Like many things, this project evolves, and as such this page has been replaced by: Geograph-or-supplemental Article
the text below is maintained only as a historical record.
Geograph or Supplemental - How are pictures moderated?
If you are new to the site, please have a look at our guide first which should help you get started. The information below provides a wider selection of examples taken from the site to help you understand what does and what doesn't constitute a geograph.
Our Aims
The aim of the Geograph website is to be a widely appealing web site that will gradually produce a freely accessible archive of educationally useful, geographically located photographs of the British Isles.
The Ordnance Survey grid has been chosen as the basis for the geographic referencing system.
To get an idea of the type of image we are interested in, think what a child sat looking at a map in a geography lesson might find useful when trying to make sense of what a the human and physical geographical features in a given grid square actually look like, or what would he see if he looked further a field from a given viewpoint.
There are many, very broad subject areas that could be useful to the child in interpreting the map information including:
- Physical landscape
- Human land use
- Built Environment
- Social interaction
- Geology
- Flora and fauna
- Historical interest
These can be photographically interpreted in many different ways - this is definitely not an exhaustive list!
The success of the site depends on a high image submission rate as well as on their accuracy, quality and usefulness. We try to make the site appeal to as wide a range of potential contributors as possible so have guidelines rather than hard and fast rules and have introduced a competitive element in the form of geograph points and a leaderboard.
We hope that as time goes by, most geographs will be taken specifically for this purpose but realise that many people may also wish to contribute pictures from an existing collection.
Don't be disheartened if your image is not classed as a geograph, if your image has been accepted as a supplemental it is still a valued contribution to the project. Only a very tiny percentage of submissions are rejected!
The table should serve as a guide to some of the types of photograph which a site visitor might find useful and an indication as to whether they would be classed as a geograph or a supplemental image and which grid square they should be submitted under. Whatever type of picture you submit, please try to include as much additional information as possible in your description.
Small area images (<1 sq.km)
showing subjects within a given grid square taken at close range from within the square
Subject location with grid reference quoted to as many figures as accurately possible.
Wide area images (>1sqkm)
showing landscape features or other subjects from a viewpoint which may or may not be within the square occupied by the photographer.
Panoramas
Although panoramas do not show geographic details of particular grid squares at close quarters they can be very useful in interpreting map information and so are welcomed. Additional geographs showing the geography of the grid square in question will of course be required to complete the detailed picture for a particular square. Several different types of image have been categorised as panorama by contributors. The viewpoint should be clearly stated.
All panoramas should be logged against the photographer position
Close up or detail images and interiors
Although normally classed as supplemental we welcome this type of picture because they add depth of detail and interest to the site and complement the geographical information available for a given grid square.
Old Images
Old images are welcomed but care must be taken to ensure that they are referenced under the correct grid square.
Digitally manipulated/Sunset/Very Underexposed Images
Images that have been digitally manipulated in a way that is likely to have significantly devalued the geographical information they contain are likely to be rejected (or at best classed as supplemental). sunset/sunrise or heavily underexposed images where the main purpose of the image was to produce a visually pleasing picture will be classed as supplemental unless sufficient geographical information can clearly be discerned. Images taken specifically for geograph are unlikely to fall into this category.
People pics
Images that incidentally show people going about their daily routine provide valuable human geographical information and can be classed as geographs.
Snaps that have been taken mainly to show family members on holiday are not normally accepted.
Small Images
We are not looking for technically perfect images nor do you need expensive photographic equipment to take part but small, poor quality pictures (where the largest dimension is less than 480 pixels) are unlikely to be of acceptable quality for the purposes of the site.
Images from camera phones are frequent rejected for this reason
Telephoto Images
We prefer people to try to get themselves into grid squares and take images at close range. Taking a telephoto lens up a hill and taking a shot from 5 or 6 miles away isn't really what the site is about, it generally doesn't result in the level of detail we are looking for and spoils the game for those members who like the challenge of getting into the less accessible areas
