Photo contst / digital

[smcgill]

WOW

I'll give it a try!

[Rene Schweitzer]

For digital photos, they need to be submitted on disk (CD, Zip, USB Flash drive), along with a printed copy of the photograph. Also include the sheet with all the pertinent information that Mike mentioned. Please do not send just the printed photo, as it will have to be disqualified. We need the digital file.

File formats can be jpeg, Tiff, or RAW. Please use the highest resolution and quality setting on your camera. 5 megapixels is recommended, but is not a mandatory minimum. If you've got a 3 or 4 megapixel camera, that will be acceptable, but we may not be able to print your winning photo as large as you'd like to see it. Please refrain from using the camera on your cell phone.

 Kevin has already given an excellent response, but there are a few things I'd like to add.

If you shoot digital photos, please, please, don't print out the photo at home and send it to us! We do need the digital file. Home printouts are not an acceptable format for publishing in a magazine, no matter how good you think they are.

Please shoot on the highest resolution setting on your camera. 

Also, assist with photography tips, we have digital guidelines on our NEW submission web site. You may upload your entries here. It's easy and there's no software to download. I will be notified when entries are submitted.

http://contribute.kalmbach.com/ 

 As always, feel free to ask questions.

[kstrong]

Complete rules can be found here:

http://www.trains.com/grw/default.aspx?c=a&id=208

For digital photos, they need to be submitted on disk (CD, Zip, USB Flash drive), along with a printed copy of the photograph. Also include the sheet with all the pertinent information that Mike mentioned. Please do not send just the printed photo, as it will have to be disqualified. We need the digital file.

File formats can be jpeg, Tiff, or RAW. Please use the highest resolution and quality setting on your camera. 5 megapixels is recommended, but is not a mandatory minimum. If you've got a 3 or 4 megapixel camera, that will be acceptable, but we may not be able to print your winning photo as large as you'd like to see it. Please refrain from using the camera on your cell phone.

Here's a few technical tips that will help your entry...

1) Sharp focus Make sure the subject is in focus. The background can be a bit fuzzy, as backgrounds are want to do, but if the tender of the locomotive is out of focus, then the photo's not going to place. Small apertures and long shutter speeds are the key.

2) Use a tripod or other support for the camera. Bean bags, empty plant pots (not pot plants), lawn furniture--the world is your tripod. Just support the camera with something other than your two hands. (Okay, most of last year's winning photos were handheld...)

3) Stop the train Moving trains blur the image as they move through. It's a "still" photo, so the subject is allowed to be just that--still.

4) Think "scene" Make the image more than just a beauty shot of your favorite locomotive. Move the camera back a bit to let the locomotive sit in its environment, and give the viewer a sense of place.

5) Review the image That's the beauty of digital. You know what you have as soon as you push the button. Zoom in and look for things that are out of place (garden hose, neighbor's rusting '69 Dodge Diplomat) If necessary, download it to your computer and look at it there, then go back out and shoot some more images. If possible, have someone else look at the image as well. Their eyes will probably pick up on the pruning shears that you just used to trim the bushes back.

One thing to remember--you don't need the fanciest of cameras to take great photos. Many of last year's cameras were taken with simple point-and-shoot digital camera, some using the camera's fully automatic settings.

So, the summer's still young, and the August 1 deadline is still a few months away. Get out in the garden and take some fantastic photos! I look forward to seeing your entries.

Later,

K

[Mike Dorsch CJ&M r.r.]

You have to put your digital pictures on a disc and send them along with a written (on paper) discription of the photo's . Good luck .

[smcgill]

Any one have any info on what is required to enter Dig. photo's in the Photo contest?

I 'm having trouble finding info.

Thanks in advance.