Receiving

The first thing you should do after receiving the folio is to inspect it for obvious damage and contact your administrator to acknowledge receipt.  This must be done. It is not optional.   Email is the preferred communication method, but a phone call works as well.

Viewing

Please treat the slides with care and respect.  They are beautiful things and usually irreplaceable.  If you do get a fingerprint on a slide, try to clean it off carefully with a soft tissue before the finger acids attack the emulsion. Please do not remove protective sleeves from the slides.

You are responsible for the folio while it is in your possession.  Sharing the images with others is encouraged but you must do so responsibly.   If sharing them with a group (members of a photography club, for example), you should request that only you handle the slides as the viewer is passed.

Please make sure all of the slides are returned to the box and that they are correctly placed.

Commenting

The menu-bar at http://stereo.thurstons.us/folio provides filters for the folios.  The images in the folio should be contained in the two highest numbered loops.  Clicking on one of these numbers should return a list of descriptions for all of the images in that loop.

Please read the artist-supplied text before commenting.  If the artist has already documented a deficiency in the image, there is little need to draw further attention to it in your comments.  If the artist has asked for specific types of comments (“I considered using a landscape mount for this image.  Do you think it would have been a better choice?”), please try to oblige.  Helpful comments and constructive criticism are encouraged; shallow, trivial and hurtful comments are discouraged.

Contributing

There is space in the folio for four slides from each artist.   It is your decision which of your images to exhibit to the other folio members.  Think of this as your exhibition space.  You may choose themed images or an assembly of disassociated works; the decision is yours.

When you have selected your images, take a few minutes to write a description or make some notes to accompany each of your works.  These notes can include technical details (what equipment you used to produce the image), environment details (how the weather or setting influenced your image) or draw attention to some specific feature of the image.  The associated web pages are very flexible and you may contribute as much text as you need with your images.

Before placing your slides in your section of the box, ensure that each of your slides is labeled with at least your name and address.  Feel free to print some of your description to include in the box with your images.  This makes the folio self contained and easy to enjoy without a computer.

Packaging

The folio box must be packaged for shipping.  It was chosen to fit into a “Medium, Flate-rate” box. Please take care in your packaging.  There should be bubble-wrap or foam between the folio box and all sides of the shipping box.   If the packing materials in which you received it are still usable, please reuse them.  If the box is damaged or the bubble-wrap flattened, please replace it.  Do not use “peanuts” or other loose foam.

Sending

The folio box contains an ordered list of the participants.  You will be sending the folio to the person following you on the list.

Before you send the boxed folio to the next participant, you must confirm that he or she is ready to receive it.  This is not optional.  Email is the preferred communication method, but a phone call or text may also work.  If the next participant is not able to receive the folio or is un-reachable, do not send the folio.  Contact your administrator to discuss options.

General shipping guidelines

1. The box weighs just about 1kg (2 lb 4oz)
2. It is most economical to use a “Medium, flate-rate” box.
3. Should include Delivery Confirmation or Tracking
4. Should not be done by parcel-post, media-mail, or surface-mail
5. Need not include insurance

When the package has actually been shipped, please contact me to let me know it has moved on.

Specific shipping guidelines for the international leg

There must be a correctly completed customs declaration with the folio.  The contents may be described as: “Personal photos, no commercial value.”  The package may be valued at $10.  If you do not declare a value for the package, customs will assign its own value to it.   Check the box that says it is a “gift”.

When shipping the folio from USA to Canada please use the US Postal Service.  Other carriers (such as UPS and FedEx) charge excessive customs brokerage fees.  On this leg, form 2976 must be completed