Photographers Guide

A guide to supplying good quality photographs for The Chiltern Society's printed publications and websites.

Please read this first

Where the advice touches on aspects of the law the author and the Chiltern Society can accept no responsibility for errors and omissions. If you are in any doubt about the legal aspects of the Chiltern Society publishing your photographs please consult the Secretary of the Society.

Taking colour photographs for publication

• Think about format: is portrait or landscape going to be better for publication?

• The better the exposure of your photo, the better it will reproduce. If you are in doubt take three photos: what you think is the correct exposure, one over-exposed and one under-exposed, each by one f-stop. Some digital cameras will do this for you.

• Expose for the key subject matter only; make allowance if your camera's meter is also registering the bright sky.

• Get close. When taking people concentrate on faces, not whole figures. And when taking groups don't hesitate to arrange them the way you want. Always try to include a relevant background.

• Head and shoulder photos are often best taken out of direct sunlight so you don't get a lot of contrast on faces (but be careful to expose for the shadow areas). Fill-in flash and a lens hood can be useful in these conditions.

• Lighting direction is often all-important. Landscapes usually look best with lowish side lighting: some photographers forget all about their cameras between 11.00am and 4.00pm in the summer months.

• "Cloudy bright" conditions are often good for buildings that have flattish surfaces.

• Chiltern News magazine cover pictures have to be a bit special and wherever possible they should relate to the season of publication. Since these photographs may be up to a year old it is essential to provide the date taken, the place name and a short description of the place/event.

Legal constraints

• The "right to privacy" can be an issue. Release forms are available from the editor of the PhotoGroup website covering two situations:

  (a) When you photograph people who can be identified you should always ensure they agree the photos may be published.

  Never take recognizable photos of young people (under 18) for publication without permission from their parents.

  (b) When you take photos from privately owned land, unless you are shooting from an area of public access, e.g. a footpath.

• Remember that the libel laws apply to pictures as well as to words. Be very careful if your pictures are intended for publication with text that is at all controversial: you may be sued as well as the publisher.
  

Copyright

You own the copyright of the pictures you take. The Chiltern Society has a standard form of licence which you and your editor will sign: this states that you license the Chiltern Society to manipulate your photos and publish them in consideration of a nominal sum, and suitable acknowledgement of the copyright owner. The licence is non-exclusive, i.e. you can exploit your photos in other ways.

Digital manipulation

There is no necessity to manipulate your photographs. If you deliver them in JPEG format, unchanged from when they were taken, our editors and designers can make any adjustments that may be necessary. However, if you have the skills to improve your pictures by using Photoshop or similar software, by all means do so.

Delivering photographs to the Chiltern Society

SLIDES AND PRINTS

They should be clearly marked with subject matter, date of photo and the photographer's name, address and phone number. Tell the editor if you want the photos returned and it would be appreciated if you enclosed return postage stamps.

Don't send original slides if you value them: get good quality copies or prints made.

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS

Photographs for Chiltern News or other printed matter will reproduce better if they are delivered at a higher resolution than is required for websites. So, for photos that are to be printed –

• Ensure your digital camera is set to utilize a high resolution.

• Deliver your image at a resolution of 300 pixels/inch with the long side of your picture about 1800 pixels (6 inches) if you can. But if this isn't possible just send the photo at the highest resolution that you have available.

• Ensure that the photo is uniquely titled and dated, and that the title is prefixed with your initials, e.g. QB_MarlowChurch12-2007.jpg.

• Send any relevant narrative using the same root name for the file as the photo, e.g. QB_MarlowChurch12-2007.doc.

• Use JPEG (maximum quality) or TIFF formats when saving your file for delivery. The file size will be too big to send conveniently as an email attachment so –

  Photos for the PhotoGroup website can be uploaded following the instructions on the “Welcome” page (click on Upload Service), or they can be sent on a CD.

  To burn the image on to a CD use software that writes the disk to ISO 9660 standard (check the documentation). Be sure to write on the CD the subject matter, date of photos and the photographer's name, address and phone number. Indicate if you want the CD to be returned.

• After confirming that your photograph is going to be used, the editor of Chiltern News may advise you to send a high resolution image direct to the magazine's designer: Andrew Wilkinson, Satellite Creations, 162–166 High Street, Berkhamsted HP4 3AP;
  email andrew.wilkinson@satellitecreatives.com,
  telephone 01442 879712.
  
  

Photographs for websites only do not require such high resolutions –

• When you are delivering your photo as an email attachment if possible send pictures with 500 pixels on the long side at 72 ppi in JPEG format. But if you are uncertain how to do this don't worry, the editor will be able to make the necessary adjustments.

• If you are able to deliver your images on a CD you will be able to use bigger file sizes. Follow the guidelines for printed matter, above.

• Follow the advice above regarding titling your picture and caption files.

More information if you want to dig deeper

GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Here are two websites with comprehensive information about improving your photography:

http://photography.about.com/ (but you need to steer clear of a lot of advertisements)

www.luminous-landscape.com/ (from the USA, but no adverts.)

And of course members of the Chiltern Society's PhotoGroup may be able to help you.

COPYRIGHT

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 can be found on the HMSO website:

www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/ Ukpga_19880048_en_1.htm#end

DIGITAL MANIPULATION

If you do want to manipulate your photographs there are numerous websites, magazines, books and tutorial CDs that will help you on your way. A good book for the basics is The Photographer's Guide to PhotoShop by Barrie Thomas, published by David & Charles. Digital Photo monthly magazine includes useful advice about more advanced techniques. A very efficient way of learning about Photoshop is to look at movie tutorials on CDs; they are advertised in digital photography magazines.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to John Harrison, Trevor Lawson, Guy Patterson, Cic Upcott and Colin Wells for their help in compiling this guide. But if anything remains unclear or is misleading, you should blame . . .

Quiller Barrett
Editor, ChilternPhotos webphotos@chilternphoto.org.uk
Revised October 2007