First ever photography exhibition - A little clueless!

Trotter

Hi all,

I've been accepted to a photography exhibition for the first time and apart from the nerves at the thoughts of it, I need some help in terms of the logistics and standards of printing and packaging etc.

I've sent on 8 samples to the organisers and they're happy for me to exhibit so thats a start. Next I need to think about is how to actually bring and sell the photos on the day.

What is the norm for an outdoor market/exhibition? Should I pick 5-10 of my photos and concentrate on selling them in small sizes, or bring 2 sizes already printed and wrapped?

Ive spotted this website
http://www.fineartframed.ie and I think they sell the kind of mounts I'd need.

I havent managed to source the sealable plastic pockets just yet.

Also, if I did bring 2 sizes of each, what are the standard sizes to sell and how much is the going rate?

Sorry for the basic questions but I've only just got to a standard where I might not be embarrassed to do it and I havent had to think of the logistics before.

Thanks for your help!

Corkbah

do you intend selling on the day (is this permitted ?)

why not take orders on the day (including payment) and have the print sold/shipped to them later in the week.

if you are planning on selling on the day you could spend loads of money printing up different sizes and having them all mounted etc and then make no sales !! (its very expensive)

I think there's one or two boardsies who sell at markets and there's a whole host of them which exhibit their work at people's photography in August (you are welcome to join them)

if it was me I would have maybe 20-25images printed, mounted and some framed .... maybe put 8-10 on display (framed) and change the display every 2/3hrs - just to freshen it up incase anyone walks past a second or third time.


Give steve (stcstc) a shout - he can help you with printing/framing and other advice.

Trotter

Thanks a lot. Steve has printed some images for me before and did a great job. There is selling permitted and the organisers take a small percentage.

I'm going to avoid framing them because I don't want to be left with frames I don't need. If people want framing done, I'll just sell them the print and they can sort it themselves. I'm not intending to go into business at all with it, just a bit of fun that might pay for dinner out that night.

Thanks for the advice!

Corkbah

in terms of sizes for prints for sale ... I would suggest 8x6 inch or 10x8 inch prints.

but for display have decent large prints 16x24 etc ....well depending on the size available to you to display your stuff.

oh and best of luck with it.

Trotter

Corkbah wrote: »

in terms of sizes for prints for sale ... I would suggest 8x6 inch or 10x8 inch prints.

but for display have decent large prints 16x24 etc ....well depending on the size available to you to display your stuff.

oh and best of luck with it.

Thanks a lot! I just need to source those plastic adhesive pouches now and I think I'll be ready for the next batch of info from the organisers on how much space I'll have etc. I don't see anywhere that sells them in Ireland online so I might have to order them in from the UK.

Is there a standard wide format for prints that you'd recomment? A few will need to be relatively wide for the image.

pullandbang

Trotter wrote: »

Thanks a lot! I just need to source those plastic adhesive pouches now and I think I'll be ready for the next batch of info from the organisers on how much space I'll have etc. I don't see anywhere that sells them in Ireland online so I might have to order them in from the UK.

These might be suitable if you can find one to suit. Unfortunately they're only sold in full boxes of 1,000. If you only need a handful, talk nicely to me and I'll see what I can do.

stcstc

get me to make mounts and can supply the bags too, actually they are from dennis :-)


and if you want to do it cheaply, just get blank mounts and order cheap prints online :-))

Trotter

stcstc wrote: »

get me to make mounts and can supply the bags too, actually they are from dennis :-)


and if you want to do it cheaply, just get blank mounts and order cheap prints online :-))

Do you mean get the blank mounts from yourself? I want to try and do this one on the cheap completely so that I can learn how they work. I don't mean selling rubbish to people, but I just want to keep things basic.

I'm probably just going to sell 2 kinds of photos.. One set in 8x6 or 10x8 and one in a wider landscape format.

Can anyone tell me what the standard wide landscape dimensions would be for a standard print in blank mount?

stcstc

popular ratio would be 3:1, the bigger issue is frames dont come in standard panno formats

yes i can just supply you with mounts, that you can mount pictures in

Trotter

Making lots of progress today. I've got 3 metres of railing to call my own for the day. I've been advised by a few people now that if I'm selling prints I should stick to the 5x7's or 12x5's max as given that its my first time taking part in an exhibition, I could be left with a few huge framed prints that nobody wanted.

On the other hand, I want to do my best to fill the railing too. I have one huge print that stcstc did for me a while back that I'll put up that will take up 1m and I'm thinking of just pinning ten or 15 mounted 12x5's and a couple of 10x8's up too and seeing how things go.

Should I have 3 or 4 of each one packed away or just take them down if they sell? I'm trying to minimise the cost.

dinneenp

Are all your photos going to be the same theme/style or just random photos?
The same style would look better I presume.

Trotter

Most are wide panoramic photos relating in different ways to my locality. We'll see how it goes!