A few people have asked for hints on recording narration for their photo essays. We suggest the following:

1. If you record in MP3, record at 128kb, 44.1khz. That's CD quality. If you record in .wav, we can convert it for you.
2. Remember that the slideshow will be exactly as long as your narration. So narrate like you were showing someone your photos. "In this photo you can see..."
3. We will adjust the timing of the photos based on your narration if it's fairly clear. Otherwise, we'll just run them linear.
4. If you're super-adventurous, let us know and we'll get all This American Life and mix in some background music. Ambient, Rockabilly, Lounge, who knows what you'll get.
5. Keep in mind that 250 words is about one minute when you read it.
6. Write your essay down and read it to yourself. If it takes more than 3 minutes, think about trimming it unless you have 10 or more photos to narrate.
7. Remember, we don't want to hear about the photos per se -- we want the story illustrated by the photos.
8. The story is everything.

For Photos, here are our suggestions:

1. Please size the photos to 750 pixels on the longest side.
2. Unfortunately, vertical shots just don't get as much real estate as horizontal shots. We'll work on fixing that.
3. Please name each photo clearly. If you want a caption, please let us know in the email.

For Text Narration, here are our suggestions:

1. One paragraph per photo seems to work well.
2. Not much of a list here, we're afraid.

Please also send us a bio including website URL and email address. If your art photo portfolio is chosen, we'll email you to send us an artist statement.