Tips on Submitting Photos for the Head in the Clouds Wall Calendar

Cover of the 2018 Calendar

(Updated May 2019)

The response to our call for photos has been growing each year, and it's a thrill to open each email and be treated to such a wealth of beautiful local scenes. We've been told more than once that each year's calendar is even more exquisite than the last!

Although we receive plenty of really imaginative and beautiful submissions, for a variety of reasons many are not quite right for this calendar. 

So as you are considering what photos to submit, please keep these pointers in mind: 

1. Photos must show Amherst, not Easthampton, Hadley, Leverett, or anywhere else not exactly in Amherst. We will ask you where the photo was taken - it has to be either in Amherst or "of" Amherst. We will consider photos taken outside of Amherst if the subject is Amherst. For example, if you stood on a hill in Hadley to take a photo of UMass from a distance, we would consider that photo even though you weren't standing in Amherst when you took it. But if the scene doesn't show Amherst proper, we won't be considering it for the calendar no matter how amazing the photo. 
2. Featured photos capture the progression of the seasons. Our April and May calendar photos will be more springlike, while October will be a fall scene. Thus, among all the fall foliage photos we receive each year, we will pick two or three for the calendar. We tend to receive fewer quality winter and spring shots than any other season. So feel free to submit multiple photos, but your odds of being selected increase if you submit a variety of seasons. 
3. Diversity of scenes. We have no idea why, but in 2018 we received more Mount Pollux photos than anything else. We did pick one for the calendar, but about a dozen excellent shots were rejected. We like to show different aspects of Amherst, and we won't include a Mount Pollux photo every year. Check out our calendars from past years, and consider ways to vary the subject.                           2018 Calendar     2017 Calendar     2016 Calendar                                               2015 Calendar     2014 Calendar 
4. Landscape orientation. Due to the layout of the calendar, your photo submissions should be in landscape orientation (photo is wider than it is tall). Photos in portrait orientation (photo is taller than it is wide) generally do not work. The one exception is if the taller-than-wide photo can be cropped into a landscape orientation. That said, only once have we cropped a portrait photo into a landscape variation, and in that case the photo was extremely high resolution, thus allowing us to crop the photo severely without significantly reducing the image quality. 
5. Main subject should be the place. People and pets in the photo are fine as long as the photo isn't all about the people or pets (we're not looking for portraits or close ups of groups of people, in other words) - the main subject needs to be the setting around the people or pets. Crowd shots - where groups of people are the focus of the shot - are also not appropriate.
6. Avoid extreme close-ups. While close-ups can be beautiful, they don't necessarily convey a sense of place. For example, a photo of a lilac branch taken at Lilacland doesn't say "Amherst" (it could have been taken anywhere). Better to pull back on that shot to show, for example, lilac bushes blooming against the hill and art gallery beyond.
7. Weather, clouds, and Amherst landmarks are a plus. Even though we are "in the clouds," we do not require all the featured photos to have clouds - and, ideally the photo won't just be clouds. But we do like good cloud shots, as well as pictures showing weather. We also love Amherst landmarks. Our cover photo in 2018 (shown above) featured all three - in addition to being a beautiful photo, it showed the Common (Amherst landmark), along with clouds and snow on the ground. This photo fit just about every criteria while evoking a true winter feel as well as a scene people rarely see unless they are up in the very early morning. 

Ideally, viewers will see and feel "Amherst" in the photos. It's not necessary that the places featured be recognizable, but the photos should convey a feel for the area, the nature around us, the sky, and, yes, sometimes those locations anyone passing through might recognize or feel drawn to visit.

Can't wait to see what you have. Full instructions on submitting photos can be found here.