2008 Photo Contest Helpful Hints, Guidelines, and FAQ's:

Should I crop my photos?

If it was not possible to frame the subject adequately when shooting the picture, or you find some kind of defect near the edge of the photo, the answer is definitely "YES." It is not necessary to note that a photo is cropped. Cropping begins in the camera. I do not know of any photo technique, including 360 degree "fisheye" lenses, that can photograph without cropping out a section of the world that is blocked by the lens and camera.

Is it legal to use computer "enhancements" on my entries?

It is perfectly legal to use Adobe Photoshop, PolaColor Insight, Paintbrush, MacPaint, and any of the many other computer programs to "enhance," "color balance," "crop," or otherwise alter your photo. After all, most of these "enhancement" techniques have been available, and routinely used in the darkroom since photography began. Photographers who have access to an old fashioned darkroom that is equipped with various printing papers, color filters, scissors, glue and other "low-tech" equipment, can do nearly everything that a computer program can do. Computer programs are only an alternate road to the same goal. Such "retouching" of photos is assumed to be so common that it is usually not even mentioned, except in certain cases such as News photos and Scientific photography where honesty demands that any and all "retouching" be noted.

Must I reveal what I did to alter my photos?

Since our DOCUMENTARY section falls into the category of scientific photography, photos entered in this category must be labeled as originating as film or digital files, should be labeled with the film type used, (such as Kodacolor, Polaroid, Agfachrome, Ektachrome-4, etc.), and as "unretouched," or else with notes of all alterations that were employed.

What digital file format should I use?

Almost anything except .html We now have the capability to download almost any file format and file size. We can also convert nearly any digital file format (except .htm or .html) into nearly any other. We will make the necessary conversions. For the publishers of "THE MYCOPHILE" we will convert the winning photos into CMYK or .tiff format in order to print the photos. For display in our online album of entries, we will convert your photo files to .jpg if they are not already in that format. We sometimes reduce the .jpg filesize for faster loading, but will maintain the highest definition (and largest file size) that our equipment can handle. If you e-mail your photos in .jpg format, a file size between 700 and 1500 kb seems to be the best compromise between sharp focus on the computer screen, and speed of transit through the Internet. In other formats, you may need a larger file size to fill the computer screen at the same resolution.

Is my photo file too large?

Here are some suggestions to remember. If any of your digital photo files are more than 2MB in size, it may be easier to save them to a CD or 3.5 in floppy disk and mail them to D.R. Pieper 35 Ventura AV Iowa City IA 52245-1638. A photo file larger than 1.5 MB (or 1500 kb) takes a long time to download through our telephone line. Files of 1500 KB or less usually go through without any problems.

How should I name my photos for the contest?

First, look at the labels and names on the other entries at: http://photos.yahoo.com/namphocon Those examples should give you a pretty good idea of how your titles will appear to the judges. Within reason, we try to use your title for the photo exactly as you choose to have it appear.

What information do you want included in the digital photo's filename?

If your computer program will permit, we like to have at least these 3 things in your filenames: "D" (for Documentary), "J" (for Judges Option) or "P" (for Pictorial), and then the photographer's initials in capitals in 3 spaces, followed by the Genus and species of the fungus or myxomycete (if you can identify it), and your title for the photo, and, of course, the file extension. If you have enough space for your full name, the date the photo was taken etc., or you wish to include other info, that is a bonus, but not required.

Think of this: Digital and film are now interchangeable.

Digital to FILM> Some photographers have had their digital images printed to film so that they could enter them in the film contest. For a modest fee, this can be done at almost any store that handles film processing.

Film to DIGITAL> Slides, prints, and even negatives can now be converted to digital in a minute or two. If you have color slides, printed photos, or negatives, you can convert them to digital simply by placing them into a scanner and saving the photos to a CD, or any other digital memory device, as digital files!

Good Luck!

I hope that these notes help you to win an award. If you have any other questions, e-mail your questions to Damian at namphocon@yahoo.com

Questions?

Contact the Chair of the NAMA Photo Committee:

Entry Form

To enter, use this HTML entry form or this PDF entry form.