1. Read the instructions for submitting images.

2. Follow those instructions – yes they do apply to you.

If the instructions say “300 dpi (dots per inch) and A4 size”, that effectively means that the image will be printed at 210 x 297mm (8.3 x 11.7 inch).

The longest edge therefore has to be 11.7 X 300, which is 3510 pixels along the longest side.

3. Make sure the eyes are in crystal-clear focus. No, I can’t fix this for you in Photoshop.

4. Make sure you can see the animal, and that there is nothing in the way between you and them. Being behind a fence does not cut it, and no, my Photoshop skills aren’t up to that either. This may seem like to be a ridiculously obvious rule, but a potential cover-photographer once sent me a small out-of-focus sheep behind a wire fence, and actually suggested that I could fix it in Photoshop.

5. Make sure your image is the sort of thing the journal or magazine can actually publish. Many years ago our cattle journal cover featured a proud veterinary father holding up his ecstatic four-year-old son who was obviously having the time of his life, being given an early lesson in how to do pregnancy diagnosis, with his arm in the back end of a cow. At least he was wearing a glove.  When I showed the published photo to our communications manager, she just put her head in her hands, moaning, “No, no, no!” So, think Occupational Health and Safety, Insurance, DOCS (Department of Child Safety), professional best practice etc etc!…..

6. Make sure that you have the permission of the owner/landholder etc if it is a recognisable animal or private property. To me, this is a bit of a grey area – photoshopping out an ear tag number is one option if you have no idea where you took the image.

7. Make sure that you don’t upset or harm any animal. I very rarely use a flash, and if an animal starts to get upset, then I stop, because I firmly think that we are taking photos to show the best that we can do in animal welfare, not hold an animal down or back it terrified into a corner just to get a photo.

8. And last but by no means least, don’t get eaten! I updated my CV recently, and my son suggested as a skill, “Absurd courage in chasing down lions for an image.” So please don’t do what I sometimes do, but think safety first.