Submissions to Streetbiker

Copy dates. They are always the same though loads of people get in touch to ask every issue. The date to get stuff to me by is the 10th of the month prior to publication so

Oct/Nov copy date Sep10
Dec/Jan copy date Nov 10
Feb/Mar copy date Jan 10

Photographs: I still get loads of pictures which are at - 72 dots per inch (72dpi). This looks OK on a computer screen but is naff all use for printing. 300dpi please. Also the output size has to be adequate. 3 columns width is 132mm 2 columns is 66mm 1 column is 41. The galleys between the columns explain the unequal ratios. Please bear in mind that if the subject is not filling the frame then I will crop the picture. I don't like blowing bits of pictures up as you lose definition if you do that so typically I scan them in at 100% which means if it's a 66 mm wide print them that's how big it will come out in the newspaper.

The option is to just send me original prints which is best if there is no rush. If you want them back please write an address on the back of them. Covering letters, with the best will in the world will get separated from photographs. I don't throw pictures away, they are all archived but at some point I might heave the whole lot out however any that are actually published will be archived on CD so if you've seen it in the paper I will have it on CD.

Picture content - Bear in mind that pictures with dozens of people in them are hard to reproduce on newsprint. Less is more as a rule and you get much more impact with a picture that is a close up of someone's face. I still get pictures of car parks with a few dozen bikes scattered around the edge and people all looking every which way - not a lot of use I'm afraid. Take one element of a scene and move right in close on that. I appreciate that sometimes a lot of people all want their faces in a shot and I do try and use them if they are half way useable.

Always get the sun behind you, make sure people aren't standing in shadows.

A line of bikes from left to right tends to make a flat picture with lots of wasted space. Better to try and make pictures square. If it's a group shot then rather than having people all straggled out, have some kneeling on the ground then others standing behind them tallest at the back. That way the picture gains depth and makes much better use of the film.

Sounds corny but pretty girls are always a good idea. We don't use pictures of people doing gross things and somebody asleep on a pile of cans is not necessarily hilarious.

I would advise finding someone in your group with an interest in photography or getting a half decent photographer to come along to anything you want photographing.

Good pictures have very little to do with the quality of the camera gear though I would say you want 35mm rather than those 110 films as the negative is so small you will never get great definition. I've never had a photography lesson in my life or read a book on it. I use cameras in full auto mode all the time and Harley-Davidson employed me for a whole summer to photograph their rallies. Much of good or at least useable photography is just common sense.

Text: Either just send it in the body of the email message or use a Word attachment. Sometimes I get weird little attachments that I can't open. Never any harm dropping the text into the message as a backup then I can always read it.

Don't worry about trying to format things to make my life easier. The chances of receiving something that is just the way I want it are remote.

If describing runs and rallies, remember that details like precise routes taken and times etc aren't all that interesting. Also try to avoid private jokes and never tell me 'I was so drunk I can't remember much so it must have been great.' BSH wore that one out in the 80s.

Mutch