Photo guidelines
A quick set of rules screeners use when reviewing submissions. Photos that don’t meet these will be rejected with a reason, and you’re welcome to fix the issue and resubmit. If you’re ever unsure whether a shot fits, it’s usually fine to just upload it and let a screener take a look.
Realism & authenticity
Photos should look like something you could plausibly see with your own eyes in the real aviation world. Obvious sim glitches, clipping, broken textures, or free-cam/dev-mode artifacts that break immersion aren't accepted — shots should come from normal in-sim camera views, not exploited camera positions.
Watermark size
The AeroPhotos watermark is there to protect your work, not dominate it. If you keep it on, it must stay at a size and opacity that doesn't obstruct the aircraft or the main subject of the photo. Oversized or heavily opaque watermarks covering large parts of the aircraft will be rejected.
Aircraft framing
The full aircraft should generally fit within the frame — no wingtips, tail, or nose cut off by accident. Exceptions: intentional close-up/detail shots (nose shots, cockpit detail, engine detail, livery close-ups) where partial framing is clearly the point of the photo, not a mistake.
Camera angle & field of view
No unrealistic or exaggerated FOV (fisheye-style distortion, ultra-wide angles that warp the aircraft's proportions) and no angles that couldn't reasonably be achieved by a real photographer — e.g. camera positions inside terrain, underneath the runway, or at otherwise impossible vantage points.
Zoom & subject size
The aircraft should be a clear, identifiable subject in the frame — not a tiny speck lost in a wide landscape shot. Environmental/airport-scenery shots are their own thing and are fine, but a submission tagged as an aircraft photo needs the aircraft to actually be the visible subject.
Image quality
Photos should be reasonably sharp and well-exposed — not blurry, overly noisy, or so dark/bright that the aircraft is hard to make out. Heavy compression artifacts or very low native resolution (including upscaled images) should be avoided.
No visible UI or HUD
Sim menus, loading screens, HUD elements, addon toolbars, or other on-screen UI shouldn't be visible in the shot — unless it's explicitly a cockpit/instrument photo where that's the point of the image.
Nothing offensive
No offensive, hateful, or otherwise inappropriate content — in the photo itself, in liveries or paint jobs used, or in remarks/tags submitted alongside it.
No duplicates
Don't upload the same shot repeatedly with only trivial changes (a slightly different angle, a re-crop, a different watermark setting). Pick your best version and submit that one.
Minimal editing only
Color grading, sharpening, and cropping are all fine. What isn't fine is compositing — adding elements that weren't actually rendered in-sim, such as fake smoke, pasted-on liveries, or added scenery. The photo should represent what the simulator actually rendered.
Accurate tagging
Registration, aircraft type, airport, and other details should match what's actually shown in the photo. Screeners may correct obvious mistakes, but please double check before submitting.