Hi all- I’m getting my act together and finalizing my slide
choices for upcoming show applications. But, I have a question
regarding what constitutes the
“best possible jury slides”… (assuming all of my “best” slides
were not taken in the same photography session) - Slides where the
pieces look their best (color, focus, depth of field) vs. -
Consistency in overall color/quality (all pieces photographed in
the same direction, with the same color background, same amount
of light on the pieces)
Also, I love pictures in the various trade magazines that are on
a reflective surface (black plexiglass?) that appear to have a
halo of light on/around the piece, but the rest of the background
is black. How is the light positioned/reflected to make this
happen? And does anything
special have to be set with the camera? (“pushing” the film;
tricking the camera)
I’ve been bracketing my exposures and using a grey card - but
there still isn’t enough contrast for my taste - I want the black
background black, and the jewelry to really stand out
dramatically… Any hints would be appreciated.
Lori Bugaj
(it’s drizzly in Seattle, and a little cool - can’t believe I’m actually
Hi Lori, I am a professional photographer of crafts. Most of my
work is jewelry. I have been to a number of juries and put on
seminars on taking slides. I can tell you this. One of the most
important things is that the slides are consistent. Secondly,
they should display a theme, direction and representation of your
work. You only have 5 to 15 seconds to get across to the jurors
what you want them to see and if your work is all over the place
them it makes it difficult for them to get through looking at
the presentation. If you contact me offline (414-672-6727)
perhaps I can give you some tips to get the look that you would like.
lori - about your jury slides: if you can get some back issues of
The CraftsReport check out the tips by the photography columnist
Steve Meltzer. i am lucky in that steve moved less than 10 miles
away in sarasota (for out of staters, that’s where ringling
school of art is located). all i have to do is zip over with my
pieces & 2 to 3 days later i have fabulous slides, but even when
the pieces had to be mailed it was the quickest turn around
time. steve favors graduated backgrounds - dramatic without
being distracting. (no - i don’t get a discount for
complimenting steve, it’s just that he’s GOOD!) as to orientation
of your pieces, just go with your very best representations;
usually there are enough projectors for all your slides to be up
& seen by the judges at one time so they won’t look quite as
hodge-podge as going one by one all higgelly piggelly (just WHAT
is a higgel piggel??). either the judges are savvy enough to
know good pics of good work regardless of unmatched backgrounds
or whether they stand at attention facing the same direction, or
they don’t know zip - in which case there’s nothing you can do
except send along a box of candy or cookies with the slides &
pray to rex’s ‘jewelry gods of the early century’ - send them a
box of goodies too. ive
I edit a column for AJM Magazine, and I’m always looking for
experienced voices to offer advice to our readers. From your
Orchid post, you sound like one of those voices.
Would you be interested in writing a very brief (200 words or 1
typed page) article offering advice on what features to look for
in slides for a jury? Your Orchid post is a great start, and I
suspect you probably have lots more advice you could share with
jewelry artists. Don’t worry about creating a polished piece: if
you can jot your ideas down, I’d be happy to make sure the verbs
agree with the nouns and all the other technicalities of my
craft. You would, of course, be credited as the author of the
piece, and will be sent the final edited version in advance for
your approval.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic on Orchid, and
I look forward to hearign from you.
Susanne, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I just got
back from the supersized Ann Arbor Art Fair. Yes, I would like
to do that article for AJM. Do you have a date or deadline in mind for this.