Guidelines for submitting photos to the Valley News
Technical specifications
Photos should be .jpg files.
Photos should be high-resolution and as large as possible!
In other words, the file size should be 500KB or larger.
Another way to measure this: Images should be at least 200 or 300 dpi.
If you’re not sure about what that means, just remember: The bigger, the better.
The content of photos
Don’t fake it
The Valley News prohibits staging photos — in other words, faking scenes for the sake of the camera — or otherwise misleading our readers.
Posed portraits and/or photo illustrations are acceptable for our consideration if they are marked as such. But ...
Action is better than posing
The Valley News practices documentary photography. If you’re sending us photos from an event, we want to see some action — and we’re more likely to run photos that show readers what was happening.
For example, sending us photos from a race? We would rather see a scene of runners along the course than of the winners holding their trophies and smiling for the camera after everything is said and done.
We really, really, really need captions — especially names!
We’re in the business of sharing information with our readers. That means the photos we publish are only as good as the captions that accompany them. Flip through our paper and you’ll see that our staff photos have extensive caption information.
Here’s what you should include with every photo submission:
Who (names of people, organizations)
A good rule of thumb is that if there are three or fewer people who are the central focus of a picture with clearly visible faces, we need all of their names.
What (name of the event)
When (date) and where (town and location where the event was held)
How and why (the background and purpose of the event).
We may edit captions for length and clarity.
Don’t over-edit photos
The Valley News prohibits manipulating photos — in other words, Photoshopping them — beyond basic toning and cropping. And please save your Instagram filters for Instagram!
If you’re not skilled at editing photos, don’t worry, we can take care of that. But if you do edit your photos, please follow these guidelines from the National Press Photographers Association:
Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images' content and context. Do not manipulate images ... in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects. ... Our primary goal is the faithful and comprehensive depiction of the subject at hand.
How to submit
General photo submissions can be sent to us using the form at the bottom of this page, or by emailing photo@vnews.com. Photos for the Calendar page can be sent to calendar@vnews.com. When emailing photos, they should be sent as .jpg attachments (not in the body of an email or PDF).
Remember
All images submitted to the Valley News may appear in print or online. Please be sure the subject matter is tasteful and appropriate for general audiences.
Questions?
Photo Editor Geoff Hansen (603 727 3247, ghansen@vnews.com) and Calendar Editor Liz Sauchelli (603 727 3221, esauchelli@vnews.com) are happy to help!
Photo upload form