The Railfan & Railroad Centerspread Contest will provide a skilled and/or lucky photographer the opportunity to see his or her photo grace the center spread of the August 2018 issue. We’ll award the Grand Prize winner a $100 cash prize, with $60 going to two Runners Up and $30 going to several Honorable Mentions. Any rail subject, photographed at any time, qualifies for the contest. The only limitation is the image must be in a horizontal format.

The judges are strongly influenced by images that show creativity. So what is “creative”? Let’s just say that we can’t define it but we know it when we see it. Composition, lighting, and a unique perspective will play a large role in how the judges view the shot.

The details: Each photographer can enter up to ten photos, but we generally award only one prize per entrant. We encourage you to submit photos via our FTP server, but we’ll also take digital photos on a CD or DVD or actual slides in snail mail. We will not accept submissions sent in via email. Digital submissions can be digital originals or scanned slides in TIF or uncompressed JPEG format. Images can be adjusted for exposure, but otherwise should be unaltered. Before submitting your files, go into your photo editing software and check the physical dimensions of the photo. If your photo is less than 3,000 pixels horizontally, we can’t use it. A 3,000-pixel photo will put us right on the outside limit of what’s acceptable for a centerspread. Bigger is better.

Filenames need to include your first and last name so we can identify your entries. Please email the editor for FTP upload instructions. You will be asked to provide an email that provides caption information for each file. Note that images with insufficient caption information may be disqualified. If we don’t know what it is, it won’t win. You will also be sent a photo release form to fill out when you receive the uploading instructions.

Snail mail submissions should be sent to Railfan & Railroad, P.O. Box 817, Swedesboro, NJ 08085. If you’re using UPS or FedEx, send your submissions to Railfan & Railroad, 1950 Kings Highway #817, Swedesboro, NJ 08085. All snail mail entries must include a caption sheet (or caption document on the CD/DVD) and an email address.

The contest deadline is June 8, 2018. We look forward to your entries. Good luck!