How to contribute photos to BBC Science Focus Magazine

General photography

BBC Science Focus welcomes photographic submissions from amateurs and professionals alike to illustrate regular sections of the magazine, such as Discoveries and Q&A:

• If you would like to submit your images for our consideration, please make sure that you have first familiarised yourself with the magazine and the quality and type of photography we use.
• If yours are of a comparable standard then send an email with your best images as low res jpgs (under 1MB) to BBC Science Focus’s picture editor along with your full contact details.
• Unfortunately, due to the volume of correspondence we receive, we will not be able to acknowledge your submission, but we will view your images, assess their appropriateness for publication and keep them on file.
• Then, if an opportunity to publish them arises, we will contact you to request the high resolution versions and discuss terms of usage.

Photo stories

If you have considered all of the above, and have not just individual photos, but a large body of work making up a photo story that you would like to pitch, then here is some useful advice:

• Before you submit your idea, familiarise yourself with our usual photographic content and type of feature.
• Make sure your idea has not been covered recently by browsing our back issues.
• Ask yourself – which section of the magazine would your idea be most suitable for? What would the angle be? How would it surprise and delight our readers? When should we run it and why? If you can answer these questions, then your pitch has a greater chance of success.
• Then send an email, outlining your story idea in no more than one or two paragraphs (150 words), and covering the points above, to our picture editor.
• Attach 10-15 of your best shots that illustrate your story to the email as low res jpgs (no more than 1MB).
• Do not send high res images unless requested as these take too long to load and as a result may not be viewed.
• Unfortunately, due to the volume of correspondence we receive, we are not able to acknowledge or give feedback on unsolicited photo story pitches unless they are successful.
• If they are successful, you will be contacted to discuss the development of your idea and asked to send more photos.

Follow Science Focus on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Flipboard