Photo Submission Guidelines
Updated April 13, 2008
1. Size: Photos need to be meet the following formats and dimensions:
- Photo must be between 800 and 1024 pixels wide for landscape format (horizontal), or no less than 600 pixels wide for portrait format (vertical).
- Photo may not exceed 300k file size.
- Borders are not permitted.
2. Composition: Each photo must be a roster shot, 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 the subject locomotive must occupy the majority of the width of the photo. Front and rear shots should be taken in or cropped to a portrait (vertical) format (not landscape or horizontal). The locomotive should be centered in the picture, so that there is not excessive amounts of sky or ground, or blank space to the right of left of the locomotive. Pictures should be taken from the sunlit side, and not from the shady side or shot into the sun.
- Not sure what a roster shot is? Use the fuel tank rule. A roster shot is a picture of one locomotive, not a group of locomotives. A locomotive has one fuel tank. If you can see more than one fuel tank in your photo, it is not a roster shot. Freight cars need to be cropped off in the same manner.
2a. People: Photos showing employees standing on, riding on, mounting, or dismounting equipment will not be accepted.
3. Obstructions: The full profile of the featured locomotive must appear in the photo. Large obstructions between the viewer and the locomotive, such as piles of dirt and ballast, trackside buildings, automobiles, crossing gate signals and traffic control arms, elevated tracks in the foreground, trees and bushes, traffic barriers, vehicle guardrails, large shipping boxes, garbage dumpsters, or traffic mirrors, station platforms, are cause for rejection.
3a. Shadows: Simple shadows, caused by a telephone or light pole, that falls somewhat perpendicular across the unit, are acceptable. Complex 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 shots with shadows from foreign objects.
3b. Lighting: The picture must be taken from the sunlit side, and the trucks must be illuminated. Backlit shots, shots taken into the sun or from the shadow side, shots taken with high overhead sunlight that result in the trucks being in the shadows, are not acceptable. Shots taken on cloudy days are acceptable, provided that the shot is not dark, that truck details can be seen, and the picture has not been excessively lightened so as to cause it be washed out. 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.
3c. Watermarks: You may add a copyright, your name, and text to the image, provided that it is at the top or bottom of the image, and is not any larger than the banner bar that is automatically added by the LocoPhotos software, 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 1, 2006.
4. Identity: The number and markings of the locomotive, unless absent from the locomotive itself, should appear on the photo.
5. Quality: The photo must not be dark, blurry, low resolution (pixelated or grainy). Photos must be taken level, so that vertical features appear so and the photo does not appear slanted or tilted.
6. 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.
7. Altered Photos: Photos should never be altered so as to give false information about the featured locomotive.
8. Obscenity: Offensive and obscene material may be removed at the moderator\'s discretion.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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. 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.
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