Geograph - photograph every grid square

Keeping the Geograph website operational requires many people to donate their time or resources, and we want to be sure that the website is a resource free from commercial exploitation in future. To that end, the site software is available for re-use under the terms of the GNU Public Licence (GPL).

Also, we require all submitters to adopt a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence on their photographic submissions.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Under this licence the photographer keeps the copyright on their images but grants the right to anyone to copy and/or distribute and/or modify the image and its attached metadata, provided they give credit. This right to reuse the image may include someone printing and selling the image on Ebay or elsewhere.

On submission, contributors licence their images at one or more specific sizes. Once a licence is granted it is irrevocable, as that image and licence may legally have been downloaded and used elsewhere.

In a nutshell, we wanted to build a true community project that won't leave a nasty taste in the mouth by getting sold for shedloads of cash and taken away from the people who contributed. These licence terms ensure that the site and content can never be "taken away" from you. See Freedom - The Geograph Manifesto http://www.geograph.org.uk/help/freedom



(Developer? http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Geograph-for-Developers )

Please see the Credits Page for information on all the people who make this site possible.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/help/credits

http://www.geograph.org.uk/team.php

In the line of links just below the credit line on the photo page are one or two yellow 'thumbs up' icons. Just one, which says [👍🏻 Like] if there is no description. Or one saying [👍🏻 Like Image] and another with [👍🏻 Like Description]. You can also find the 'Like' thumbs on the 'Full listing + Links' format of the photo search under 'Thumb'.
Click on one or both to show your appreciation.
When this happens to one of your photos, it is reported on the section of your profile 'Use of my photos around the site'.

If you know your current password, just login as normal view your Profile, and click the 'Edit your profile' link.

If you don't remember your password, use the 'Forgotten Password' facility, to change your password. You will need the original email address you signed up with.

If you don't remember or are unable to access the email you have setup on your account, then you will need to use the Contact Us link to get help from a volunteer Team Member.

Follow the 'Edit my profile' link on your profile page https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php
When you have made all desired changes, don't forget to save them by clicking the [Save Changes] button at the bottom of the page.

Just log into Geograph using your old email address or your nickname, then go to your profile http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php?edit=1 and change your email address in the appropriate box and save the change. You'll get a welcome message sent to the new address which contains a link that you need to click to activate the new address.

NOTE: If you are a member of Geograph Project Ltd you will also need to update your email address on the company minisite https://company.geograph.org.uk/company/? (link is on your edit profile page).

Geograph publishes photos that illustrate the geography of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

For the first six years and 2 million images, Geograph contributors have been required to choose a primary geographical category for each of their images. They could either select one from a list or create a new one if what they wanted didn't exist. Some contributors limited themselves to a small number of very general categories (moorland, lake, buildings...) while others preferred to create much more detailed, often unique, categories (church (Roman Catholic) (former), artificial fish farming pool, bat hibernaculum...). The list grew to an unwieldy 9,000 categories, mostly of detailed photograph subjects. The primary geographical categories – which offered a broad-brush way of organising the archive – had got lost.

The system showed its limitations as the archive grew. For example, in this subject-rich photo http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1579473 the short title and description and single category (Watercourse) mean that other features go unrecorded, so will not be picked up in a search. Similarly in http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/716196 the category selected was Lake. A search on Lake would return over 25,000 images – not very useful. The interesting detail in the description would only be found by a very specific search. In a third example http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/514710 the category Artificial fish farming pool is unique, although the image would be found by a search for Fish farm. All these images would of course be seen in browsing their respective gridsquares. Photos with the minimum information will tend to be invisible to searches because searches are text-based. The solution is to enable contributors to choose multiple categories – tags – and one or more primary geographical categories – geographical context - that describe the content of the photo.

Of course, submitter knows best. The new system asks submitters to choose at least one geographical context from a fixed list of 46 very general options. If several of them apply, all their boxes can be ticked. At the same time, detail is encouraged with free-form tags which would previously have cluttered up the category list, and which can now be put to good use in narrowing down searches. So, geographical context and tags together should do all that categories used to, but without their limitations. In the Askern example several context boxes could be ticked: Lake, Village, Open space, Leisure; possibly Mining. From these alone a picture forms in the mind. Tags would fill in details of the birds, the tree, and the vanished historical features. The more information that can be attached to a photo the greater its value to the archive.

[edited by Robin Stott]

You can download any image from Geograph and print it. If larger sizes are available it is best to select the largest for printing purposes. Do read the 'Find out How to reuse this image' page for details on the licensing, crediting and any constraints on reuse.

It depends on how closely your painting resembles the photograph. I can't see any problem with using the information gleaned from any Geograph picture to inspire your painting. On the other hand, if you were to trace the photo and paint it over, you should credit the photographer for their contribution.

If you are in any doubt, just email the contributor (there's a link under the main picture) and ask them; I'm sure most will answer in the same way. You could offer to take a photo of your finished painting and send it to them as a thank you - many would appreciate that.

All photos are Creative Commons (CC) licensed. That means you can use them for free for any purpose as long as you credit the photographer individually and state the fact that the image is CC-licensed. You can find suggested wordings for both print and electronic publications if you click 'reuse this picture' under the photo description on each photo page.

If you need a higher-resolution version, there may be a CC-licensed version available by clicking the 'more sizes' link (if present) to the top right of the main photo. Alternatively, you can contact the photographer through their profile page (click their name on the photo page to get there) and ask if they are willing to give or sell you a copy under a separate licence.

There are several ways to create a photo collection - http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Content-on-Geograph

Marked list - see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/The-Mark-facility
You can save this as a private list or use it to build a Themed Topic or Article.

Themed Topic - a discussion area where you can gather photos either alone (by locking the topic after each post) or collaboratively.

Article - see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Help_on_formatting_of_articles for help in creating articles which can also be a sole effort or opened up for collaborative editing.

Articles are indexed by google (and other search engines) and are visible to registered and non-registered users of the site.

The Creative Commons licence applies to the text supplied with a photo as well as to the photo itself.

If you are copying their text, it should be credited.

(Asked by robinstott and answered by barryhunter on the forum http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=13068&dontcount=1&page=0#1 )

Running this site costs money, particularly over time as the storage requirements are quite large. Whilst those costs were initially met by generous sponsorship from the Ordnance Survey, more recently the site has been dependent upon donations. Granting commercial use allows anyone who runs the archive in the distant future to explore other options for generating funds, such as sales of montage posters.

Granting everyone those same rights actually protects the site community from exploitation), but do bear in mind that we only retain a screen-quality version of your image, and that under the terms of the Creative Commons Licence, you must be credited for any use of your image.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/help/freedom

Use the 'Upload a larger size' link on the photo (or edit) page and submit the size you want (or select the preferred option on the page). This will overwrite the original selection although there may be a brief period when the originally selected size will be available due to caching and the wait before approval.
Be aware that if the very large version has been on the site for a while it may already have been downloaded from the site as a CC licensed image.
Note: if you did not want to license a larger size at all you will need to go through the same process but using an image marginally larger than 640 pixels wide (641 is enough) in order to remove the larger size options.

Yes, as with any of the information you added when submitting, this can be edited using the 'Change image details' form which is linked to just below the photo on its main page.

Adding a link to the source of information, or showing details of an off-line publication within your description or article are the usual ways to add a citation.

You can submit all your photos under a pseudonym by changing the name on your Profile http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php (link top write on most pages). Note that by doing this, the name will be changed on all photos you have previously submitted from the account. These may already have been used elsewhere, crediting the name originally shown.
You can change the credit on an individual image, for instance if you asked someone else to take it for you, but the name on your profile will still be shown on the photo page and the photographer name will still link back to your profile.
You can open another account under a pseudonym but this will need to be done from a different email address and you will have to take care which account you are signed in with before submitting, making changes or posting in the forums.

Accounts cannot be deleted - see this answer http://www.geograph.ie/faq3.php#103

If you have submitted no photos the only way anyone can find your account is by trawling through every account number - in November 2015 there are around 122100 of them.
If you are still concerned about your name or email address being available you can edit your profile to anonymise your name and introduce an error into your email address (which is not visible unless you have set it to be so).

Short answer - please don't!
Editing out what is there by stamping another part of the image over in order to produce a 'prettier' picture is not what Geograph is about. We aim to record what is there, not a prettified version of it.
If people happen to be in your photo and you think they may object to the image appearing on the internet, consider if you are prepared to deal with any objections they may raise. If not, best not to submit. That said, I can only recall 2-3 images being removed from view because of objections raised by people (known to the photographer) who appeared in them - in the 11 years since the site started.
Some submitters do blur out legible vehicle registration plates. Opinions vary as to whether this is necessary or desirable but it is not a reason for rejection if subtly done.

Either:
1) Resize the image before you send
or
2) Limit the size of the image before you take it.

Most smartphones allow you to tweak the size of the image before you take the pic. You might find editing software for your smartphone to help you edit the image to get the size below 8MB.

It's usually best to paraphrase information from other sources and then add a reference (or hyperlink) to those sources. If you want to quote something verbatim, you need to ask the author for permission to use it and to re-licence it under the Creative Commons licence - which essentially means they not only allow you but the whole world to use their text, provided credit is given. If you have their permission to re-use their text, you should still acknowledge that it's theirs.

It doesn't matter if the text you wish to quote is from a commercial printed work, a website or just a handwritten note the original author wrote just for your information.

(Inspired by a question asked by Jon2 and answered by barryhunter on the forum http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=13068&dontcount=1&page=0#6 .)

By uploading an image to Geograph, you agree to license it under a Creative Commons licence. This allows anybody to use your image for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as they give credit to you. They don't have to ask your permission before doing so.

The standard 640x640 pixel size is too low resolution for the vast majority of commercial uses, and it is not uncommon that Geograph-ers are approached by publishers or the media for a higher-resolution version for printing. If you agree to supply one, you can ask for a fee if you like. Basically, you're granting them a separate licence to use another (higher resolution) image. It is up to you to negotiate the licence terms and remuneration you want.

Of course if you choose to license a higher-resolution version under the CC licence alongside the standard size picture, then people are free to use that as well.

Many Geograph-ers are happy to give high-resolution versions for free for charity or community publications while charging a commercial fee from other organisations. Commercial providers of education (materials) seem to be a borderline case for many.

Short answer: you can't. But please read on...

You can't revoke the Creative Commons licence you have given The World when submitting your photos, and we would like to ensure as best as we can that you continue to get credit for your images wherever they are used. If you stop submitting, your existing photos remain visible and credited to yourself for this reason.

If you would prefer no longer to be identified as the photographer of the photos you have uploaded, you can change your real name in your profile http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php?edit=1 to show a pseudonym, or you can ask us http://www.geograph.org.uk/contact.php to anonymise your account. In either case, your decision is reversible should you change your mind - which of course we do hope!

The statistics section offers limitless opportunities to generate leaderboards that suit every possible feti^H^H^H^Hspecial interest. You can generate one by filling in this form http://www.geograph.org.uk/statistics/groupby.php - best of all, you can refine the criteria until it is just specific enough, but no more! The 'keywords' box understands the same syntax as the general site search (for details see the link next to the box).

Copy the URL (address bar) after filling in the form and paste it into your profile ('about yourself' box in http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php?edit=1 ), so anyone can see how well you're doing in your speciality.

For example, a pubs etc. leaderboard could be generated like this: http://www.geograph.org.uk/statistics/groupby.php?groupby=auser_id&distinct=&q=%22public+house%22+%7C+inn+%7C+pub&ri=0

(inspired by a question asked by galgo23 and answered by barryhunter on the forum http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=13608&dontcount=1&page=0#1 )

If your friend asks you to and for some reason cannot create their own account then that's fine provided they understand the Creative Commons licence. You should credit them as the photographer when submitting.
See related article: Photos not taken by submitter

There are three simple ways to link two (or more) photos.
To produce a link which simply shows as Link, add the full URL of the photo to be linked to in the description eg
"See http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5966333 for a wider view."
To produce a link which shows the grid square and title, enclose the photo ID number (found at the end of the photo page URL) in double square brackets [[5966333]] so the link (in this example) will show as "See SO1189 : The Berwyns under snow for a wider view."
Either way it is a good idea to describe the other photo a bit, rather than just give the link.
For linking several photos a shared description - which may only be a title - can work well. Create your shared description in the Shared Description tab and then add it to each of the relevant images. This will produce an automatic link "see other photos of [title of shared description]"
For recent uploads such linkings are most easily done using the Recent Uploads page https://www.geograph.org.uk/submissions.php where the ID numbers are provided below the thumbnails and you won't need to visit individual edit pages to add the links.

All images shown on the general photo pages fit within a 1024pixel-square area. If they are bigger than that when uploaded, the site software will reduce them to fit into that frame. If they are smaller than 640px, the moderator is likely to request a larger version.

Optionally, you can upload a larger version of the same photo and license that larger version with the same Creative Commons licence (unlimited free re-use by anyone for any purpose as long as credit is given) as the main image. To do this, select the largest image size that you are happy to contribute when prompted by the submission dialogue after uploading your photo in step 1. Geograph will produce the standard 1024px image as well as this higher-resolution one according to your request.

Site users can access these larger images by clicking on 'more sizes' above the main photo on the photo page.

You can upload images of any dimensions, portrait or landscape, but the file size needs to be under 8 megabytes. We do resize them so their longest dimension is 640 pixels on the main photo page. Optionally, you can also release larger versions of various sizes for downloading and re-use.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Larger-Uploads-Information

We only accept JPEG encoded images. If you have any image in another format it will need to be converted.

Ideally images shouldn't have a longest dimension of fewer than 480 pixels. While we might accept such images if they hold particular interest, we would really prefer a larger image.

We do record the EXIF headers from your original image, so it is advantageous to upload your original camera image or use image editing software that maintains the EXIF data if you want this information to be kept (but we don't currently make use of the data).

You can, as long as you now hold the copyright in the image, which will be the case if you've inherited them. During submission, you will be asked in step 4 to confirm the Creative Commons licence. You should untick 'I am the photographer' and enter the name of your deceased relative there. The picture will then show on your profile but will be credited to your relative. Alternative, you can change the credit after submission by clicking 'change image details' under the photo and then 'change credit' after your name.

If you are sure that you hold the copyright but there are several possible deceased relatives which could have taken the picture, you can submit them under a name such as 'Smith family archive'.

[the beginnings of an answer]

Put simply, photographs are made of light. In good light, today's digital cameras make it difficult to take a technically poor photo. Sometimes, though, photos unavoidably come out dark or grey because the subject was in shadow, or it was getting late; worst of all, a cloud appeared overhead and followed you round while the distant landscape was bathed in sunshine. There are ways of making these photos reveal their subjects better.

This isn't a highly technical answer. It refers to features of commonly-used image editing or image enhancement software.

[to be continued]

You can switch to version 2 of the submission procedure http://www.geograph.org.uk/submit2.php , which has all four steps on one page in collapsible boxes. To open and close the boxes, click on their header bar. You can begin filling in the boxes while your picture is uploading, although a few options such as tags only become available once the upload is finished.

Version 2 becomes available once you're familiar with the kind of information needed for a submission to Geograph, having uploaded a few pictures using the standard method.

Instead of switching each time, you can set your preferred submission method in your profile http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php?edit=1 .

In your description you can create a link to another picture on geograph in 2 ways:
1) By entering the ID surrounded by 2 or 3 square brackets e.g. [[12345]] This will display as a link to (e.g.) " NN2544 : Coire Toaig"

An easy way of getting ID's for your recent photo's is to click on "recent uploads", where the id's are listed in square brackets for you to copy. This can be helpful when creating links before pics are moderated.

2) You can enter the full URL of a pic e.g. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/12345 and that will display as "link". Note that the set of numbers at the end of the url is the photo ID.

For more detail, and for editing pics that have already been moderated, we suggest taking a look at Rudi Winter's tutorial (click on "More information on this topic... " below)

You can put links (URL or URI) to web pages and geograph photos into your description, and this will display with the text "link" in the description. Always leave a space after the link to avoid punctuation marks being included in the link. A link to any web resource will work, including a link to a photo on geograph such as http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/12345. Note that the set of numbers at the end of the url is the photo ID.

You can also link directly to a pic on geograph by entering the ID surrounded by 2 or 3 square brackets e.g. [[12345]] This will display as a link to (e.g.) " NN2544 : Coire Toaig".

An easy way of getting ID's for your recent photo's is to click on "recent uploads", where the id's are listed in square brackets for you to copy. This can be helpful when creating links before pics are moderated.

For more detail, and for editing pics that have already been moderated, we suggest taking a look at Rudi Winter's tutorial (click on "More information on this topic... " below)

Geograph is primarily for documentary photographs, not works of art. If your photos clearly show the subject, are well-lit, straightened-up, in focus and if possible visually appealing, you're doing fine. In the Collections area of the site there are many examples: see any of the 'Stellar examples' in Themed topics and illustrations of Geographical context at http://www.geograph.org.uk/tags/primary.php

Light
Generally speaking, sunshine gives best results, but time of day and time of year impart their own qualities to a photo. In bright summer light in the middle of the day, subjects are unavoidably top-lit, often reflective, while shadows are short, intense and below the subject. In the early morning and from late afternoon the sun is lower in the sky, subjects may be side-lit, the light is less harsh and shadows may be attractively long, revealing the form of objects they lie across. Similar conditions prevail in the middle of the day in the winter months. Photographing into the light is not recommended. 'Contre-jour' effects are expressive but may not convey much geographical information. Sometimes, however, you should ignore advice such as this and just respond to the subject and the conditions. For very bright surroundings such as snow, beaches and expanses of rock or concrete, consult your user guide.

Shadow
Subjects and scenes in shadow may sometimes have to be photographed "ready or not". The sun goes in or clouds merge. Pointing the camera more towards the ground will make auto-exposure adjust for a darker subject. If you prefer more control you can change the camera settings: look in your user guide for topics such as 'ISO speed', 'Metering mode' and 'Exposure compensation'. There may be less control with a camera phone: photos taken in poor light are likely to be dark or dull. To salvage something from a disappointing photo, see the answer to the question 'How can I improve a photo?' On the other hand dull days provide opportunities for photographing other subjects, such as details. Exploit the 'flat' light with zoom shots of distant subjects.

Night photography
Photographs taken at night are often classified as supplementals. That is fine; they can reveal geographic and cultural realities not evident during the day. There may be multiple light sources. Again, consult your camera's user guide. Experiment — and stay safe.

edited by Robin Stott

You can use multi-submit as your submission procedure http://www.geograph.org.uk/submit-multi.php , which allows you to upload up to 20 images in one go by dragging them into tab A. You can upload multiple batches of images using this procedure. Once all your uploads are finished, switch to either of the two 'B' tabs, depending on whether you prefer the remaining three steps of the submission process (locate, describe, license) on separate pages (version 1) or on a single page per picture (version 2). In tab B, select one image at a time and complete the submission process as usual. You've got a week to fill in the details and license your images before they disappear from multi-submit.

Instead of switching each time, you can set your preferred submission method in your profile http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php?edit=1 .

Actually I like Photoshop. It IS expensive, but you can purchase cheaper versions of it which are perfectly capable. It does take a little time to learn, but if you can master the keyboard shortcuts it helps a lot. It really can do everything - from HDR to 3d painting.
There are loads of Image editing applications, including the free one GIMP. Its personal preference. GIMP is very capable, but I'm not personally keen on the interface, even if it is a bit like Photoshop. It also runs on Linux.
In windows, its useful to have the application set up so that a right click on the image will launch the application, or open the image in it.

There are a number of forum threads where knowledgeable Geograph members help out identifying a variety of things. Just upload your picture (with the usual geographical information) and post it on the appropriate thread, then update your description when you get a satisfactory answer.

- insects: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=10511
- fish: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=12115
- birds: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=7307
- deer: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=13388
- livestock breeds: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=7733
- trees: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=12362
- orchids: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=11958
- crops: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=7530
- plants in general: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=4791
- fungi: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=12620
- geological curiosities: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=6&topic=1910
- clouds: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=6&topic=14038
- ships: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=12872
- phoneboxes: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=6&topic=12931
- pillboxes: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=18&topic=12600
- tractors: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=11962
- farm machinery: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=3366
- locomotives: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=11550
- railway paraphernalia: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=12095
- mystery objects: http://www.geograph.org.uk/discuss/index.php?&action=vthread&forum=2&topic=3736

If none of these fits your identification problem, try searching the forum (entry box top right on any forum page) or start a new thread, ideally using the word 'identification' in the title. And please edit this answer and include a link to it!

Any post can be edited anytime in the 24 hours after it posted.

If its in a "Themed Topic", or a "Gallery" then it can be edited indefinitly.

Only the original author can edit their posts.

Just click "Edit" against the post in question.

If you created the topic, can edit the first post to rename the thread/topic.