# Setting up for a gallery showing



## elementgs (Aug 17, 2014)

Evening!

I will be featured soon in a local gallery and I am needing to purchase everything to get started.  I'm trying to limit my costs while maximizing my quality.

Are there preferred vendors for mats, bags, backing, prints, frames, etc, which have great prices and low shipping costs?

I'm already thinking Adorama wil be my preferred vendor for printing simply because they offer a flat rate for $7 for shipping versus BayPhoto who increases their shipping cost based on your order.  My identical order from BayPhoto was $40 more in shipping alone.

With that said, who are preferred vendors for the mats, backing and bags?  I was thinking Redimat but then I found one on Amazon with free shipping for a fraction of the cost.  Made me question everything.

I'm open to suggestions.  Thanks!


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## tirediron (Aug 17, 2014)

I guess it depends on where you live (a location in your profile would help - this is an international forum).  I would suggest sending a sample of 3-4 images with varying tones and exposures and send them to 3-4 different printers to find out who gives you the result you like the best.  As for mats and suchI would take your prints to a local custom framing shop to get the best match colour-wise.  As well, has the gallery owner given you any guidelines/restrictions?  If you're really worried about a $40 difference, you may want to pass on a gallery showing - they're not cheap.  I would expect to spend $2-300 per 20x30 show-ready print.


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## elementgs (Aug 17, 2014)

I appreciate your response and perspective.

I'm California based.  I wasn't aware my profile didn't list that but either way, I should have mentioned it I apologize.  I was thinking US based vendors with online portals for ordering and shipping.

As for the $40, it doesn't make a difference in my world, however, in addition to being an artist, I am also a businessman.

$40 is $40.  $40x10 sales is $400.  That's $400 more than I had the month prior and will be $4000 more than I had 10 months prior.

$40 adds up.

My goal is to maximize quality while minimizing expense.

My cost per 4x6 is presently .77cents on Kodak Endura metallic, matted and in a plastic sleeve.  I will sell that same print for $12 in this gallery easily.  If I could lower my cost by even .15 per photo I would do it.  I've asked a few of the other photographers and the gallery owner and their recommendations would have cost me $3.47 per photo.  That's a tremendous difference in cost and eats into the profit tremendously.

I'm quite excited about this opportunity but I am nevertheless always grounded when it comes to business.

Once again, thank you for your perspective and opinions.


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## acparsons (Aug 18, 2014)

I did an exhibition a couple of months ago. If you can find a professional photo printer in your area, it would be great. They can help you through the whole process. It will be a lot easier. Additionally, I would check out this book: https://archive.org/stream/rchevo/FineArt#page/n3/mode/2up


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## tirediron (Aug 18, 2014)

I certainly appreciate your feeling, however art and business don't play well together at the best of times.  If your primary concern is profit, then my suggestion would be to find another avenue by which to generate it.  I'm curious though; other then [occasionally] as part of a larger work, I don't think I've ever seen 4x6 prints at a gallery exhibition.  Generally these are 'bigger is better' and even 8x10 is considered small.  As an aside, you're definitely getting hosed on your product; my cost for a 4x6 metallic is about 45 cents (however my lab [Canadian] uses a flat-rate shipping, so ordering a single print is expensive, however ordering ten or fifteen large canvasses is dirt cheap).


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## vintagesnaps (Aug 18, 2014)

I was wondering what this was for because I've never seen that done either, what sounded like sticking a 4x6 in a plastic sleeve. I'm thinking along the same lines as John, that if you just want to make money, there might be better options than selling prints (or photography in general).

Usually in my experience at arts & crafts shows prints are at least matted and sold in sleeves for customers to frame their purchases themselves (or some framed prints may be displayed and sold too). The minimum size is usually 5x7 matted to 8x10. In my area (Midwest) they sell at starting around $25 at least for that size when people set up and sell at a booth or table at a craft show. In galleries when I've submitted to juried exhibits usually the pricing is in the $100-200 range minimum and goes into a few hundred or higher for larger prints and for artists who are already established. (But not much necessarily sells.)

The pricing isn't usually determined just by the cost of paper and ink or printing; it involves being paid for your ability and learning and practice that goes into it as well as camera and lenses and computer etc. It's like with the professional work I've done that isn't photography related, the pay is for my expertise and years' experience and the cost and time of coursework and training to maintain licensure etc. not just the paper a report was printed on or the cost of scanning/emailing it.

ASMP has info. on determining cost of doing business and pricing on their site, PPA might as well. 
American Society of Media Photographers


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## W.Y.Photo (Aug 18, 2014)

Lumiere Photo | Print, Publish, Present, Preserve

These guys are excellent for framing, but they are based in NY so i don't know what shipping is like.



Booksmart Studio Printing Overview | Booksmart Studio

This place I can guarantee is top notch. My professor from a class all about printing for gallery exhibitions is in charge and he is the best photographic printer I have ever met. No Joke.





As TiredIron has stated. Most people viewing galleries don't care for the business side of it. They are there to see exceptionally well made artwork, and that is what they will buy. If you want to think in a business sense then make the best product you can possibly make because that is the only thing your market is looking to buy.


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## spacefuzz (Aug 19, 2014)

Are you in SoCal by chance? If so I have done several large exhibits and have some local contacts you can use for printing / framing. 

4x6 though? That sounds small.....


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## elementgs (Aug 19, 2014)

spacefuzz said:


> Are you in SoCal by chance? If so I have done several large exhibits and have some local contacts you can use for printing / framing.
> 
> 4x6 though? That sounds small.....



Thanks Space, I'll take whatever suggestions you have.  I travel up and down the state regularly and have a home in Long Beach I visit at least once a month.

As for the 4x6's, they are small but apparently they sell "like hotcakes" as the gallery owner has stated and sure enough, the few times I've been in there I've seen people walking out with them.  They're cheap and on a nice 5x7 mat look nice enough to keep in an office environment or otherwise.  They even have framed 2x3s in there and they sell tons of them.

Subject matter is everything though.  For the 4x6s I'm sticking primarily to otters, pelicans, seagulls and egrets.  I believe a few of my landscapes may do well at that size but the pricepoint will be important which is why I'm shopping around for quality at a good price.

As for the comments above, I absolutely understand what everyone above is saying but art and business mix perfectly together if you're smart about it.  Why would I want to spend $40 extra on shipping, increasing my cost per photo by .30 cents each, when I could get it for a flat rate of $7, increasing my cost per photo by a penny or two.  It's all about the bottom line and those who ignore their bottom line are likely to fail in the long run.

I'm new to photography.  I'm not new to business.


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## Browncoat (Aug 20, 2014)

tirediron said:


> I certainly appreciate your feeling, however art and business don't play well together at the best of times.  If your primary concern is profit, then my suggestion would be to find another avenue by which to generate it.



Eh?  :raisedbrow:

Galleries are a great way, and sometimes the ONLY way for artists to generate income. Sure, you may have an individual collectors buy prints here and there. But a gallery is where the real money is.


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