Sight Psalms is a daily online photo inspiration intended to help people reflect on God’s presence in the world and in their lives through the use of images. Each day, a new photograph is posted to evoke reflection and inspiration, usually accompanied by a few words.
Our intent is to express the divine through images. Each photo is titled and has a caption [see Captions below].
Photographs should be 72 dpi (ppi); the length should not exceed 700 pixels on the longest side and should be sent as a .jpg file. They may be either vertical or horizontal. Resizing can be done in most photo editing software. Look for the term "resize" or "image size."
Any copyright notice should appear parallel to the bottom of the image, in either the lower right or lower left corner — no larger than 16 points. Suggested font is Verdana or Helvetica. The copyright symbol can be made by pressing Alt-0-1-6-9 (PC) or Option-G (Mac).
Photos of adults taken in public places are permissible without the subjects’ permission. However, photos of children cannot be published without permission of the child’s or children’s parent(s) or guardian(s). Permission must either be written or in an email, and obtaining the permission is the responsibility of the photographer. Permission should be submitted along with the image and caption.
Logos of products, companies, etc. may be included incidentally, but should not be the main focus or feature in the image.
The TITLE word(s) precede the verbal message (Caption) and should appear in all upper case. The sentences below the image should be no more than 50 words in length. Bold print should be used sparingly, if ever. Currently no formatting may be used, e.g., lines in a poetic form.
Captions are the sentences below the picture. Their purpose is to enhance the message of the image and invite reflection and connection to the Holy. The language of the captions needs to be understandable to people who are not a part of a church.
Here are some ideas for generating captions, should you need help:
Use of Scripture is permissible, but must be no more than two sentences and follow the other guidelines above. The book, chapter, verse and version should be listed in parentheses at the end; e.g., (Job 1:16 NRSV). You must verify (vf) that the scripture and citation are 100% accurate. You must not take any liberties when quoting scripture or other copyrighted work.
Sources of published quotes must be identified, and that identification must be included in the word length restriction. Quotes must fall under the guidelines of fair use. If the source is an article or a book, and you are quoting only a sentence from that source, this is fair use. If, however, the quote consists of the entirety of the source, you need permission. Do not quote from a poem or hymn under copyright protection unless you have written permission. Getting permission to use a quote is the responsibility of the photographer, and the permission must be submitted in written form along with the image and caption.
Your image, caption and signed use agreement [and any necessary permissions for the image or caption] should be submitted to https://submissions.upperroom.org. You may submit up to five (5) images and captions.
You will be notified if any of your submissions are chosen, and you will be given the date(s) the photo(s) will appear.
