The IHT is launching its 2008 photographic competition. The closing date for entries to – Transportation through a Lens – is 31 March 2008.
There is not limitation on the number of entries from an individual or company but they must be submitted electronically with clear indication of the intended theme. Minimum picture size 6in x 4in at 300dpi
Prize money of £500 is up for grabs for the amateur class– £300 for the individual winner, £150 for second place and £50 for third.
The winners of the Amateur and Corporate Classes will be invited to the IHT Awards Dinner in June 2008 to receive their certificates.

The content of photographs submitted for judging need to be closely associated with the work and achievement of those in highways and transportation.

Within the classes there will be three themes:

• Road to Success

• Planes , trains or automobiles

• City life

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the first motorway we are keen to receive entries specifically related to motorway construction.

Downloads:

Entry Form >>

Competition Rules >>

Rail Image Library

A library of over 15,000 railway images dating from 1970 to date and covering most of the world exists. The library is managed by Ian Dinmore of Norfolk CC. All images are copyright of Ian Dinmore, but available for use with credit shown. If you require railway images contact Ian at ian.dinmore@norfolk.gov.uk

Photo of the month

The Winners 2006 - Click on photo to enlarged.

Corporate winner Alfred McAlpine	Individual winner James Killeen	2nd Nick Cottman	3rd James Killeen

Tips from last years judges.

Fill the frame with the subject being photographed for maximum impact

Do not use to much unsharp mask on J pegs

For night photography make sure use a sturdy tripod to avoid camera shake for pin sharp photographs

Watch the edges of the frame for distracting elements...

Consider the cropping of dead space around the point of focus.

Look at the picture and see how many other pictures you can produce from that picture by using the crop tool.

Ensuring you have a decent file size for printing purpose the resolution for a 4x6 print is 1800 pix by 1400 pix

Make sure the Jpeg file is the correct size i.e. 3mb not 65kb

David Jones

Judge / Pro Photographer

1. The author should ensure that he carries out any cropping that would enhance the composition of the image/relevance to the theme before submitting. The image is judged as received not on its potential for improvement.

2. Framing the image is crucial. Get in close, where appropriate, and preserve the size of the final image for quality and enlargement when printing. 1.5 MBytes should be regarded as the minimum file size. It is extremely unlikely that Mobile Phone Cameras (less than 5 Megapixels) will satisfy this criteria. Bear in mind that this file size will produce a good quality 8"x6" print.

2. Digital cameras are generally very portable and light. This means they are very susceptible to camera shake, thus care should be taken to ensure that the camera is held as steady as possible to avoid blurring of the image from camera shake.

3. Night time shots and timed exposures (longer then a quarter of a second) must be pin sharp to be effective. Ensure camera is held very steady on a sturdy tripod or similar. Hand held shots in these circumstances seldom work well enough.

4. Where submitting entries electronically please ensure that the Jpeg image file is attached as a separate file. Any document supporting the entry (with titles etc) can have the images embedded as well, but separate files ensure maximum image quality will be received.

5. Think relevance to Theme; think composition; think framing; hold firmly and steady (rest on solid non-moving object where possible); press shutter release gently; submit entries and who knows you may be next year's winner!

Billy McCoubrey

Judge

The IHT are keen to build up an online photographic library for the benefit of it’s members so if you have any photographs that are associated with transportation please e-mail them to john.smart @iht.org  

* = you must credit the photo with " Photo supplied by http://www.iht.org "