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Freelance photography.

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lucasledge

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Hi, I'm looking to try some freelance photography out and I'm lucky to have such a great opportunity to talk to lots of professional photographers on here.

Whether you're professional or semi-professional I'd be grateful for any advice I can get from you.

I've read quite a few books about freelance photography but I'm still unclear as how the selling process works.

Is it a case of approaching a magazine by phone for example and asking what kind of photographs they're interested in? Or should you go out and take photographs with the intention to sell to a certain magazine, you then phone up and describe the photographs to see if they're interested? I may have this all wrong please correct me if I have.

Then you send the photograph(s) (do you send a whole CD even if it only has 1 photograph on it?) and they decide if they want it or not, if they want it they'll pay you?

Basically how is it best to sell my photographs? I have a book which is called The Freelance Photographers Market Handbook which gives me contact details of all magazines, newspapers ect that accept freelance photographs but I'm not sure how to approach them in the first place.
 
lucasledge said:
[snip]
I've read quite a few books about freelance photography but I'm still
unclear as how the selling process works.
Is it a case of approaching a magazine by phone for example and
asking what kind of photographs they're interested in? Or should you
go out and take photographs with the intention to sell to a certain
magazine, you then phone up and describe the photographs to see if
they're interested? I may have this all wrong please correct me if I
have.

Then you send the photograph(s) (do you send a whole CD even if it
only has 1 photograph on it?) and they decide if they want it or not,
if they want it they'll pay you?
[snip]
Click to expand...
Check out "2007 Photographers Market" published by Writer's Digest Books. [The 2008 edition will probably be out in September/October 2007.]

This book has good articles about running a freelance business, resources listings, and submission requirements for a large number of markets.

There are large listings for Consumer Publications, Newspapers & Newsletters, Trade Publications, Book Publishers, Greeting Cards/Posters/Etc., Stock Photo Agencies, and others.

In the magazine sections [consumer publications] each listed publication includes what they're looking for, submission requirements, how to contact them, and typical payments.

The book is available in many bookstores [Barnes & Noble carries it] and possibly in your local library.

Hope this helps.
 
Alright thank you very much I'll try those resources.

Do any of you mind sharing some of your experiences, methods of approaching clients that you have found to be most successful?
 
lucasledge said:
Is it a case of approaching a magazine by phone for example and
asking what kind of photographs they're interested in? Or should you
go out and take photographs with the intention to sell to a certain
magazine, you then phone up and describe the photographs to see if
they're interested? I may have this all wrong please correct me if I
have.
Click to expand...
Most magazines have a contract with you. They send you an assignment
or a request for a certain picture. The trend for this is for them to use
stock images which they can have a low cost from online suppliers.
Magazines that need work are local to your area and want to cover events,
or for you to do ad work. Possible is an image about an article they are
about to publish.
lucasledge said:
Then you send the photograph(s) (do you send a whole CD even if it
only has 1 photograph on it?) and they decide if they want it or not,
if they want it they'll pay you?
Click to expand...
Under your contract with a magazine, they will give you an FTP folder
on their server and you upload to their specs.
lucasledge said:
Basically how is it best to sell my photographs? I have a book which
is called The Freelance Photographers Market Handbook which gives me
contact details of all magazines, newspapers ect that accept
freelance photographs but I'm not sure how to approach them in the
first place.
Click to expand...
The magazine is in control of that. They set the rates and other details. You
accept or not. Remember, they have millions and millions of stock image
a click away, so photographers have sort of done their job already and the
magazines are working with images taken long ago. It is the current events
images that they can't find in stock that leaves a small window for freelance.

For example, business journals or lifestyle magazines need a current picture
of some CEO. The may have a person on staff and/or a list of freelance
contractors. Their staff pro gets enough to keep busy and they contract out
the overflow to freelance.

Pay can vary. You get fees for what is published. There is some networking
to be found and you should set up a studio where you can handle any
network connected jobs. I may do a CEO for a magazine and then chat them
up for a family portrait in our studio. The magazine sends you out for one
job and its up to you to expand that into networked jobs.

good luck.
 
Ok thank you very much for that. But you are only talking about assignments and contracts with magazines; surely you can sell individual images or sets of images to clients.

A lot of magazines won't just buy stock images all the time or they may not even use stock at all. I'll keep in mind about getting assignments with clients but I doubt when starting out I'd be able to get many so I'm looking at selling a few of my photographs to get going first.

Can you give me some advice on that at all?

Are there any freelancers on here, would you mind sharing from your experience, if you could that would be great?
 
The first thing to think about is "Quality" there are a lot of other people out there wanting to do the same as you so if you want to be remembered yours has to be better than theirs, I have been with picture editors when they receive images and heard their comments, rubbish, boring, too light, too dark, too low resolution, not sharp etc.

Decide on your area of interest and buy the magazines, they will give you an idea of the type and style of images that are used, this will also give you the picture editors name and e-mail address, the rest is up to you.
regards,
Bruce.
 
Yes good points there Bruce thanks, so are you saying I should contact the editors first to see exactly what they're looking for, go out and take the pictures then send them off to them?

I'm in the UK by the way, maybe I should have mentioned that earlier, so things like posting to anywhere in the country is no problem (I don't know how the mail service works in the US).

Is there a good place to start freelancing? I just need that bit of trading experience and then I'll be a lot clearer about where to go from there.
 
I've done a bit of freelancing in the UK. If you learn to write, then you can supply magazines with complete packages ready to publish - photos and words. This make it so much easier for the editor. They don't have to source the words to go with the pictures or the pictures to go with the words - it's all there. I think I have only ever had one such package fail to make it into printed form. In fact , increasingly I am writing articles with no pictures.

What magazine to you approach first? Go with waht you know. If you know about dogs, go for that market. If you know about model railways, then that is the obvious place to start. Don't forget subscription only magazines, they are a good market - but you won't find out about them in W H Smiths.
--
Greg

When you've got a moment, have a look at my newly updated site:
http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk
also http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk/FromeInFocus

And now the blog: http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk/blog

Winner of the South West Rural section of the BBC's Picture of Britain Competition.
 
When you have all the picture editors e-mail addresses covering the publications in your area of interest then look in the local papers to see what events are on, then send them an e-mail saying you are considering going to these various events and would they be interested in a picture from one of them.

If you get a positive responce get some pictures come rain or shine and send one by e-mail asap, I would suggest having some webspace (No ads or slideshows) where you can load the rest for them to see and they must load quickly or editors won't bother to look, If they want any of them you will be told how to send them.
Always remember to caption the pictures, who, when, where and what.
Regards,
Bruce.
U.K.
 
I'm going to sound like a right old man now but heed these words.

Before you send anything to anyone "on-spec" you need to have an idea of what YOU are charging for it. Its YOUR product. Don't let the mags dictate the prices. They'll start off at £10....honest.

Approach pic eds with lo-res WATERMARKED media first. If they want to run your images then send in the hi-res AFTER you have negotiated the price.

You're ib the UK. See this guide for suggested fees for images from the NUJ:

http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/photo.html

Remember these are all negotiable but give a good idea of whether some wise pic-ed seeing you as wet behind the ears is going to try and lowball you hoping you'll accept it. Some extremely cheeky mags only offer "a Credit" which you should laugh at and ask them if they work for free too.....

Also you sell to magazines for a ONE TIME REPRO FEE - i.e. one use in one edition. Whatever you do do not give them your copyright (some will ask for this) as that's like selling them your house for the cost of one week's rent and you lose that image and the ability to sell it elsewhere forever.

As far as material goes. You need to study the magazine you are targetting and shoot similar styles for them. Don't just pick some old file off your hard drive and try and flog it in. It will get much more attention if the image is targetted to the style of the publication.

Good luck, its a tough tough market. Photojournalism is dying on its ass and stock images are more plentiful than ever. Make sure what you have is unique, well produced and negotiate hard....

Good luck!

PP
 
Staxis said:
I've done a bit of freelancing in the UK. If you learn to write,
then you can supply magazines with complete packages ready to publish
  • photos and words. This make it so much easier for the editor.
They don't have to source the words to go with the pictures or the
pictures to go with the words - it's all there. I think I have only
ever had one such package fail to make it into printed form. In fact
, increasingly I am writing articles with no pictures.
What magazine to you approach first? Go with waht you know. If you
know about dogs, go for that market. If you know about model
railways, then that is the obvious place to start. Don't forget
subscription only magazines, they are a good market - but you won't
find out about them in W H Smiths.
--
Greg

When you've got a moment, have a look at my newly updated site:
http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk
also http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk/FromeInFocus

And now the blog: http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk/blog

Winner of the South West Rural section of the BBC's Picture of
Britain Competition.
Click to expand...
Alright thank you very much do you think it's a good idea to ask if they are interested in what your intending to do first, or is it possible to do your work (having selected who you might intend selling it to) and then phone up those people to see if they're interested?
 
williams-pics said:
When you have all the picture editors e-mail addresses covering the
publications in your area of interest then look in the local papers
to see what events are on, then send them an e-mail saying you are
considering going to these various events and would they be
interested in a picture from one of them.
If you get a positive responce get some pictures come rain or shine
and send one by e-mail asap, I would suggest having some webspace (No
ads or slideshows) where you can load the rest for them to see and
they must load quickly or editors won't bother to look, If they want
any of them you will be told how to send them.
Always remember to caption the pictures, who, when, where and what.
Regards,
Bruce.
U.K.
Click to expand...
That is some very good advice there, thank you. You mention webspace, other than having your own website is there another good method to have your images easily accessible on the net and if I were to get my own website can you recommend a place to go?
 
lucasledge said:
Alright thank you very much do you think it's a good idea to ask if
they are interested in what your intending to do first, or is it
possible to do your work (having selected who you might intend
selling it to) and then phone up those people to see if they're
interested?
Click to expand...
It is worth getting in touch first. It can save wasted effort. But submitting on spec does work.

--
Greg

When you've got a moment, have a look at my newly updated site:
http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk
also http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk/FromeInFocus

And now the blog: http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk/blog

Winner of the South West Rural section of the BBC's Picture of Britain Competition.
 
lucasledge said:
Alright thank you very much do you think it's a good idea to ask if
they are interested in what your intending to do first, or is it
possible to do your work (having selected who you might intend
selling it to) and then phone up those people to see if they're
interested?
Click to expand...
You could try but if you get to the event only to find someone else is already there it may be too late to go elsewhere, my advice is to try and get a picture editor interested before you go anywhere that way you stand a chance of being paid.

Also take pictures of everthing that moves even if its not relevant to that event, they may be useful at a later date.

Regards,
Bruce.
 
ProPhotographer said:
I'm going to sound like a right old man now but heed these words.

Before you send anything to anyone "on-spec" you need to have an idea
of what YOU are charging for it. Its YOUR product. Don't let the
mags dictate the prices. They'll start off at £10....honest.

Approach pic eds with lo-res WATERMARKED media first. If they want
to run your images then send in the hi-res AFTER you have negotiated
the price.

You're ib the UK. See this guide for suggested fees for images from
the NUJ:

http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/photo.html

Remember these are all negotiable but give a good idea of whether
some wise pic-ed seeing you as wet behind the ears is going to try
and lowball you hoping you'll accept it. Some extremely cheeky mags
only offer "a Credit" which you should laugh at and ask them if they
work for free too.....

Also you sell to magazines for a ONE TIME REPRO FEE - i.e. one use in
one edition. Whatever you do do not give them your copyright (some
will ask for this) as that's like selling them your house for the
cost of one week's rent and you lose that image and the ability to
sell it elsewhere forever.

As far as material goes. You need to study the magazine you are
targetting and shoot similar styles for them. Don't just pick some
old file off your hard drive and try and flog it in. It will get
much more attention if the image is targetted to the style of the
publication.

Good luck, its a tough tough market. Photojournalism is dying on its
ass and stock images are more plentiful than ever. Make sure what
you have is unique, well produced and negotiate hard....

Good luck!

PP
Click to expand...
Sounds like a man with experience in the field thank you.

Worth letting them quote you a price first and then negotiating though? In the Freelance Market Handbook suggested fees for most mags are given.

Do you reckon the way to do things is to go out and take the photographs specifically to sell to a certain magazine or magazines and then get in contact to see if they are interested in them? Do you think they'll often ask to see them low res through an email first?
 
Thanks Staxis and Bruce, I'm thinking I'm probably going to have to span a lot of different parts of the market to make a decent amount of money, I can't just attempt to create beautiful landscape shots for ever. I wonder how photographers who get their photographs in newspapers work; do we have any of those kinds of people on here?

I would also like to photograph professional sports events, probably not to begin with but does anyone know how I could do that? How do you get the press passes for football matches for example?
 
lucasledge said:
Sounds like a man with experience in the field thank you.

Worth letting them quote you a price first and then negotiating
though? In the Freelance Market Handbook suggested fees for most mags
are given.

Do you reckon the way to do things is to go out and take the
photographs specifically to sell to a certain magazine or magazines
and then get in contact to see if they are interested in them? Do you
think they'll often ask to see them low res through an email first?
Click to expand...
Either way have your price in your head first (which is why I gave a link to the recommended fees for stock images link) so if you think A and they say C then maybe you can meet at B. The business side of pro photography is all about negotiation which is where so many people fall over at the first hurdle. Magazines may have set rates but if you have excellent material they want they will move on price. Been there and done it myself though I don't "sell in" nowadays I just shoot stock and submit to libraries and let them do the selling.

You'll certainly get best results by shooting for specific magazines and emulating their style or picking the mags that resemble your style. I agree with the earlier poster though; far easier to sell-in a feature (words & pics) than random images alone even if they are themed.

Yep most pic eds won;t want 20Mb of feature emailed over or CD'd in to them. They'll want to see whether you've got something they are interested in which is why emailing a lo-res watermarked set in is beneficial to both parties. They get to see what you've got, and you haven't released the goods without payment.

PP
 
ProPhotographer said:
ProPhotographer said:
Sounds like a man with experience in the field thank you.

Worth letting them quote you a price first and then negotiating
though? In the Freelance Market Handbook suggested fees for most mags
are given.

Do you reckon the way to do things is to go out and take the
photographs specifically to sell to a certain magazine or magazines
and then get in contact to see if they are interested in them? Do you
think they'll often ask to see them low res through an email first?
Click to expand...
Either way have your price in your head first (which is why I gave a
link to the recommended fees for stock images link) so if you think
A and they say C then maybe you can meet at B. The business side of
pro photography is all about negotiation which is where so many
people fall over at the first hurdle. Magazines may have set rates
but if you have excellent material they want they will move on price.
Been there and done it myself though I don't "sell in" nowadays I
just shoot stock and submit to libraries and let them do the selling.

You'll certainly get best results by shooting for specific magazines
and emulating their style or picking the mags that resemble your
style. I agree with the earlier poster though; far easier to sell-in
a feature (words & pics) than random images alone even if they are
themed.

Yep most pic eds won;t want 20Mb of feature emailed over or CD'd in
to them. They'll want to see whether you've got something they are
interested in which is why emailing a lo-res watermarked set in is
beneficial to both parties. They get to see what you've got, and you
haven't released the goods without payment.

PP
Click to expand...
Alright great PP, I feel a bit more 'in the know' now.

Since you say you shoot stock and submit to libraries could you tell me a little about that and how that works please? I'm considering shooting some stock to supplement the freelancing are there any good agencies to work with, do you know what kind of images they want or how many? Just any information you can give would be very helpful, thanks.
 
Editors are often amused, angered or puzzled (or all three) when photographers try to sell them photos or obtain a shooting gig without ever reading the magazine.

Before approaching a publication - you should have in-depth knowledge of the type of photos or photographically illustrated articles that they use.

Libraries and the internet are great resources to research magazines.
--

Retired Navy Master Chief Photographer's Mate. I was a Combat Cameraman, Motion Picture Director, and a Naval Aircrewman. I also had experience in reconnaissance and intelligence photography. I have had considerable commercial photo experience in weddings and advertising photography. I am fully retired now although I dabble occasionally in dog portraiture. I presently use Canon DSLR cameras.
 
True, thanks.

So I'm hoping to get in contact with some magazines tomorrow, are there any more tips you can give me for making contact and being successful?

What should I send them if they ask for something to be sent, a CD, a covering letter.... what else?
 
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