The deadline for submission of your artwork is fast approaching and we can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on.
All submissions will be featured in an online virtual exhibit for the entire world to see and so to ensure that your work is displayed in its best form, we encourage you to deliver your work to the nearest library as soon as possible so our professional photographers can begin processing your work for the exhibit, utilizing advanced image sizer technology to optimize each piece for digital viewing.
If you choose however, to submit your work digitally yourself, kindly take note of the following to ensure best quality.
Also make sure to watch the video below for an illustration of the tips below.
Tips When Shooting Your Artwork
- Use a DLSR camera whenever possible and shoot in raw format. When ready to deliver submit these raw files along with their corresponding jpgs. If you don’t have access to a high-end camera or someone who can help you, then using a high-end smartphone should also be able to capture the photo just fine.
- Avoid using flash, as this will cause glares on the artwork and make the image look unnatural.
- Also avoid using filters or camera presets. You’ve worked hard on your piece and it’s great just as is!
- Shoot outdoors on a cloudy day. This will give a nice soft and even natural light.
- If shooting on a sunny day, shoot indoors near a window, when the sun is overhead.
- You may use artificial lighting but try and stay away from colored lights as they will affect the colors of your artwork.
- Hang the artwork on a wall or other flat surface that contrasts well with the artwork. If your artwork is primarily yellow for instance, avoid shooting against a similarly colored wall or surface.
- Avoid hand holding the piece as shakes will cause the images to blur and this can also cause alignment issues.
- Make sure your camera is parallel to the artwork and placed exactly at the artwork’s center. Shooting at different angles will skew your work.
- Make sure there are no shadows being cast onto the work when shooting. This can happen if you happen to position yourself between the artwork and the light source, or if your windows have burglar bars or other types of framing.
- Shoot multiple pictures and zoom in on them to check that you have at least one great photo.
Makes sure to submit the original images and not images that you received or shared via WhatsApp, messenger, or other messaging apps. These apps compress the original images and make their overall quality much less than if you submit original images. If you’re using someone else’s phone, ask them to email the original files to you. Email services preserve the original files when sending so using them are ok.