Get your photography sorted!
I want to share some photography tips with you today. Not the obvious, technical ones that you can find anywhere on the net. But the ones that deal with what kind of pictures the editors are after.
Why? Don’t we all know what a good pictures looks like?
Well, I suppose that most of us do. However, not all of us realise what type of travel picture is the type that makes it to the press.
Great travel photographs should make the viewer want to be PART OF the picture.
A few common mistakes:
- Photographing people from behind because you can’t pick up the guts to ask them to pose for you.
- Photographing lots of lovely landscapes, but nothing with people interest. (that’s ok for a nature magazine, not a woman’s mag)
- Submitting photos of people that the target audience of the publication can’t relate to.
- Not getting the names and details of the people you’ve photographed.
- Photographing people and places, but no details. Remember things you can buy, eat and smell.
- Photographing people out of context. You will have to move your ‘models’ around to make sure they have a suitable background which adds to the story of the picture.
Ok. I think I’m done with the DON’Ts. This is a short and sweet post. I think that if you take your time reading through what travel editors are NOT looking for, it becomes pretty self explanatory what they are looking for.
Please let me know if you want me to paint it in pictures rather than plain text. For example – point 5 could look something like this:
Details, details, details. I promise you - travel editors love them!
More travel journalism DIY tips can be found in part one of our series which focuses on how to make money as a freelance travel journalist.
Part two is for those of you who are not sure whether you are travel bloggers or travel journalists.
Part three reveals a trick or two about how to write about the essence of a place. A must have skill for all travel writers!
