Orientation of Art Slides? Vertical or Horizontal?

Hello,

Continuing with our photography of art discussion...

You know how 35mm slides obviously have an aspect ratio, the horizontal side being a bit longer than the vertical side.

Well, i've never owned a slide projector before, so i don't know if people will be able to put in a slide with the long side 'vertical', and the short side going left to right.

Like can you put an arrow on the slide, so they know how to place it with the right side up?

I ask, because some of my paintings are taller than they are wide, and i'd like to fill up as much of the 35mm slide as possible with the image (resolution and such).

Thanks in advance!

And I'm gonna try to photograph them with a black background so i won't have to crop them. Do you recommend some sort of black velvet for this, something that doesn't reflect?

That'll tell you everything you need to know - the mounts are square, so a portrait or landscape format works. Note the red dot. That tells you where the bottom of the image is, as well as the 'base side'.

About the masking...hehehhe...that's why I emphasized how kewl the Nikon F3 viewfinder is. But obvioulsly a luxury, not a necessity. BTW, I know that some art schools (like UCDavis) require taped masking. They won't accept black backgrounds, since they seldom come out opaque black. These standards come from the annals of library science, btw.

Thanks Erik, that's a cool little site.

But are these standards (red dot and such) for colleges only?

Or do they apply to galleries too?

What's so special about the F3?

Maybe i'll do a black velvet background, and use the metal tape if i need it. Any special brands of metal tape i could use?

Hmmmmm...on 'opaque black.'

Black cloth will reflect light if it's a 'slick' (pun) material. I have always used a black drop cloth - black felt - and it works fine for me. I try to remember to photograph the finished painting before framing it, of course! But since I most often frame in a plain flat-black frame I make myself, it matters little if the frame is included, most of the time.

My guess would be yes...they are library standards. Unless a specific gallery publishes it's own standard. That would surprise me.

That's an elaborate way of saying 'I don't know.'

I can say that almost every juried show I've entered has had it's own unique set of rules for slide labelling. But they are going to be looking at work from hundreds of artists all in the same day, and they depend on consistency from slide to slide between artists to make this go smoothly. I suspect that in making a presentation to a gallery, so long as your labelling is self-explanatory, it won't matter if the labelling is somewhat different from, say, an artist who may have sent in a presentation a few days before. Certainly wouldn't hurt to call any gallery you intend to submit to first to see if they have preferences.

It also seems to me that shooting against a black background is not really the same as masking a slide; the light that illuminates your painting is going to illuminate the background as well, meaning it won't read as completely black. What is important in any event is to avoid creating the illusion that the border is part of your painting.