2 March, 2024
When I launched this site, I had a long list of species for which I had excellent photos, but I also wrote
I may even consider, at some point, allowing some guest posts.
Looking at my planning information as I write this, I have only five more photos planned for publication, and I have also listed six additional species that it should be easy for me to photograph.
The thing is, there are things in my life now making this difficult and I am staring at the end of weekly posts not too far away from now.
So I’d like to see if anyone is interested in contributing their photographs of any species I have not yet featured.
With that in mind, I would like to invite photographers to submit photos per the following criteria.
Contribution Guidelines
Please note, I have a standard in mind, to which I will judge all submissions.
If I decline to include your photo, please don’t take that as a criticism of your work — I have thousands of photos of my own that I do not consider suitable for this site, even though I love many of them.
Species
At this time, I am looking to accept only species which are extant in the wild in Aotearoa New Zealand or its territories, though your photo can be of a bird in captivity.
I also only want species I have not already covered. If I have some of my own in the pipeline and you submit a better shot, yours will win!
At some stage I want to work out a scheme of having multiple photos of a single species, but that is some way into the future for now. On this account I may accept your photo for an existing species for later inclusion in whatever this is. No promises, though, and certainly no timeline, as yet.
Setting
I prefer settings to be as ‘wild’ as possible. It is OK to include man-made structures, but try to minimise any that imply captivity. Especially, do not include cage bars, and preferably do not include feeders. I find that metal structures detract more than anything wooden.
Note that some structures add to the photo’s appeal.
Composition
The photo should be of a bird (or birds), not of a scene with a bird (or birds) in it.
It doesn’t need to fill the frame, but it should be prominent in the photo and you should be able to see details of the bird or birds. Have a look at my photos — I think the Chaffinch and Riroriro shots are probably at the lower limit. Also the Pāteke scrapes in by including multiple birds in excellent lighting.
Head shots are OK — I have five on the site already — but only if they convey the essence of the bird, or are particularly striking. This really means I probably won’t use a headshot of a Sparrow, but I possibly would use a headshot of a Hoiho.
Many birds are found in bush or under canopies. This can make the scene quite dark. That is not a problem in itself, but the bird needs to be clearly visible.
Any shape of photo is fine. You will note I have landscape, portrait, and square photos on the site. Crop your photo to suit the subject.
Please don’t crop too tightly on the bird. Leave some space around it so it looks natural.
Quality
I don’t care what gear you used to take your photo. I do care about the quality of the result.
When I publish my photos on Flickr (which is true of most if not all of the photos on this site) I publish them with a 6 megapixel resolution, though I have generally used 4 megapixels on this site. This level of resolution allows appreciation of the next point…
The sharpness of your photo must be excellent. If it’s suitably close, I want to see the barbs of the feathers. The eye, and ideally most of the head and beak, must be in focus.
It’s OK to have a shallow depth of field so parts of a bird are not in focus, but do ensure the head is.
I view photos on a 27″ display that has bright, accurate colours and a high pixel density. In general, most iPhone photos, certainly from my 11 Pro, won’t make the grade. Prove me wrong with a recent model, though!
Editing
In general, I do not want to edit your work, but I may suggest some simple changes if I feel they would get your photo across the line.
You can perform all the edits you like, but please try to make the result look natural. I have some photos where I have ‘artificially’ brightened the bird and not the background, but for the most part that is to combat the limited dynamic range of a camera.
I also like rich, bright colours. But… it’s all too easy to over-do that. Use my photos as a guide.
Watermarks
All of my images are watermarked, and I would recommend you also include one. It won’t stop people stealing your work, but it does at least present some barrier to this.
It also asserts your identity to the many people who don’t want to steal it.
I only ask that the watermark not be imposing on the image. Generally, any watermark designed to prevent theft will look terrible. Use one that asserts your identity in a tasteful way.
My watermarks are always subtle, by means of transparency. I prefer this approach, but if yours are fully opaque, yet tasteful and not imposing, I don’t have a problem with that.
Please don’t have the watermark covering any part of the bird unless this is unavoidable. (Some head shots may require this.)
Format
The photos on the site are JPEGs. If your original is a JPEG, consider that any significant amount of colour or light adjustments may expose the limitations of the JPEG format.
I always shoot in RAW for precisely this reason. It provides the full dynamic range of the camera and allows plenty of leeway to push light and colours to match what you saw.
I publish my photos in the Display P3 colour space, as I find it gives richer colours. I realise many (probably most) viewers don’t have P3-capable displays, but for those that do, it is a significant improvement.
If you have a suitable display please provide a Display P3 JPEG. If you don’t, sRGB is fine.
Exclusivity
None. None at all.
The goal of this site is to showcase the birds. Not to make money.
Information
You needn’t spend any effort on this part unless I accept your photo.
Have a look at what I include on my posts. Most have a paragraph or two about the bird. Some include a bit of information about where it was or whether there was any significance to the situation. The main thing is none are more than a few paragraphs.
I always name the post using my Naming conventions and I can add in the alternative names if needed, as well as find the correct classification.
I also include a map with the location the photo was taken. (This is something I wish all photographers would do!) If, like me, you take a photo in your back garden and do not wish to share the exact location, just provide a location nearby (mine is in the middle of a roundabout a couple of minutes’ drive away). In this case, just mention it and I will put the small disclaimer below the map — e.g. see the Chaffinch post.
Ideally, provide me with latitude and longitude coordinates (Google Maps will provide this if you click on the map) but if you can describe the exact location then I can work out the coordinates.
Credit
In addition to your watermark, I will also include a small section at the top of the post which identifies the photo as a guest contribution. I would like to include your name, but also a very short ‘bio’ that you provide. I’ve not worked out the exact structure of this bit, but I imagine something like this:
This photo has been contributed by Your Name.
Your Name is an avid bird watcher from Dunedin who has just started photographing them.
It doesn’t have to include those bits, it can be anything really, that tells us a little about you. Basically figure out a single sentence, maybe two, that includes your name.
Pseudonyms are fine if you prefer.
I will also assert your copyright in the post. If you wish to provide a suitable (short) statement, I will use that, otherwise I will use a simple “This photo is copyright Your Name, 2024” with the current year.
Finally, if you wish, I will link Your Name to a site of your choosing. This could be a web site, your Flickr or Glass, or some such service. It doesn’t need to be photography-related.
The only exception to this is I do not wish to associate this site in any way with the properties of the Meta Corporation. As such, I will not link to Facebook or Instagram or Threads. This is a personal choice of mine. Other social media is fine.
Publication
Apart from the initial flurry of three posts to ‘establish’ the site, I have been scheduling one post per week (usually in the early hours of Saturday morning, my time).
I would like to keep up that cadence, but depending on what photos I have in the pipeline, that may change.
I will let you know in advance when your photo is to be published, or in the case of immediate publication, as soon as that happens.
How to submit
Quite simple, really. Email me.
If your photo is already published somewhere, a link to that is great, if I can download from there.
If not, you may include it as an attachment, but be wary of automatic conversions that may take place, as these can degrade the quality of the photo.
A DropBox link is fine, or any other file sharing service that doesn’t require me to make an account.