Hi guys, I have a quick question about this years photo contest. Sense this is my first time entering the contest I would like to know what the judges are looking for in the caption. The rules say “basic caption information” but are they talking about just what day and time the shot was taken or do they want some detail about the subjects in the shots?
Thanks for any help!
We’ll see if one of the Trains staff members pops in here, but when I submit images to be published, I usually try to give enough of the basic information to give an idea about the story of the shot. So, in other words, be sure to identify places, people, locomotives, train number, etc. if you know it. Additionally, I usually submit camera, lens and exposure info with the shot. The yearly photo contest always seems to feature that information, so be sure to send it along.
Good luck!
Consider this “popping in.” 
Anyway, Chris’ response was pretty dead-on. We need to know who, what, when, and where at the very least.
VERY IMPORTANT: If you shoot digital, please DO NOT put your name on the front of the print you send along. We do our best to judge these blindly, so some entries have been pulled because we could not quickly and easily remove the names. Put your name on the back, by all means. Just not the front.
Remember, too, that the image needs to stand alone. We look at the slides and printouts and pull out the first batch that catches our eyes. From there, we (the judges) look at each of the finalists much more closely to decide if it’s technically well-composed, balanced, intriguing, and depicts the theme. We don’t even read the captions until after the winners are selected.
After we choose them, I call and ask for a paragraph describing how the image depicts the theme. If you can provide that upfront, along with the camera data and basic who, what, when and where, then I can get that into the page layout much faster.
Thanks for asking, and good luck! I can’t wait to see this year’s entries.
Kathi
What’s the contest this year? I didn’t catch it yet.
It is “Changing of the Guard.” The trick here is to show change in a single image. If you think about it, it shouldn’t be too hard. The example I listed when we introduced it was the multitude of images from the 1950s and ’60s showing steam and diesel locomotives side by side. That depicted the dieselization movement as well as any text could have done.
Complete rules and prizes are listed here: http://www.trains.com/trn/objects/pdf/2008_photo_contest_ad_1_.pdf
What do you think? Wanna get a nice new camera and go to Winterail?
Good luck!
Kathi
Kathi, would a shot like this one http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1252315 make it past the first round?
It’s not one that I am going to send in but was considering it.