-{ redgeek.net }-

Forty-Seven Things I’ve Learning About Photography
That Have Nothing To Do With Photography
(through personal mistakes and otherwise)

Taking Photos

1. Although I am not a lawyer, and there are currently ongoing cases involving just this, selling prints of people shot in a public place generally does not require a release waiver. If shooting people in a public place, do not become intrusive, as you move farther from the “candid public location shot” to a “modeled shot in public.” If in doubt, try to get a waiver. Don’t sacrifice the shot however, as the image can always be deleted or the negative destroyed if necessary.
2. Ignore the above advice if the shot is of a military, military-contracted, government, or other location subject to confidentiality due to national security – obtain a waiver first.
3. Be very wary of shooting minors without a release, even in a public location, especially if the image ends up on your online portfolio.
4. Have dozens of copies of two types of model release forms in your camera bag: a long, specific one for modeling sessions, and a short all-inclusive one for getting a quick release for a grab shot you think may require it. Have as much information as possible pre-filled out to minimize the person’s time and and cognitive dissonance. You can find these on the websites of many modeling agencies.
5. Release waivers are not enforceable unless the releasing party is compensated. Pack a bunch of one dollar bills in your photo bag and trade the dollar for the filled-in release form. When I shoot my friends, I just offer them dinner in compensation, pay with a credit card, and make a note of it on the receipt.
6. A grab-shot is a spontaneous shot, a snap-shot is a crappy photo from your family vacation.

Printing, Framing, and Matting

1. Acid-free matting and mounting tape is about twice as expensive than otherwise, but is much cheaper than museum grade UV-protecting glass. If you plan on selling, use acid-free everything. If the product doesn’t say acid free or “archival,” it’s probably not. Give your patrons survivable art.
2. “Museum Rag” matting is much more expensive than standard acid-free matting, and personally, I don’t think it’s worth it – I actually like the white border in the bevel of a colored matt (acid-free, of course), and most photo paper and chemical bath printers are currently rated at a 70 years, so getting a matting that’s rated beyond that doesn’t buy you anything.
3. Use glass in frames, as plastics and synthetics tend to look hazy and scratch easily, can reflect light at unevenly, and can become mottled when certain household cleaners are applied. Ignore this advice if it is a large piece and weight is a huge concern or submission requirements require otherwise. Update: I’ve become quite enamored with some of the glare-free plexiglass that’s available now. It’s more resilient than glass, it appears that the developers have addressed some of the issues with haziness and scratching tendency. Check it out before you buy it though, preferably by holding a sample photo behind it at the same distance it will end up being framed. E.g., if the print will be matted, it won’t be flush against the plexi, but some amount back. Make sure that the clarity is acceptable.
4. Check both sides of the glass/surface protector for those little adhesive clear protective sheets, and remove them before mounting your work.
5. Don’t buy display glass from companies that don’t have a reasonable return and exchange policy. You will end up with hidden cracks in glass that has been obscured by the overlapping edge of the frame, or weak spots that have not yet fractured but will, and you will end up with a completely shattered piece at some point, generally while transporting the piece to an exhibition or client.
6. Always print on quality paper with quality inks, and always print fresh samples prior to a large run when the technicians or technology change. For example, when I changed from a Fuji Frontier to a Lightjet 430 printer, still using Fuji Crystal Archive paper, I printed the same samples on each to compare results in order to compensate.
7. Don’t print images on an inkjet or dye-sub printer at home (yet). The technology isn’t there (yet) – the dynamic range is shit, the shelf life is abhorrent, and the print may react adversely to various substances like moisture or the plastic protective sleeves inside a portfolio. If you get an ink-jet print from a service bureau, get it UV-coated.
8. Giclee is french for “squirt.” Basically, it’s an inkjet printer that can print on just about any surface. I personally don’t think it’s worth it for digital photos, even if you’re using one of the high-end six, eight, or twelve color giclee printers, since you probably don’t have that dynamic range in your photos in the first place, and you probably weren’t working in that colorspace in Photoshop when making adjustments. I’ve never done giclee prints from analog sources, so I can’t comment on that.
9. Check out the reputation of the local print shops by visiting local galleries on reception evenings and questioning the presenters and curators. In San Diego, I typically use Moebius Color.
10. Check to see if there’s a minimum number of prints or dollar figure for a run.
11. If you print in multiple sizes, it may be more cost effective to use different printers, technologies, or companies for each. I’ve used Chrome Digital for small-scale prints with pleasing results, but rumour has it they’ve had some issues with poor quality and damaging negatives. Since I’ve only ever taken digital sources there, and I always have a backup of my work, I’m not worried about damaged source materials.
12. Always sign your prints, but only on the lower right hand corner just outside the print boundary. Anything else is just unprofessional.
13. Only sign with a pen that has been designed to write on prints, to prevent smudging your signature. The pen will usually say something along the lines of “writes on plastic, metal, glass.” Test it.
14. If the print one of a numbered series, include the number of the print and total number of prints. This may be done next to your signature or on the back. Document the series run, date, and purchases somewhere at home.
15. If you write any series numbering information, date, or other extraneous data on the back of the photo, use a light hand to not emboss the text into the print, and do it far enough in the margin that if it does deform the print that it will be hidden by matting. Generally, there’s no reason to write much, if any, extra information on back.
16. Matt your image with a quarter-inch (or so) boundary around the printed boundary to expose the signature. The patron is investing in the signature as much as the art.
17. Generally, unless the theme requires it, frame and matt each piece in a showing identically. If the matting is colored (not white or black) and complementary to each image, more spacing is required between the pieces.
18. Particularly for smaller prints, have the bottom edge of the matt one-and-a-half to two times as wide as the sides and top. The sides on top should be of identical width. Works best with white matting, in my opinion.

Getting Noticed

1. Spend some time on your card, as curators and owners receive hundreds regularly. Make it professional, memorable, and if possible, include a few samples on the card itself. I’ve used Overnight Prints, and placed contact information one side and some favorite shots representative of my work on the back.
2. Go grassroots – visiting the local galleries, art-walks, coffee house receptions, one-night-only’s, etc. Introduce yourself to the artists, curators, and owners; they probably won’t approach you unless it looks like you’re interested in buying. Analyze the presenters’ works and have intelligent things to say about them. Cast negative comments in a positive light or don’t say them at all. (e.g., “I’d be interested to see this piece cropped here, with more of this light falling on the subject” instead of “The composition sucks and it’s too dark.”) Respect them, but don’t pester them – they’re there to sell, and you’re (probably) not buying.
3. Don’t pretend to be buying in order to speak with the curator(s). They are working, and will make time for you when he or she can.
4. Have both a printed portfolio and online version. Online is generally more convenient these days, and if they like what they see online, they’ll probably ask to followup with a printed portfolio.
5. In your portfolio: prune, prune, prune. Better to have ten phenomenal images than those ten and ninety mediocre. The mediocrity dilutes the phenomenal. Revisit you portfolio periodically and continue to prune as you evolve.
6. Treat all advice as constructive criticism, even if it’s not presented as such, and even you you think it’s wrong. You don’t have to follow it, but you should listen to it. It’s photography, let yourself use others’ eyes as well as your own.
7. Eventually, you will be recognized at various art functions, if you’ve been introducing yourself without being obnoxious. It’s incredibly beneficial if a curator or owner approaches you at an exhibition (to say hi, or ask if you’re seen the pieces yet, etc.), as opposed to the other way around. The curator is almost never alone, and people will see him or her initiating conversation with you, and have instantly had your status raised. Do not, however, try to force this scenario, just let it happen.
8. Bring promotional flyers for you exhibitions wherever you go. You never know when you’ll meet someone who might actually show up and purchase a piece, and owners and curators love that. (And you should as well.) On the flip side, always ask before leaving a stack of flyer at a location, and never start the conversation with the presentation of a flyer. Guide the conversation there, or let it arise, and then present it. It’s more polite, personal, and makes the recipient feel less like they’re being spammed.
9. If you trade business cards with a curator or owner, send a followup email a few days later. Be polite and spell check, read it over a couple times. It should follow the ABC’s of good communication: Accuracy, Brevity, and Clarity. Think of it as courting an aristocrat.
10. Support your local artists, purchasing pieces if the option is available and the work moves you, but minimally by going to their exhibitions and inviting them to yours. Reciprocity is good, and with most people, somewhat viral. If you don’t have the money to buy another artist’s piece, and they yours, consider trades.
11. If you’re commissioning a piece, pay half up front and half upon receipt. Artists will finish when they get hungry.
12. Use your resources. Ask for help, advice, criticism, convention, standards, etc. No one was born knowing everything.

In the Gallery

1. If your prints have been stored in presentable state for a while, dust the frame, pull the glass and dust it or clean it with a non-abrasive cleaner. If the inside side of the glass requires cleaning, let the glass dry completely before re-assembling to prevent chemicals from being pressed against the print.
2. Bring a few spare pieces to the gallery in the event that one of yours gets damaged or destroyed in route, or in case an artists doesn’t show and there is extra available. Exposure is good.
3. Bring a level, screwdriver (Phillips and flathead), hammer, needle-nose pliers, a thin metal ruler, and your own hanging supplies when hanging your work. You never know if the material promised by the studio was given to the pompous savant that’s headlining the show. The level and hammer for obvious reasons, the screwdrivers to work with mounting brackets, and it’s handle can be used to spool wire, the pliers to pull sunken nails and other sundry, the metal ruler to space pieces as well as wedge behind the backing stays present on some frames.
4. Go to your own showing. Nothing says lack of pride like missing your own exhibition. Many people enjoy meeting the artists and establishing some sort of personal or emotional connection between themselves and the source of the piece they’re looking to purchase (but be aware some people want to intentionally not meet the artists, so don’t hover.)
5. Don’t spent so much time with any potential client(s) that you don’t have time to mingle, meet new people, view other artists’ works, and appreciate your evening.
6. Get a receipt book. If accepting non-brokered payment, particularly in check form, write the purchaser’s drivers license number on the receipt. You don’t want to surrender the work and have a stop payment crop up on the check and have no recourse. If it is a brokered payment, the gallery should take care of this.
7. Don’t try to skirt the gallery by going behind it’s back to sell the piece later at discount, thereby screwing the gallery out of it’s commission. After all, you may not have had an offer at all had it not been for them.
8. Bring spare business cards to the showing.
9. If you’d like to defray some expenses without relying on someone purchasing one of your larger gallery pieces, considered making available some smaller prints of the pieces in the show. These should be pre-matted but not framed, and contain your signature like the standard large-scale print. They may also include some “advertising,” such as your website address. A 4”x6” print is on the “crafts” side of the arts-and-crafts curve, appearing more like a postcard than a gallery art miniature, so go larger than 4”x6”. They should be packaged in a clear protective sleeve with a price tag. In other words, ready for someone to just pick up and buy.
10. If you’re selling inexpensive pieces and/or miniatures, bring petty cash for changing bills. I suggest rounding every price to the nearest $5 mark.
11. Don’t get drunk at your own showing.