Hey all!

Once again I am reaching out to the talented railfan photographers of DeviantArt! For the new year we are hoping to set the bar high with our photography featured in Sterling Rail Classifieds. That means I need your help!

Basically, we broker everything that runs on the rail: Locomotives, Railcars, Passenger Cars, MOW Equipment, Hi-Rails, RR Equipment, and even the rail itself. If you have a high-quality railroad-related photo that you think would look great in an ad or even cover position of our magazine, lets talk. Almost nothing is off limits, so don't be afraid to drop me an email if you want to submit a photo: hailey.ivy@gmail.com

There are some basic ground rules you should know before submitting a photo, but anything else is fair game (and even most of these rules are flexible):

• No CSX, CN, UP or BNSF Locomotives. In some cases the logos can be Photoshopped out, so I will consider shots where this is possible. But the main problem is if we're making it look like we promote particular class 1 railroads over others. Even with photoshop, it's still pretty obvious when a loco is CSX and so on. (I know that makes it tougher, since some of the strongest photographs are of these units, but we don't want to imply we are associated closely with anything other than Sterling Rail). Not sure? Email me anyway!

• Your photo must be at least 300 dpi - this is for print, so the higher quality the better! Our specs for the publication are 8.75"x11.25" (8.5"x11" with 1/8th" bleed on all sides). If your photo isn't quite big enough, there are smaller ad sizes still where we might be able to use a photo. Email me anyway!

• Go for bright colors, or interesting angles. Something dynamic, as my boss would say. Just about anything we sell could make it to the cover if the photo was strong enough, so I really won't limit it beyond this very much. Don't forget that the magic of Photoshop can help too, so even if you're not totally sure, it couldn't hurt to ask me and see!

• *Edit:* I've received this question twice already, so I'll address it here. Sorry I forgot to before!We typically only do business in North America, but I am accepting international submissions because we are trying to expand and do more business overseas. Non-North American railfans are welcome to participate!

• No Steam Locomotives or very old/antique items (if the photo was taken at a museum, that's probably a no) - Sorry, I know they can make for some awesome photos, but we don't sell enough (if any) steam locos to spend ad space promoting them for sale. But if all you have displayed in your gallery are steam locos or "older" items and you want to show me your photos anyway, that's cool! We could still definitely use anybody skilled in the unique art of railfanning for other purposes, which brings me to my next point........

We are always accepting donated photos but have the option to pay photographers to go out and photograph specific units we are looking to sell. We have items all over the US and Canada so if you've got the skills and are in the area, we'd love to hear from you! If there are a number of people interested in this I will update this journal with the general locations of locomotives we are looking to promote.

To see more about us, or to see a full list of categories of the items we sell, visit our website: [link]

To check out past photographers that have been featured, go here:

(If I forgot you, let me know! It's Monday after all...)

As always I appreciate any help or critique! I am a designer, not a rail expert, so if anything I said doesn't make sense let me know!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments or in an email. Can't wait to hear from you!