Photographers Guide

A guide to supplying good quality photographs to The Chiltern Society.

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. Err on the side of exposing for the highlights, not the shadows, when using a digital camera.

• Using a tripod concentrates the mind wonderfully and is recommended when the light is low (especially when photographing church interiors).

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

• When taking people get close and concentrate on faces, not whole figures. 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 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.

Projects

Sometimes we ask PhotoGroup members to take photographs of a particular Chiltern location over several months so that we can ensure we get good coverage and quality results. If you help in this way we will discuss the project with you. In addition you can view some project briefing notes.

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 include text that is at all controversial: you may be sued as well as the publisher.

• Be aware of police powers:
  
  The right of photographers to take pictures in public places is still being questioned by police under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act. Click on the following link for information on your rights and police powers.
  http://photographernotaterrorist.org/bust-card/

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 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 digital photographs to the Chiltern Society

• Ensure your digital camera is set to a low ISO and a high resolution.

• Deliver your image at a resolution of at least 300 pixels/inch with the long side of your picture about 2100 pixels (7 inches) if you can. But if this isn't possible just send the photo at the highest resolution that you have available.

• Ensure that in the file name the photo is uniquely titled and dated, and that the title is prefixed with your initials, e.g. QB_MarlowChurch_07_2009.jpg. Delete the camera-generated file number.

• We like to publish extended captions and welcome additional information. Send your captions in Word attached to an email addressed to webphotos@chilternphoto.org.uk. Identify your caption by using the same root name as in the photo file name.

• 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). If you have problems doing this send us an email and we will advise you about burning your images on a CD and posting it to us.

  
  

Quiller Barrett
Editor, ChilternPhotos
webphotos@chilternphoto.org.uk
Revised July 2009