Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/textfile/travfree.zip/PHOTO.TXT

Text File | 1993-09-06 | 16KB | 289 lines

      The photojournalism angle: a picture can be
          worth a free trip

               Your attic is probably filled with photo
          albums...which in turn are filled with hundreds of
          photographs taken during your world
          travels...pictures of the Great Wall in China, the
          Tower of London, a tiny church in Dubrovnik, sunset
          over the Greek Isles, the tidy, white houses that
          line the hills of the island of Madeira, the Swiss
          Alps in winter, a lone fisherman on the Spey River
          in Scotland...
               And some of your photographs aren't half-bad.
          In fact, there are two or three that you're quite
          proud of. They're at least as good as those photos
          you see every month decorating the pages of your
          favorite travel magazines.
               So what are your travel photographs doing
          hidden away in the attic? Pull them out, dust them
          off, and put them to good use. Those old
          photographs could pay for your next overseas
          adventure.

          Becoming a free-lance photographer
               The editors of travel magazines and
          newsletters are always looking for good travel
          photographs. Many employ staff photographers whose
          job it is to travel the globe, tripods, lenses, and
          cameras in tow, in search of the perfect shot.
               Travel publications also employ free-lance
          photographers. Some of these free-lancers work on
          assignment; their editors tell them where to go,
          what to take pictures of, when the photos will be
          published, and how much they will be paid. These
          are professional photographers with years of
          experience.
               But not all free-lance travel photographers
          work on assignment. It is possible for amateur
          photographers to have their photos published. All
          it takes is a contact, a little persistence, a good
          photograph, and a bit of luck.
               If you have never been published as a travel
          photographer, your chances of receiving a photo
          assignment from the editor of a travel magazine are
          slim and none. But your chances of being published
          depend on how hard you are willing to work at it.
               It is best to make contact with the editors
          you're interested in working with before you depart
          for your trip. Contact as many as you can think of
          to increase your chances of making a sale.
               Begin with a letter of introduction. Explain
          that you are an amateur photographer, who is
          planning to go on safari in Kenya for two weeks.
          Explain also what kind of camera and equipment you
          will be using. Offer specific suggestions on photos
          you plan to take.
               Follow up on this letter with a phone call.
          You may not be able to get through to the editor
          personally. Try the art director or an editorial
          assistant. Ask if the publication uses free-lance
          photographers and how much they are paid. Also ask
          if the art director prefers color photos or black
          and white, slides or prints. Request photographer's
          guidelines and a sample issue of the publication
          and offer to contact the editor or his  assistant
          again when you return from your trip.
               The photographer's guidelines and the sample
          issues will give you a good idea of what kind of
          photographs each publication is looking for. This,
          of course, is what you also should be looking for
          while you're riding through Kenya's game parks in
          the back of a jeep.
               When you return home, develop your photos,
          choose one or two of the best, and send them off,
          in a padded envelope, with a cover letter, to each
          of the editors you contacted prior to your trip. Do
          not send more than one or two; most publications do
          not take responsibility for returning unsolicited
          material, and you probably will never see your
          photos again. In your letter, explain that these
          are only a sample of what you have available and
          that you would be happy to send additional
          photographs if the editor is interested.
               Follow up with another telephone call. In this
          game, persistence is the key. Editors receive
          unsolicited photos and letters from photographers
          every day. Editors buy photos from those
          photographers who make themselves stand out from
          the crowd.

          Making the sale
               The editor of Travel & Leisure is planning an
          issue devoted to Africa, and your photograph of the
          sunset behind Lake Bogoria in Kenya is one of the
          best he's ever seen. He calls and says he would
          like to use it and that he would also like to see
          all the other photos you took during your trip.
               Your first question should be, "How much am I
          going to be paid?" This varies tremendously,
          depending on the publication; it can range anywhere
          from $50 to $500 per photograph. Your next
          question should concern rights of ownership. Do you
          retain all rights or does the publication assume
          rights of ownership with purchase? If you retain
          the rights to your photo (as you should if at all
          possible), you can sell it again to someone else.
               You will be sent a contract to sign, verifying
          the photograph to be purchased, the fee, the
          question of rights, and the date of publication.
          Payment may be upon acceptance of the photograph or
          upon publication, again depending on the magazine.
               All it takes is one sale. Thereafter, you are
          no longer an amateur; you are a professional
          photographer. It may not be enough to get you an
          assignment from the travel editor of The New York
          Times, but it will help when next you contact the
          editor of your local paper.

          Tips on how to make it work
               It is possible to pay for your travel by
          selling your travel photographs. But, to be honest,
          it isn't easy. Travel editors buy only a small
          percentage of the number of photos and queries they
          receive.
               Why do they choose one photo over another?
               Of course, the first concern is quality. Is
          the picture clear and in focus? Is there enough
          contrast? These are the basic requirements for any
          photograph to be considered by any editor anywhere.
          But to make a sale, your photo has to offer much
          more than the basics. It should be different.
          Unique. It should provide a feeling of the place
          without being a cliche. Snapshots of the Arc de
          Triomphe are a dime a dozen. Yes, they give you a
          feeling of Paris, but it is a feeling of Paris for
          the tourist.  You'll get much further with a photo
          that conveys the feeling of Paris for the Parisian.
               How many photos you have to sell to pay for
          your travel depends on where you sell them. A
          single photograph sold to Travel & Leisure probably
          will cover all the expenses of your trip -- and
          then some. If you're dealing with smaller
          publications with tighter budgets, you'll have to
          sell several to make it worthwhile.

          Can you write?
               Of course, the editors of travel magazines and
          newsletters are also always in the market for good
          travel articles. They depend on staff writers for
          much of their material, but they also depend
          heavily on free-lance writers, both professional
          and amateur, to fill their pages.
               Selling the story of your recent adventure
          bicycling through Holland is handled in much the
          same way as selling the photographs you took of the
          famed cheese carriers of Gouda. You must query as
          many editors as you can name (the secret of paying
          for your travel as a free-lance writer is lining up
          as many assignments as possible for each trip you
          take), follow up with telephone calls, and request
          writer's guidelines and sample issues to give you
          an idea of each publication's focus and style.
               In the case of the free-lance writer, however,
          the query is much more important than for the free-
          lance photographer. Your query must show that you
          can write. That you have a good command of
          language. And that you have something to say. You
          want to tantalize and tempt. The letter of query is
          the free-lance journalist's strongest marketing
          tool. It must sell the editor, both on the article
          idea and on the writer's ability.
               In addition, the query should be as specific
          as you can make it. The editor you are addressing
          reads dozens of queries every day. Your offer to
          write an article on Britain will be tossed
          immediately in the nearest waste-paper basket. But
          your offer to tell that editor's readers about a
          driving tour through the Peak District of
          Derbyshire, the first national park to be
          designated in the country, will likely catch his
          attention.
               Once he's hooked, tease him further by
          mentioning Melbourne Hall, in the southeast corner
          of the Peak District, which boasts one of Britain's
          most outstanding formal gardens, laid out in the
          manner of Le Notre's design for Versailles...or
          Speedwell Cavern, also in this region, where a boat
          takes you on a subterranean canal tour of the
          ancient lead mines...or the ruins of Peveril
          Castle, high above the village of Castleton,
          situated in the northwest corner of the Peak
          District and immortalized in Sir Walter Scott's
          Peveril of the Peak.
               If your query does its job, you will be
          rewarded with a letter of interest -- perhaps even
          a letter of assignment. With this in your pocket,
          you're ready to take off on your trip.
               While traveling, keep copious notes and
          collect all the brochures and literature you can
          get your hands on. When you return home, sit down
          at your word processor and go at it. Then package
          your manuscript with a cover letter and send it
          off.
               Your work is done. You've nothing left to do
          but sit back and wait for payment.

          The writer's edge
               The free-lance writer has an edge over the
          free-lance photographer. Rarely do editors
          advertise for photographers for short-term
          assignments, but editors advertise frequently for
          writers. One of the best places to look for
          specific writing assignments is the TravelWriter
          MarketLetter, published by Robert Scott Milne.
          Contact him at the Waldorf-Astoria, Suite 1850, New
          York, NY 10022. A one-year subscription to the
          newsletter is $60 in the United States, $70
          overseas. Each issue lists travel publications
          across the United States that are looking for
          articles on specific topics. Information is
          included on how long the article should be,
          payment, and rights.
               In addition, the TravelWriter MarketLetter
          also  includes information on trips that are
          available free to writers traveling on assignment.
          To apply for one of these free trips (recent
          offerings have included free stays at the Hotel
          Metropole, a five-star hotel in Geneva, a free ride
          on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, and a
          complimentary stay at the Seiont Manor Hotel near
          the Isle of Anglesey in Wales), you must have a
          letter of assignment from the editor of a travel
          publication. If you have never been published
          before, this will be difficult to arrange. But if
          you can produce even one clip (or copy of an
          article you have had published), and you can
          convince the editor that you know how to write, you
          have a good chance of getting your letter.

          Other sources
               Once you've exhausted the listings in the
          TravelWriter MarketLetter, visit your local
          newsstand and pick up the latest issues of all
          internationally oriented magazines and newspapers.
          The classified sections of these publications are
          usually filled with listings for free-lance travel
          writers.
               Publications to try include The New York
          Times, New York, NY 10108; the International Herald
          Tribune, Box 309, 36 Long Acre, London WC2E 9JH,
          England; and The Sunday Times, 200 Gray's Inn Road,
          London, England.  Other good markets are in-flight
          magazines, and you should check with airlines serving
          the destination you are covering for the editorial
          addresses of their inflight publications.

          Never let a story die
               Suppose you travel this summer to the island
          of Bermuda with your two young daughters. You
          arrange to sell two pieces when you return: one on
          the most affordable lodgings on the island, the
          other reviewing the island's many first-class
          restaurants. You earn $250 for each article and
          pack your notes from the trip away in the attic.
               Two years from now, go back up to the attic
          and pull your notes out again. Send out another
          batch of query letters. What you'll find is that
          the new editor of Caribbean Travel & Life is
          looking for a piece on family travel and would like
          you to write a piece titled "Ten ways to amuse your
          children on the island of Bermuda." And he's
          willing to pay you $300, bringing the total
          income for the trip up to $800.

          And it's tax-free, to boot
               If you can manage to sell one photograph or
          one travel article as a result of your trip, you
          can deduct all your costs -- airfare, hotel,
          transportation, meals, even sightseeing -- from
          your taxes as a business expense (in most
          countries).
               In others you must apportion your time and
          expense between business and personal.  For help
          with this, talk to your lawyer or accountant.