Banner Photos

[ARF Admin]

All members are invited to share a photo on the American Rails Forums (ARF) banner head. It will appear for one week beginning Sunday and run through until the following Sunday. Priority will be given to a Member whose photo has not yet appeared or one who has had the least amount of acceptances. In the event of equal/near equal contributions used, the submittal received first will merit priority unless it is similarly redundant to the previously used photo. For example, if an NS photo is on the home page currently, we recommend a submittal other than NS for the following week. The Administrator(s) will reserve the right to use/reject/delay selections on these terms regardless of order received or number of acceptances used.

Terms:

If you wish to submit a photo, please contact the Administrator(s) via PM (Private Message) on this site by Friday prior to the change so we will have plenty of time to prepare your photo for use by Sunday. As always, the hope is to maintain the integrity of photo usage here so be sure your submittal meets the following criteria:

Photos must be yours or with the permission of the photographer. If it is a personal collection photo (photo prints purchased or given to you), please identify as such and include any information about the photographer, location, etc., if known.

<b>Note: ARF will not use a recognized published/copyrighted photo for the banner</b>

Can be anywhere from across the country, from any era. Locomotives, trains, rolling stock, structure, ROW scene, you name it.....as long as the rail theme is apparent. Keep in mind that subject content is the most important element for the Banner. Cameras vary in quality and scanned prints will rarely reproduce with the clarity of a digital...this is a fact and will not impact photo acceptance. However, we do request that all submittals have the subject or event defined and free of as many obstructions as possible.

Once the photo is received by the Administrator(s), the American Rails Forums logo will be added along with any necessary modifications. These modifications could include resizing, minor cropping, brightness/contrast, etc.

A "pinned " thread appears on here in the Photography forum entitled "This Week's Banner Photo". You can include any details you wish to use describing the displayed banner photo.

Lastly, regarding a photo's quality, while there is no set "judging panel" to determine whether such meets a certain set level to be considered for use, please try and submit only the best photos from your collection (i.e., such as high sharpness, detail, and clarity).

<i><b>Disclaimer:</b> ARF does not assume ownership of any photo submitted for the banner except for those belonging to the Administrator(s). It remains the property of the photographer/owner and will not be used/redistributed by ARF for any other purpose without the consent of the photographer/owner.</i>

Thanks so much for your interest and we look forward to the submittals.