CONTEST RULES & FAQs:
NHRTC is happy to announce we are gathering photos for the third edition of the New Hampshire Rail Trails CALENDAR: 2026. Winners of the Photo Contest will be announced announced in October, here as well as Facebook and NewsFlash. The calendars will be for sale in fall 2025. Stay tuned for updates!
What is the purpose of having a calendar photo contest? To share the beauty of New Hampshire’s rail trails, and increase awareness of advocacy groups and efforts.
How do I submit photos for consideration in the 2026 calendar? To submit photos for the 2026 calendar, send an email to nhrtc.photos@gmail.com and include up to 5 images as attachments to the email. The deadline for submitting photos: August 31st, 2025.
Image Requirements: Images must:
- Include the name of rail trail and the town where the photo was taken, month taken
- File Type: be TIFF or .JPG files, horizontal (landscape) format
- Resolution: be a minimum resolution of 300 DPI, or 3000 × 2400 pixels.
- File Size Limit: Each individual image must be 25 MB or less. Individual images larger than 25 MB will not be accepted. You may need to send multiple emails, with just one photo attached to each email, depending on the size of the images.
Other Considerations:
- We’d love to get more beautiful photos of any of the historical structures and artifacts that still exist on many of our rail trails – including historical mile markers, depot buildings, engine houses, and the like! Try to include a piece of the trail in the photo.
- We like photos that show happy trail users of all types, abilities and ages: walkers, biker, skiers, snowmobiles, skijourers, horses, dogs, llamas, families, snowmobiles, bird watchers, rock and ice climbers!
- Be careful of over-colorizing the photos. Keep them natural\realistic rather than psychedelic or unrealistic.
- If the photo is chosen for the calendar, and people’s faces are visible, you must have written permission from the subject(s) in the photo to use the photo.
- Ideally try to show some portion of the actual rail trail corridor surface in the photo, or something that makes it obvious that it is a rail trail, such as a sign, not just gorgeous photo of NH scenery. Below are some examples.
This photo below is ideal in that it shows the actual rail trail corridor, plus a beautiful “feature” on the right, Mascoma Lake on the Northern RailTrail. It’s easy to tell this is a rail trail.
This photo below is the historic Gerrish Station building on the Northern Rail Trail. This photo only shows a tiny bit of the rail trail corridor in lower right corner, which makes it difficult to tell it is a rail trail.
This photo below shows an artwork feature along the Northern Rail Trail. However, it does not show any portion of the actual rail trail. There is no indication in this image that this is from a rail trail.
Even though we have a preference for photos showing the actual rail trail corridor, we don’t want to miss out on any amazing photos just because they do not show a portion of the rail trail. Use your own judgement, and send us what you think are your best photos (not more than 5 total).
Your email must also include the following information:
- Your name
- Name of Rail Trail where photo was taken
- Month that the picture was taken
- Your Telephone number
- If possible, please also include the name of the town or city where the photo was taken.
Who chooses which photos will be selected for the calendar (photo contest winners)? The NHRTC Calendar Committee chooses the winning photographs.
Will others be able to see the photo submissions? No. The submitted photos will not be available for public viewing. Only the NHRTC Calendar Committee members can see the photo submissions.
How will I be informed if my photo(s) is(are) chosen for the calendar? Winners will be informed by email or phone if their photos are chosen to be in the calendar.
When should the photos have been taken? Ideally, the photos should have been taken with the last 3 years, but we’re flexible on this!
What do I receive if my photo(s) are chosen for the calendar? All winners will receive a free calendar.
Are professional photographs eligible? Yes. However, the only compensation is complimentary calendar and credits in the calendar, if photos are selected.
Will I receive a photo credit in the calendar? Yes. In the calendar, winning photos will include a photo credit for the photographer.
How many photos will be chosen to be in the calendar? The calendar will have 13 photos that will be approximately 8.5 by 11-inches in size (one cover photo and one photo for each month). There will also be a handful of smaller photos that will be included on other pages of the calendar, such as the back cover.
When can I purchase calendars? Calendars will be available for purchase later this year (2025). When the 2026 calendars are available for purchase, you will be able to purchase them via the NHRTC website page here.
What is the size of the actual printed calendars? The calendars will be approximately 8 1/2 by 11-inches, staple-bound, full color.
What if I have an amazing photo taken after the photo submission deadline? Please save it for the next calendar!
Will NHRTC share my photos with other organizations or use them for other purposes? No. The photos submitted will only be used to choose photos for the calendar. If there is a desire to use anyone’s photo for other purposes, NHRTC will ask for express permission to do so. NHRTC will not share or use photos without the owners’ permission.
If I submit photos, what am I agreeing to? You are only agreeing to let NHRTC use the photo(s) in the calendar, and for no other purposes.
What happens to the photo submissions after winners are chosen? NHRTC may wish to save some photos (“runners up”) to be considered for subsequent (2027) calendar. However, NHRTC will ask for your permission to keep the photos in that situation. All other photo submissions will be deleted.