In order to complete your registration you must provide three high quality digital photos of recent artwork. Recent in this context means completed within the last twelve months or so. You may not use images that were used on a previous tour. Failure to provide photos meeting the criteria by the close of the registration window will void your registration.
Ensuring that your photographs are of the highest quality is the best way to get visitors to your studio. Submitting photos which are not sharp, have poor contrast or are crooked will have the opposite effect. We will select one of your photos to use in the catalog and use all three for our website. These are the guidelines:
Submission of print-ready professional level photos is a basic requirement. Take as much care with your images as you do in creating your work. If you are unable to meet these standards on your own, seek professional help. If you need help finding someone who can photograph your work for a reasonable fee please use our contact form.
- Backgrounds for three-dimensional work must be clean, simple and plain, light or dark depending upon the tones and values of the object. Do not include your studio or household furniture in the background. “Artsy” backgrounds are discouraged. Present your work, not a background.
- Two-dimensional work must be photographed from a centered position, perpendicular to the plane of the surface.
- Do not photograph framed work, unless the frame is part of the work.
- All photos must be in focus.
- Exclude extraneous shadows on or near the work. Do not photograph objects against a wall where shadows of the object may appear (unless that work is a wall hanging).
- Avoid harsh lighting, burned out highlights and overly dense shadows.
- Reflections of other objects on surfaces such as glass are not acceptable.
- Reflections of light that obscure surfaces of the art are not acceptable.
- Photographs must accurately represent the colors and values of the actual art.
- We require that you use a naming format that assists us in organizing all of the images we receive. The naming format should be LASTNAME_FirstInitial_Image#. For example GOLDTHORPE_C_1
Recommended minimum size is 2048 pixels on the longest side, file no larger than 5mb.
Here are instructions on how to resize a photo on Windows.
After completing the registration form and reading the photo guidelines e-mail three photos of your work to us at rm.wcaa.photos@gmail.com. In the title of the email be sure to indicate the artist or gallery that the photos apply to, e.g. “Photos for Mike Mason” or “Photos for Village Gallery”.
Photos not received according to these guidelines will be rejected and you will receive an email asking you to resubmit. Photos must be received by the registration deadline for your application to be complete.
Examples of bad and good images – wooden bowl
The first image does not do justice to this beautiful bowl. There is a distracting background, the detail does not show well, the camera angle is unflattering, the camera is tilted, there is a distracting reflection and the photo is too dark. The second image will attract far more visitors than the first.
Examples of bad and good images – watercolor
The first photo shows part of the frame, the photo is skewed, there is a reflection, the whites are not white and there is a general lack of crispness. The second photo does a much better job of capturing the feeling of the original watercolor.
