGE PHOTOGRAPHY STUDENT OR POSTING A JOB OPENING ON ALLFREELANCEWORK.) If you don't have the extra cash to hire a photographer, you will want to keep a few things in mind before starting your photo shoot:

1. Making even little photographic mistakes could diminish the beauty and professionalism of your samples.

2. Buy, borrow, or rent a standard 35mm SLR camera with a 50mm normal or macro lens.

3. Buy, borrow, or rent a standard tripod.

4. Buy, borrow, or rent a cable release. A cable release is an inexpensive and necessary item that eliminates unnecessary vibration.

5. Use 160 ASDA Tungsten Ektachrome film for the best results and choose an overcast day for your photoshoot. (Diffuse daylight is the best light source for this). If it is not possible to shoot outside, direct light is second best. The problem with direct light is that it could cause unwanted light reflection. TURN OFF YOUR FLASH!!

6. Make sure that your camera is clean by using a lens tissue on the lens and the body of the camera.

7. For a nice backdrop, purchase a roll of photographer's seamless background paper (or a table cloth works as well). Attach the paper to the surface behind your image and on the table that your image sits on. As long as the complete background of your sample artwork is covered and there are no seams, you can use any material as a backdrop. I always suggest that black is the color that you use as a backdrop.

8. Place the sample artwork in a way that it is level vertically and horizontally on an exterior wall. In order to keep your work safe, hang your picture under an overhang. Or if your image is small, you may be able to shoot your image from above. If your artwork is framed, you should take your imagery out of the frame. If this is not possible, at the minimum take the glass out of the frame to reduce reflection.

9. With your camera on a tripod, focus in on the sample artwork so that it fills the frame and there is the same amount of margin on all sides. Take at least five shots of each sample piece, each time choosing a different shutter speed with the f-stop at 11 or smaller.

10. Make sure to use a gray card to check proper lighting.

11. Take your slide film to a professional photo lab and have your slides developed. Let the photo technician know whether you want your film developed unmounted or mounted. It is easier to have the photo lab take care of the slide mounting or you can opt in to take care of it yourself. If you opt to mount your transparencies yourself, then you will want to purchase slide pages, slide mounts and special foil tape. Glass mounts are best for projection but they are not suitable for mailing. A good alternative is the plastic mounts. You can use the slide masking tape on the shiny side of the film to mask out unwanted areas of the slide.

12. Be careful not to fingerprint or smudge slides.

13. Pick the best slide for duplicating and mark 'ORIGINAL' on the slide so that you don't get confused between duplicate and original slides later.

14. Make sure to label your slides properly.

When labeling your slides, you should either generate nicely printed label with your computer or with a black felt pen. On the front of the slide, you should include the following: (on the top of the slide) 1. Your Name 2. Title 3. Medium (on the bottom of the slide) 1. Size of Sample 2. Year or Date of Creation It is important to place a red dot on the bottom left of the slide of how it should be viewed.

15. Place your duplicate slides in a single 11"x9" clear transparent PVC slide sleeve for mailing or other intended purpose. Keep original slides, only send out duplicates.

16. Include a slide sheet along with your slides (if intended purpose is to mail slides). A slide sheet is a list of information about the slides that you are sending. All information is listed in the order of the slides that are enclosed. You should list the title, medium, size, and price (if applicable).

If you decide to hire a photographer, make sure to make a good choice. It might be wise to make sure of the following:

1. Has this photographer ever photographed art?
2. Check References ... do they pan out?
3. Do you like the photographer's sample work? Make sure to look at his work before hiring him.
4. Make sure that you will own the negatives and the copyright after the work is completed. Sign a contract stating this.
5. How much will the photo session cost?

Any comments about portfolios - or do you want to share your knowledge with us? Please send questions and comments to allfreelance@comcast.net