This group collects pieces in the Artisan Crafts category with creative, interesting, well-put-together photographs. We're looking for pieces that reflect the artisan's consideration of the photograph as an important part of the artistic process rather than an afterthought.

So why should I watch this group?
If you're a fan of crafts and/or photography, you'll enjoy this one-of-a-kind opportunity to get DOUBLE ART in your inbox!

So why should I join this group?
Two reasons. One, you'll get inspired by others' submissions to take even better photographs of your work. Two, this is a very specialized group--not like the ones that accept absolutely anything. Therefore, all the people who get your work in their inbox will be people who want to see neat craft photos. If yours stand out, you'll get a lot of exposure to a very appreciative audience.

Submissions:

-Rule #1
The piece MUST be categorized (on dA) based on the object being photographed. If it's a photo of a craft you made, it needs to be categorized in Artisan Crafts. If it's categorized in Photography, we'll only accept it if it's a photograph of a photo print.

This also means that you can only submit photos of things you've made yourself. (The one exception is the new folder for behind the scenes photos of your creative process.)

More Rules

-Must have a photo that's creative or striking in at least one way and obviously took some thought.  Look at two very different photos taken with a wood-grain background: [link] vs [link] The goal, of course, is to take photos that are even more creative than that. Check the galleries for examples.

-5 submissions per week

-Not too many of the same background or setup. We'd like some variety in the gallery.

-No mature content. (Choosing just the right outfit to model a piece is far more creative than choosing no outfit at all!)

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Too long; didn't read? Here's a brief step-by-step process of how to get work featured here:
Step 1. Make art. Any kind of art, any level of skill.
Step 2. Take a neat photo of your art. Don't just scan it in or photograph it against a solid color background.
Step 3. Upload the neat photo of your art to DA. When choosing a category, choose a category to match the kind of art you made.

That's all there is to it. If your submission matches those three steps, you're a step ahead of most people who get their submissions declined.


DISCLAIMER:
Even though this group collects creative and unusual photographs, that doesn't necessarily mean that we're telling you that such a photograph is THE ONLY good way to showcase your craft. If your piece is rejected for being on a plain background, that only means the photo isn't right for the group, not that the photo is wrong. There are actually some experts out there who firmly believe that a plain background is the only good way to photograph an artisan craft.


Want to be a staff member?
This group won't be awesomely huge anytime soon. I simply formed it because there wasn't one like it yet, and I felt there should be. If anyone wants to help out by signing on as an admin or co-founder or something, note me an application (why you want the position, pieces from your favorites chosen for the awesomeness of the photo that you've always wanted to promote more, etc)

Note: I really hate it when group higher-ups take advantage of their position. So the rule in THIS group is that staff isn't allowed to move their own art to the featured folder. Sure I have some pieces that are good enough that, if I saw them in someone else's gallery, I'd feature them in a heartbeat, but I don't want to create the impression that I submitted any sub-par pieces to the featured folder just to get more faves and pageviews.

Ongoing contest: Anytime somebody sends me a new avatar that I like better than the old avatar, I'll trash the old one and upload yours.

=AccioLucius made a beautiful new avatar to replace the one I threw together in 5 minutes in powerpoint. Pretty smart move, because now she gets her work featured. Anyone who ever sees the group logo can read this journal to see who made that pretty owl key. [link] . Can YOU do better?