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.