Black & White Photos: Black & white photos must be taken before DEC 31 1964. On and after JAN 01 1965, the photo must be in color.

Composition: Each photo must be taken or cropped to show a single locomotive, not a set of locomotives, or the locomotive(s) and the train. Parts of adjacent coupled locomotives may be shown, but only as required to show the complete subject locomotive, and it must occupy the majority of the width of the photo. The full profile of the locomotive must appear in the photo, without any portion of it being cut off. Front and rear photos should be taken in or cropped to a portrait format (vertical, not landscape or horizontal). The locomotive must be centered in the picture. Photos must be taken level, so that vertical features appear vertical and the subject does not appear slanted or tilted.

People: Photos showing employees or passengers standing on, riding on, mounting, or dismounting equipment will not be accepted. Note: This does not include employees or passengers fully enclosed inside of equipment.

Obstructions: Obstructions between the viewer and the locomotive, such as but not limited to, telephone poles, piles of dirt and ballast, trackside buildings, vehicles, crossing gate signals, traffic control arms, railroad signals, switch stands, elevated tracks in the foreground, trees, bushes, weeds, traffic barriers, vehicle guardrails, shipping boxes, garbage dumpsters, traffic mirrors, station platforms, baggage carts, service apparatus, are cause for rejection.

Shadows: Shadows caused by signal bridges, trestles, trees, telephone pole cross arms, that form patterns across the unit are not acceptable. Shadows will be reviewed and acted upon, on a case by case basis. The best thing to do, is just not submit photos with shadows.

Lighting: The picture must be sunlit, taken from the sunlit side, and the trucks must be illuminated. Backlit subjects, photos taken into the sun or from the shadow side, photos taken with high overhead sunlight that result in the trucks being in the shadows, are not acceptable. Sun angle that causes large areas of the locomotive to be in shadows are not acceptable. Flash or strobe units may be used for fill lighting, provided that the effect is not localized or illuminate reflective tape on the subject or adjacent locomotives.

Watermarks: You may add a copyright and your name to your picture, provided that it is in one of the four corners, against the edge of the image, is not of a distracting color (ie: bright orange), and is not any larger than the text in the banner bar that is automatically added by LocoPhotos when you submit your photo. Logos, icons, or links to other websites are not permitted. The only exceptions are BNSFpix.com, and RosterPix.com, which were previous names for LocoPhotos, and any photo that was on LocoPhotos prior to November 01, 2006.

Quality: The photo must be clear and in focus, and have adequate depth of field to keep in entire subject in focus. Panned photos are not accepted. Photos that have been excessively lightened as to cause it to be washed out are not acceptable. Photos that are dark, blurry, or low resolution (pixelated or grainy) are not acceptable.

Background: The photo may have a scenic background, but the featured locomotive must be the focal point and take up the major part of the photo.

Altered Photos: Photos must not be photoshopped to remove obstructions from the locomotive.

Obscenity on equipment: Unfortunately, it's becomming more common to find obscenities spray painted on locomotives. Locomotives defaced in such a manner will not be accepted.

Exceptions: There may be reasonable exceptions made to the above guidelines, but the submitter should present his case to the moderators in the photo information box, who will then make the final determination as to whether the submission has merit, in which case the photo, if approved, would be tagged in some way as to indicate that it is an approved exception to the general guidelines.

Number of photos allowed: Each photographer is allowed to post more than one photo of a locomotive, provided each photo is taken from one of 8 basic angles: Front, Right Front, Right Side, Right Rear, Rear, Left Rear, Left Side, and Left Front. Any differences in elevation within these basic angles will be considered to be the same angle. If you submit a photo taken from a similar angle to a photo you have already uploaded, one of the photos will be deleted at the moderator's discretion. If you are replacing a previous photo that you submitted, please delete the photo that you don't want.

Copyrights: You must be the original photographer, or you must have full rights to it, to grant it's use on LocoPhotos. The photo must be marked with the original photographer's name, such as "Bob Smith photo" or "Photo by Bob Smith", in one of the lower corners, in a manner that does not detract from the picture. The color of the text should be a neutral color (ie: black, white, or grey) and no larger than the banner across the bottom of the picture (25 pixels tall). Photos that are submitted as "used with permission" will not be accepted. The person who granted the permission is welcome to post their own photos here. Copyright infringement is not allowed, and will not be tolerated.