Some of the out of focus ones produce a nice impressionistic feel.

There's room for that kind of artistic freedom in the banners but the ones we rejected for being out of focus did not appear to be out of focus for artistic reasons.

I also have to take into consideration how the focus of the banner appears, often the logo will push a blank spot or an uninteresting feature front and center. Also, since the banner is a visible feature representing ATP for 24 hrs, it should be somewhat colorful. There have been a few banners, while interesting, were a bit too bland to represent this site. We want to make it fun and exciting for new visitors, not only in content but in visual appeal too!

ok, question.. I looked at the http://garden.org/barn/banners... site & it just shows the 1 banner.. but I know I've uploaded another. Does that mean it wasn't approved, or did it go poof? It's in focus and colorful.. maybe too colorful? Would there be a "reject" pile?

Toni, that could be, I just clicked on the link and it shows that I have a bunch approved in the lineup.

I thought I was the only obsessive one here !!!.
I am still having problems with closeup images.
Does this mean I need to use a camera image setting with the largest number of pixels ?
I usually shoot 640X 840, edit in PICASA and am left with an image thats smaller. I export the image at 800px.
I have tried to use last summers images that are all around 600 px ,some less. I resize in PAINT then use the editing program suggested in the directions.

Yes, you will need a higher resolution.

Thanks so much. Last years images resized just dont appear as crisp and focused.
It looks like I will need a new camera setting no matter what the images are for.

Definitely take the images with a higher resolution! Ideally you will use the "Fine" and large setting of your camera. If you tell me what camera you have I can lookup the idea resolution for taking photos that will end up being on the web.

But 640x480 is WAY too small and is the reason for any blurry shots.

Sorry Jo Ann, that's exactly the reason why I haven't been able to use your banners so far.

O K Now I am armed and dangerous.

Dave: I use a Canon PowerShot A3300.

I have been trying to use last years flower photos ,no wonder I am frustrated.

I save all my original and unedited shots in one folder and the edited/cropped in another and use the unedited to create the banners. Pixlr has been my go-to program for creating the banners and I often use their flip/rotate function when the main interest/focus is too far on the right side. Remember as stated above:

Just make sure of the clarity, that the subject remains more on that left side so it maintains it as the focus when it gets pushed over by the ATP logo. It should basically meet the All Things Plants theme and as noted on the submission page "Please only upload banners from your very best, sharpest and most colorful images.

Just a general question. If a banner has been approved but not scheduled does that indicate that the quality is good enough for some possible future use? I understand that you have 100's to choose from.

Sue: Many thanks for the clue. I find I can flip in the Microsoft program. The tip about multiple files is a good one. I just found the banner site a few weeks ago.I always take images in season with an eye towards multiple plant photos, database and database closeups, and never thought about image pixle size.
Its a definate practice from now on.

That's correct Paul, there are over 1000 banners which do include the ones that have already run. Right now I am concentrating on filling in the correct theme banners for the Plant Weeks (I need one more herb) and then I randomly select to fill in the other dates.

I honestly had no idea there were so many contributing.
After getting the feel for the process of creating them,you can feel free to toss any of mine that arent fantastic LOL.

Keep practicing, keep taking pictures, you will get it right soon I am sure!

Jo Ann, If you have the manual for your camera, turn to page 63 to see about the image settings. You want to choose "L" for the image pixel settings. Also under the "Image Quality" area, select "Fine". You access these settings your your "Func Set" button.

I had not used the FINE setting. It takes Picasa and FSView editing program to get what I want.
I have trouble resizing in Microsoft.