compet slide question

Hi All! I'm about to photograph some works to enter slides into a competition and would like some advice. Since nothing is supposed to show in the slides except the artwork what do you do if they are not exactly the dimensions of the slide? These are pastels, so I will be matting them anyway, but for competition entry purposes what would you recommend? Black mat? White? A grey that's approximately the shade of the screen? Thanks for your help!

That's a very good question. I wish I new what to tell you except I just try to do the best I can with the background and lighting. I hate slides and hope someday they start excepting digital imaging instead so we could touch things up after the pictures been taken.

About 80% percent of the slides come in with a white background. But you need to 1expose them correctly. Do a half stop bracket on white and or black back

[Actually, it is possible to send a digital file to a service bureau and have slides generated. I hate 'em too- they are the most difficult kind of film to work with, with a much smaller exposure latitude than print film but very touchy about color temperature, and hardly anybody bothers to project them anyway. So you work and work to get all the details right, only to have your efforts shrunk down to the size of a postage stamp. No wonder minimalist art came on so strong in a slide-dominated era- if the medium is the message, that's the stuff that gets through.]

Andrew Werby http://unitedartworks.com

[Some people use black tape to mask off extraneous areas.]

So you work and work to get all the details right, only to have

An interesting point of view.

I think that with paintings and other 2D work incl. pastels, an experienced eye can deduct a lot from a small representation of the original. If the composition is 'right', it will remain right.

Since acquiring an unmetered IP account I idly browse image search engines such as http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en. Viewing thumbnails there is very much like dealing with slides unaided. Most images are not worth my enlarging; the poor or uninteresting (to me) composition is already evident.

Jiri Borsky

says...

It sounds as if you're work is 2-D, so here's how I do it. Use a black felt cloth as a backdrop. I say felt because other types of black cloth may still have some reflectiveness. Hang your art work in front of the backdrop and you'll have no need for cropping the finished slides. Besides that, you won't find it necessary to do an exposure correction - at least not like you would when using a white backdrop.

I photograph in open shade on a cloudless day using natural sunlight and Kodachrome 64 'professional' film. I say that, but nowadays most of my photography is done with a good digital camera! Hopefully one day soon all art work will be accepted in digital format for juried shows and gallery viewing.

There is an excellent book for those still doing film photography titled 'PHOTOGRAPHING ART WORK.' It deals with all the relevent issues of photographing with artificial light, as well as natural sunlight.

Back in the Dark Ages (pre-digital), slides entered for competition were required to be 'masked' with special reflective tape. The tape could be had at any comprehensive photography store, because it was understood that excellent color reproduction was only possible with fine-grain transparency film. (To a very large extent, this is still true, but standards have lapsed somewhat.)

These days, that type of store is usually found only in metropolitan areas. But comprehensive photography outlets are on the 'Net. Not only that, there are some very task-specific sites which have this masking material; one of them, found through 'Google' using the search phrase 'slide masking tape', is Images Innovations at http://www.slidescribe.com/mtbd.shtml. Light Impressions carries a full line of media-related preservation and display materials; their tape is listed under 'slide and negative accessories'. Warning: their online catalog seems designed for wide-bandwidth viewing; page loads are s-l-o-w at 56K. They have two sizes: 1/4 at $8.95, 1/2 at $14.95.

You'll need slide mounts, slide masking tape, plastic tweezers, and a good supply of Exacto blades. Disassemble the slides one at a time, place the transparency onto the new mount, mask the image and cut off the excess tape with the Exacto. Assemble the other half of the mount and press it in place with the heel of your hand (or get a slidemount press from Light Impressions.)

Now, if the above relates to what you actually needed to know, you can stop. The remainder of this message is photography-related, and may cause wallet deflation. (the thing about photography - or any hardware-dependant endeavor - is, the more you know, the more you want, and the more you get, the more you know. Ya know?)

1. Choose your light source, then choose your film. If you must shoot indoors, you'll need a quality light source and film to match it. Photo-floods, halogens, etc, either require tungsten-balance film or daylight film with correcting filter(s). My solution to this cumbersome affair was to use daylight-balance Vita-Lite fluorescents made by Duro Test. This allows me to use daylight balance film without filters, and the setup is such that it's always ready to use - no worries about maverick clouds changing the light when I least want that to happen. Note: there are many other manufacturers, but be careful: although I was told Sylvania's F40/DSGN50 are daylight balance, they are not as far as film is concerned.

2. Set up your artwork (and lights, if you're working indoors). Place your camera and its tripod (buy one - a cheapie will do for a short while, a better one will last. Look for a 'quick-disconnect' feature.) Fill the frame with the desired image area, making sure the plane of the artwork is exactly parallel to the film plane.

3. Set the exposure. If you have a camera with a built-in meter, get an '18% gray card' (the link is to a reasoned and documented discussion of why an 18% gray card is inaccurate. If you're a stickler for details, you might want to take a look.) at a camera store or web equivalent. Set that in front of your artwork and take a reading. That's more than ballpark-close. But with bracketing exposures, you can make certain (more on that below.) Better still - if you believe you will be doing a lot of photography over the years - get an incident light meter. Digital ones are 'way cool, but you can get a good analog one for a lot less (I've gotten good results with a Sekonic Studio Deluxe . The link is to an $89.00 one at Nathan's Camera) Put the meter at the artwork, point it at the camera and press the button. This exposure setting should be absolutely perfect.

If you're shooting indoors with tungsten lights and tungsten film, the above still applies. However, if you're using daylight film and filters with tungsten lights, you'll have to do some adjustments; the filter lowers the 'effective film speed' - read the documentation that comes with the film or the filter.

If your media is highly reflective, you may wish to invest in a Polarizing Filter, which can make annoying reflections disappear. And watch out for light sources behind the camera!

The Big Bucks Route: Get a pair of strobes (master and slave) and a flash meter. You can lower the cost somewhat by getting two consumer-grade electronic flash units and a 'slave' accessory. Use daylight balance film. Calibrate the strobes so both are equal, then trigger both together with the meter to get the exposure. And remember, RTFMs! I love it!

4. Shoot at the indicated exposure. If you're the nervous type, you can 'bracket' this indicated exposure by a half stop in both directions. I get outstanding results from a very slight underexposure - it saturates the color.

5. When you get your slides back, it's time to mask. You'll need slide mounts, slide masking tape, plastic tweezers, and a good supply of Exacto blades. Disassemble the slides one at a time, place the transparency onto the new mount, mask the image and cut off the excess tape with the Exacto. Assemble the rest of the mount and press it in place with the heel of your hand (or get a slidemount press from Light Impressions.) There - that's one. Only 35 more to go!

Working at a gallery in SoHo I never saw a masked slide sent in. As a matter of fact the tape would encourage for me not to put those slides in the projector for fear of it jamming.

......< >............

I have been using 100 ASA, in daylight but inside the studio which has a few light sources. It's kind of difficult to set up outside in my area. Results are great to so-so. I do remember using 64 film but I thought that was only with lights. Should I be using the 64 film? I'd appreciate hearing any opinions.

I've been getting great results with 100ASA film in daylight. My studio light isn't wonderful for slides but at the right time of day and using a Grey-Card for exposure they do turn out pretty fine.

says...

Film SPEED isn't the issue. You should be using whatever film you find works best for you, but the film should say on it 'DAYLIGHT.' If it says TUNGSTEN then it's intended for artificial lighting situations using tungsten bulbs. I use the Kodachrome 64 because that's what most professional photographers use and recommend for daylight filming. If you're really serious about this subject, find the book PHOTOGRAPHING ART WORKS (or similar