Thread: photography and magazine publishing

Hi all, I am preparing to submit queries to a couple of magazines but wanted to get some opinions from people that have published. It sounds as if you pretty much basically have to have photographs if you want to be taken seriously. Do you all find this to be true? If so, what do you do? Do you fork out some cash for a slightly below average photographer? Go spend money on the equipment for a camera that can produce the high quality images demanded by magazines? I used to be into photography (so do have the skills) but don't have a camera nor the money to buy a nice one.... I would really love some opinions here.

Peace, Quigs

p.s., I am not a writer by trade; this is totally new to me. I finished grad school in biology last summer...now I'm bored but I had always wanted to write. Now I have the time and I have been toying around with various essays, blogs, and ideas for magazine articles; my writing area in terms of magazines would be in yoga, earth/eco-friendly writings and prose, vegetarian issues, organic farming... and more...nice to meet you all

I really don't have much experience with publishing, photography, or magazines.

I know this is an old thread, but why would you think you need photgraphs to write?

[quote=quignov]Hi all, I am preparing to submit queries to a couple of magazines but wanted to get some opinions from people that have published. It sounds as if you pretty much basically have to have photographs if you want to be taken seriously. Do you all find this to be true? >

Hi Quigs,

Absolutely not....I've been writing for over 25 years now (yikes) and only once have provided photos. Of course, it depends on what you're writing, but unless it's something like a huge travel article, most editors find their own photos.

In general, also, it's easier to start locally with a small publication if you can.

Good luck!

bobbi c.
http://www.earthlygarden.com
http://www.bobbichukran.com

I do a lot of writing for online publications, I also do a lot of review writing for live acts and such. As far as those two pursuits are concerned, it has been my experience that doubling as a photographer helps a lot. If you're interested in feature writing or anything like that, however, the publication (if it has any credibility or budget) should be able to provide their own photographer or be able to afford stock images.

If you find you do need images however, I highly recommend taking them yourself if you feel you have the skills. My experience with cheap photographers is that you get what you pay for, if that. It isn't nessesary however to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a camera. Many new digital point-and-shoot cameras are 6megapixel+ which should be more than sufficient (I do photography for a newspaper with a Nikon D70s, which is a 6 megapixel SLR, and can easily blow up images to take up a full page). My recommendation would be to go for a Sony point-and-shoot. Great, small digital cameras with a solid 6 megapixel count that don't attract the attention that SLRs get at events.