I regret to say that I receive many photographs but the proportion which is acceptable seems to get less as time goes on.

1. Acceptable format: do not send me computer graphics files on floppies or by email. Unless they are of large memory size they are unlikely to have sufficient definition to print well. JPGs and their ilk are fine for small images printed to accompany personal records and for websites. Modern digital cameras do not produce a high enough quality unless they are of the expensive megapixels category.

I only accept glossy prints made on photographic or digital paper. This means you have to use the post. It can be seen at a glance whether they will reproduce well whether made from digital record or photographic negative. As I have stated before, 6” x 4” is quite big enough and now the standard enprint size. Prints made on ordinary copy paper are a waste of time, however pleasing to the photographer.

If you still use transparencies for your records, the responsibility for having a print made is still yours. Unless a professional processing firm is used they tend to come out as monotones. Strangely, having transparencies made from negative colour film is usually much more successful, but of no interest here.

2. Subject matter: this is of course entirely up to the photographer. However I would say that there is a strange reluctance to allow human beings into the photograph. One can almost imagine a hoard of people that have been shepherded out of sight, waiting just out of shot. Your boat may be the apple of your eye, but even in the largest panorama a tiny human figure adds to the scale. Otherwise the photo of Ken Dickinson says it all — not much wind, hot he may be, but happy. Human interest is important.