Standard Upload Guidelines
These guidelines explain what MaritimePhotos.com accepts for normal single-photo uploads, what may be rejected, and how to give your photo the best chance of approval.
What we accept
- Maritime photographs with a clear shipping, vessel, harbour, port, RNLI, workboat, ferry, cruise or related marine subject.
- Photographs you took yourself, and which you have the right to upload and license.
- Reasonably sharp, properly exposed, correctly rotated, and sensibly edited images.
- Photos with useful information completed, especially vessel name, category, sub-category, location and photo date.
What may be rejected
Quality issues
- Soft or out-of-focus images
- Heavy noise or compression damage
- Over-sharpening or halos
- Very dark or badly blown highlights
- Poor cropping that cuts off the subject awkwardly
Content / data issues
- Wrong vessel name or wrong category
- Missing or misleading location/date information
- Duplicate uploads of the same photo
- Uploads you do not own the rights to
- Images unrelated to the site’s maritime focus
Editing standards
- Basic editing is fine: crop, straighten, exposure correction, dust removal, colour correction and mild sharpening.
- Please avoid excessive HDR, over-saturated colours, fake skies, heavy AI alterations, or anything that materially changes the scene.
- Watermarks added by MaritimePhotos are handled by the site. Do not upload images already heavily stamped with large intrusive branding.
Keep it clean and natural. A premium photo site usually looks strongest when the editing is polished but believable.
Required information
- Photo file
- Main category and sub-category
- Vessel name
- Location / port
- Country
- Photo date
IMO and MMSI are optional, but highly recommended where known.
Copyright and legal
- You must only upload photos you created yourself or have clear permission to upload.
- By uploading, you confirm you have the right to display the image on MaritimePhotos.com.
- You remain responsible for the accuracy of your submissions and any rights issues arising from them.
- Do not upload stolen, copied, scraped, or AI-generated images pretending to be original photography.
Duplicate and repeat uploads
- Please do not upload the exact same image more than once.
- Near-duplicates from the same burst or almost identical edit may also be declined.
- If in doubt, choose the strongest frame.
Best practice before uploading
- Check horizon and verticals
- Make sure the vessel is correctly identified
- Use the right category and sub-category
- Confirm the location format looks sensible
- Use the correct photo date, ideally from EXIF
- Review the image at full size before submitting
