Photo Submission Guidelines

All photographs and/or articles submitted to the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. (WSOR) will become the property of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad and will not be returned unless prior arrangements are made. WSOR reserves the right to determine the use of submitted photographs and articles, and to resize photographs and edit articles for publication. Photographers and writers will be acknowledged by name when photographs and articles are published.

WSOR accepts photos from contributors with the understanding that:
  • The contributor took the photographs personally, or
  • The contributor has permission from the original author to submit said photographs
  • WSOR will not return submissions unless previous arrangements are made
  • WSOR is not responsible for materials damaged or lost in the mail

Photos must be sharp, clear, well composed, and focused. 35mm color slides are preferred, but color prints may be accepted as well (we may ask to borrow negatives for scanning if your print photo is chosen). No prints smaller than 5x7 will be accepted for calendar use. Be sure to write your name, address, and pertinent information about the image (train, location, etc.) on the back of the print or on the slide mount.

Digital Guidelines: Website
For website use, digital photos must be a minimum 800 pixels wide for the homepage, and a minimum of 1280x1024 pixels for wallpaper. We prefer that original camera files be sent. TIF format generally is best as it does not degrade the photo image, however most consumer cameras save in jpg format. Be sure your camera is set to save at highest quality jpg setting, with minimal or no processing such as sharpening or color correction. Digital photos may be submitted on CD (mail to address below), or emailed to the webmaster. Be sure to include information about the photo, such as location, date, and train.

Digital Guidelines: 2011 Calendar:
The requirements for our calendar production are considerably higher than for the web. For digital photography, 4-color high quality printing requires 300dpi images at 100%. This works out to 11.7 megapixel (10" x 13" @300dpi)--far beyond the native capabilities of standard point-and-shoot cameras. Digital SLR cameras can save photos in the RAW format, which records the "raw" CCD censor data from the camera. RAW files must be externally processed before they can be viewed. Photos are no longer resolution dependent and can be processed at higher output that the camera can internally produce in JPG format. If submitting RAW camera files, we prefer the original file. We will convert it for prepress use.

Here are some suggestions for camera settings for those of you shooting digital with the intention to get published. Make sure your camera’s built-in processing or “optimization” is shut off or minimized (i.e. auto sharpening). Set your colorspace to Adobe RGB (1998) or ProPhoto RGB instead of sRGB. This produces more even reproduction in print prepress, although colors do not appear as saturated when viewed on the web. Set the ISO/ASA rating to the lowest possible (i.e. 100 or 200 ISO/ASA). And of course, be sure your camera is set to the highest resolution it can produce.

If you are only shooting in JPG, we may be able to use the image by upsampling in Photoshop with the following requirements: camera must be set at highest resolution setting, resolution must be at least 3000x2000 pixels, and original camera JPG file must be submitted. Photo MUST be sharp and well focused.

Send submissions to:

Webmaster
Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co.
203 South Pearl Street
Janesville, WI 53548-4521