Hello,

Some notifications from the C&O Canal NHP follow. The information is from Emily Tyner-Hewitt, Volunteer Program Manager, C&O Canal National Historical Park.

Thanks for your support!

Steve Dean, Level Walker Chair

Call for Photos for 2025 Park Calendar:

It is time for C&O Canal NHP volunteers and staff to submit photos for the 2025 C&O Canal calendar!
Please see the following info below for helpful tips on submitting photos that are more likely to be usable in a printed calendar.
You may submit your photos by email or via Google Drive to chohvip@gmail.com. If you have multiple photos with large file sizes, you may want to batch your photos in multiple emails to ensure they go through.
Please save your photos with the location and name of photographer – For example: BigSlackwater_Jane_Doe
The deadline for submission is Friday, May 10th, 2024. If your photograph is selected, you will be contacted and credited in the calendar.

Photo Submission Recommendations:

Here are some things to consider when submitting your photos.

Image Aspect: The large images used in the calendar need an aspect ratio of approximately 3:2 to fit without excessive cropping. We can’t use wide aspect images in most cases because we would need to crop out valuable content. For comparison – most common cameras and cell phones have aspect ratios of 3:2 or 4:3 – both are close enough for us to use without excessive cropping. We generally can’t use images with the popular 16:9 aspect or panoramic images.

Image File Format and Quality: Many images we have received in the past can’t be used because of file issues. This is one of the biggest problems we have had in the past with photo submissions. Processing and printing processes require image files that have adequate image quality for the size we need for the calendar. Please send images as jpg, pdf, or tiff files. Image quality is related to the dots per inch (dpi) of the file and the image size. In a perfect world, we would receive images that were 9 inches or more wide with 300 dpi. This would result in a jpg file size of just over 4M. We can sometimes work with lower quality files, but it makes it harder for us to use your images. One way we can tell if an image is going to have problems is the file size; if it is less than 1M (1000K) it is probably not going to be suitable for our use. Some things to consider when you create and send photos:

• Set your camera for the best quality file format. This is usually defined as “JPEG Large” or “JPEG Fine” in your camera settings.
• If you use Photoshop, Lightroom or other photo processing applications, please output the files in a higher quality file format.
• If you upload your photos with a mobile device, please select a larger file size when uploading if the device asks you to select a file size for sending.

Image Problems: We do our best, but we are not able to use images that are out of focus, overly dark, washed out, distorted, or have other light or composition issues.

Image Topics: Send us things on the park you love! However – please bear in mind that the park is 184.5 miles long and many volunteers are based in the Palisades. We welcome photos from that area, but we are limited on how many photos we can use from any one area, and we need photos from the areas outside of the Palisades. Wildlife, river views, structures and other less known sights are of great interest to us. Please let us know where you were – identify the area where the photo was taken so we can use the info for selection or for caption generation.

People in Images: As a rule, people on the park are fair game for photos since they don’t have a reasonable expectation for privacy on a national park. However, we are careful about photos that have close, recognizable views of persons, especially children under the age of 18. If a child is in a photo and we decide to use the image, we will contact you to discuss if you have permission.

If you have questions, please contact us.

Guided Walks for Volunteers:

We have some exciting opportunities coming up in April! Here are the details –
• April 18th – Layne from Resources is leading a guided hike on the River Trail at Great Falls. Join her to look for and learn about spring wildflowers and other plants in a riverside habitat. This hike will start at 10am and last approximately 2 hours.
• April 19th – Steve Dean is leading a photo walk from Lander Lockhouse to Catoctin Aqueduct. Join him to talk about basic photography methods and what goes into a photograph. Then take a walk to demonstrate photography techniques and scenarios. If you are interested in submitting photos for the 2025 park calendar, this is a great opportunity to boost your skills! Notes will be provided. Bring a DSLR camera if you have one. This program will be from 9am-12pm.
• April 27th – Elaina from Resources is leading a guided hike along the Ferry Hill trail outside Sharpsburg, MD. Join her to look for and learn about spring wildflowers and pollinators in a unique habitat. This hike will start at 10am and last approximately 2 hours. This is not a flat trail, there will be uphill and downhill hiking.
The programs have limited capacity, so you must sign-up to participate. Email emily_hewitt@nps.gov with the following information:`
• Which program(s) are you interested in? You may attend more than one of these programs.
• What area of the park do you volunteer in and for what program.