**Attn. COTM entrants**

[0rion]

This is constantly a work in progress and I want to make things as easy and streamlined as possible for the end of the year. This year was better than last as far as getting TSS the info but it still needs a lot of work to get it as smooth as possible. Last year I required the hi-res pics which I think made a huge difference over the year before so I'm adding some other stuff this year.

When you win here are the things I'll need from you:
Send an email to ibzrg6@aol.com with a high resolution picture. Hopefully TSS will chime in and give better specifics on the pic sizes and what works best for him but just send me the largest version you have. 1024x768 isn't big enough....we need like 3xxx by 2xxx sized pics. I'll have TSS post in here with better pic specifics. This would be a huge help if you guys can do this. Also, keep in mind that if you photoshop the picture save the hi-res photoshopped version so we'll have that for the calendar.

Car year and trim (ie- 1999 TransAm WS•6)
Car Color:
Car Name: (if any)
Owner:
Screen Name:
Dyno numbers or quarter mile times:


Thanks a bunch and this stuff will make the calendar go much more smoothly if we can get this stuff ahead of time.

[third_shift|studios]

Hi kids! A few things i noticed lately, particularly as SLR cameras are becoming more popular with this community, the big issue is cropping. The SLRs come with a standard 2:3 ratio, which is a nice long rectangle great for shooting landscapes and seems to fit around our cars perfectly. However, the calendar's ratio is more like a TV @ 3:4 (more square). See the example below-you'll see why many of the cars seem to be falling off the edge of the calendar page. It was in an effort to fill the whole page with your photo.

Solution: pull back when you shoot the car. This will ensure there is enough room around the top/bottom/sides so that when I re-crop it to fit the 3:4 format nothing is cut off



Notice how irritatingly close the nose of the car becomes to the page edge? That would actually get cut off when the print the calendar! So even if you have a camera with a 3:4 ratio-PLEASE give the photo some bleed room, don't take the car all the way to the frame edge.

Few more suggestions:
• Use a tripod
• Landscape format ONLY
• Never shoot into the sun unless you are a professional who can compensate for that exposure
• Try to avoid shooting between 11am and 3pm; the sun is normally directly overhead and does not provide for good lighting or shadow detail.