Cetacea

HowTo: Guidelines for photographs for Cetacea

Here are some suggestions for submitting photographs:

Composition

• Don't be camera shy; include yourself in a photo!
• Can't include yourself? OK, then include the kids.
• No kids? We'll settle for a babe in a bikini :-)
• Views on the trailer or at the dock are nice to show specific elements of the boat or interior, i.e., close up of the console or cockpit.
• Even better are views underway.
• Best views: you're surging through a huge wave...can be tough for the chase boat, though.
• The boat should be the most prominent part of the scene, unless you're rounding Cape Horn.
• The secret to good photography is lighting. Worry about the lighting first. A famous photographer said he only took pictures in the first hour after sunrise or the last hour before sunset.

Digitizaton

• No scanner? Just mail an extra copy to me. Send e-mail for my postal address.
• If scanning a continuous tone photograph, use a resolution of at least 300 lines/inch. It is better to have too many pixels than not enough.
• If scanning a typical 4x6 inch "Jumbo" print with 300 lines/inch resolution, you should have an image of approximately 1200x1800 pixels. That is 2,160,000 pixels, each of which has an 1-byte value of Red, Blue, and Green, producing a file that is appoximately 6.48 Mega-Bytes!
• After scanning, save the image as a JPEG file (highest quality setting). This should reduce the file size to approximately 300-400 Kbytes.
• If shooting with a digital camera, use high quality settings. Often the image is cropped such that only a third or a quarter of the image is actually used, so many of the pixels are discarded. Put more in at the beginning so there are enough left at the end!

Transmission

• E-Mail the image file using MIME attachments (.JPEG or .JPG or .JPE).
• Send one or two images first, to confirm the entire process is working, before sending a huge e-mail with megabytes of attachments.
• Send multiple images as attachments to multiple e-mails. This makes it easier for me to extract them. If I get an e-mail with 5-Megabytes of attachments, my e-mail software often blows up! Better to get five messages with 1-Megabyte attachments to each.
• [IMPORTANT] Do not send attachments of files in proprietary file formats. Files MUST be sent in standard image formats like JPEG, TIFF, PNG, or BMP. I do not own any software from Microsoft. I cannot open any document that is sent in a WORD rich-text format. I do not own OUTLOOK or any variants of it. I cannot read attachments sent in .DAT format. I do not have PUBLISHER and I cannot read any of its file formats.
• Do not send files in compressed-archive formats, like .ZIP. It is better to send images as separate attachments. Images in JEPG format are already compressed. There is really nothing to be gained by saving a few bits in the transmission process.

Annotation

• Include information about your photographs:
• BOAT: Year/Model/Length/Engine
• HISTORY: Original owners, previous owners, original price., etc.
• FEATURES/MODIFICATIONS: Let me know if you've added or subtracted something.
• LOCATION: Where are we?
• STORY: Include a little story about the picture

Follow all these suggestions and you've created the perfect picture for Cetacea!

DISCLAIMER: This information is believed to be accurate but there is no guarantee. We do our best!

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Copyright © 2000 by James W. Hebert. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited!

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Last modified: Sunday, 14-Jan-2001 11:37:33 EST
Author: James W. Hebert