Consistency helps. I was advised by a veteran when I started to standardize my frames more. When I started, I was using frames frame Aaron Bros, buying on their penny sale a lot. I would buy frames that I thought would best suit the image. The veteran told me that that actually works against me on two counts. It adds another factor for the buyer to have to consider. Even though the frame may work well with the image, it may be a problem with the customer's decorating style. He suggested I go with a plainer, more contemporary frame throughout. It did seem to help. More importantly, I got a better reaction from juries and promotors. I now have my frames made for me by a framing wholesaler.

Matting is similar. Although colored mats can do great things for an image, they can also wreck havoc with a decorating scheme. The advice is to stick with white or off-white mats in framed pieces. White matting will not be a problem for most people whereas colored matting might. I also offer my images as "prints only" for those who want to frame the image to their specific needs and tastes.

Understand, there are no set rules about what you must or must not do, but festivals are very competitive, so one needs to do as much as possible to please the juries and then not throw up roadblocks to potential customers.

It's a lot like having bees live in your head! :lol:

Just for the heck of it, here is one of my booth photos to give those following the thread an idea of how I go about it. I'm sure the others who also do shows can add additional comments about how they are approaching things.