Submitting photographs for the covers

Every month since 2010, the Village news has published a local photograph on the front cover, taken by a member of our community. We would love you to send us your photographs. Below are some guidelines and technical information to help you submit your entries.

Q. What sort of photographs are you looking for?

A. Anything! The only stipulation is it must have direct relevance to the parishes in some way. It could be a view, buildings, a social event, nature, etc. It could be a quiz – “can you identify where these are?” It could also be a photograph of artwork with a local theme and produced by a local artist.

As long as there is a strong local link, it will be considered.

Q. But won’t I need an expensive camera?

A. Not at all. Subject matter is everything. Most compact cameras, and even some mobile phones, are quite adequate, as long as you send us the original file and do not use any software that lowers the resolution of the image.

Q. So how do I send you my photographs?

A. Send as large a file size as possible. Do not downsize it. The original file, JPEG or RAW, is fine. Avoid too much post-processing of the image. Do not crop it, but bear in mind the aspect ratio of the finished cover photo is almost 1:1 (square).

If of relatively small file size they can be sent by email to covers@villagemag.co.uk. But do make sure that the total size of each email does not exceed 10Mb. So if, for example, you wished to send in 4 photos of about 4Mb each, you would need to send two separate emails. Add a description for each photo.

Another way, especially for large file sizes, is to use Dropbox. If you do not have Dropbox on your computer, it is easy to download and install and is very widely used. It is quite free and a great way to store photos and video and send other people the links to them. Just Google “Dropbox”, download and install it, add your photos to it, then send a link to the folder containing the photos to covers@villagemag.co.uk, together with a description of each photo and a contact email or phone number.

Alternatively, if you do not wish to use Dropbox, you could use a free online service such as WeTransfer which will handle large file sizes. When prompted to enter the email address to send the link to, use covers@villagemag.co.uk.