We're looking for a few good pictures from a few good contractors. However, we would be willing to accept a lot of good pictures from a lot of good contractors.

In this week's issue, you will notice an article by Nicholas Bronsen titled "Digital Cameras: A Great Business Tool." It's a different kind of article to be seen in The News, perhaps, but no less informative, we hope. In a world that has become increasingly more like "Star Trek" and less like "Leave It To Beaver," we find ourselves carrying more gadgets than ever before. According to Bronsen, more people in the HVAC industry are carrying and using digital cameras on the job.

In the last few years, we've seen cell phones, text messaging pagers, and cameras combined into one convenient gadget - and don't forget, it might even serve as your alarm clock each morning.

The point is, we are hearing of many more reasons for contracting companies to have at least one or two cameras around the office for that occasional Kodak moment. You know - the moment when you want to show your customer a picture of that cracked pipe instead of asking them to crawl through the mechanical room. Or, the moment when you wish your customer could actually see how dirty the inside of the duct system appears. Yes, cameras sure do come in handy.

Put Your Shutterbug To Work

We would like to put your camera and photography skills to good use. Occasionally, our readers send us unique photographs of things they have seen on a jobsite. We would like to invite you to send in action photographs of people servicing equipment, along with a descriptive caption. If your photograph is selected to run in The News, we will send you a check for $50. And, of course, any pictures that are used will carry your name in the caption credit.

Don't worry if you are a professional HVAC veteran, but only a rookie photographer. It's easy. The best photos for print are those that are real and natural instead of staged and phony. The only catch is to remember to set your digital camera on the highest-quality settings.

When submitting photos for consideration, use the following guidelines. In most cases, the art director can convert graphic files to be large enough for print publication. Final converted size should have a resolution of 300 dpi and be at least 5 inches wide for vertical shots, or at least 7 inches wide for horizontal shots. In general, the larger the picture, the better. JPG files are best to submit. If you would like a complete copy of The News' "Digital Art Spec Sheet," visit www.achrnews.com and click on "How To Submit a Press Release to The News."

Send your entries to mikemurphy@achrnews.com. We will notify you if your photograph has been chosen to appear in the magazine.

Mike Murphy is editor-in-chief. He can be reached at 248-244-6446, 248-244-2905 (fax), or mikemurphy@achrnews.com.

Publication date: 08/08/2005