Pictures they say are worth a thousand words, but many writers
know that they are worth much more than that!
Without decent photographs or other artwork to accompany an
article many features published in todays magazines and
newspapers would never see the light of day, so it makes sense
to try and supply illustrations along with your submissions.
Last month’s article gave some tips and advice on how to improve
your camera wielding technique so click here if you missed it.
This month we’re going to look at how photographs can spark off
ideas for features and other writing opportunities which means
taking the slightly unusual step of writing the article around
the picture rather than finding photographs to illustrate the
article.
So let’s begin with the hanged man. Who on earth is that and
what does he have to do with writing or photography? Not much
really, but he makes a nice analogy. The hanged man from the
Tarot card deck for those not familiar with this form of
divination, is the only card in the major arcana which is the
right way up when it shows the hanged man upside down!
Although he is bound and beset by problems and troubles he has
taken the bold step of considering the world and his options
from an alternative view point which is what exchanging our
computers and pens for a camera can do for us.
A good method of doing this is to set yourself a couple of
themes. What these themes are depend on you and your interests,
but let’s suppose you chose “chimneys” and “dogs”.
Both of these are common enough to ensure plenty of subject
matter and you should be able to find enough examples whether
you are a town or country dweller. Don’t forget to take plenty
of film with you, (or spare batteries and flash cards for
digital cameras), and most importantly! A pen and notebook!
A couple of hours wandering the streets gazing skywards at smoke
blackened chimney stacks or staring fixedly at the local canine
Romeo plighting his troth to Lady Muck’s prize Saluki might earn
you a few odd looks from the neighbours, but with a bit of luck
and determination on your part could also add a few pennies to
the coffers as well.
The trick is to take plenty of snaps, a doddle if you’ve got a
digital camera as you’ll only be printing off the shots you want
to keep. If not, well you can often get cheap film from your
local dealer’s bargain box. The developing costs you’ll have to
take on the chin, unless there’s a special offer running.
The next stage is to examine what you’ve got. This is a bit like
a deep sea fisherman trawling for cod. Your net is not very
discriminating and you’ll find a lot of sprats and mackerels
amongst your “catch”. You may not actually have any photographs
worthy of publication, but you will almost certainly have ideas
and if this means that you will have to go out again armed with
your camera to shoot appropriate illustrations, then so be it!
Let’s assume you do have a fair amount of reasonable
photographs. What sort of article could you write around these
subjects? Well of course this will depend very much on what is
actually in the photographs, but let’s go back to our
neighbourhood Romeo. A few ideas you could pursue are the
problems of stray dogs and irresponsible dog owners, owners that
resemble their dogs, (or other pets), where to responsibly
exercise the town dog, dogs at work, get the idea?
The chimney photographs may suggest a feature on ornate chimney
pots,Victorian potters, (many were often made locally), the
local chimney sweep, the history of a particular house or row
and the characters associated with them, Santa and problem
chimney stacks, (or lack of them!).
The photographs themselves will spark ideas, but you don’t have
to stop at newspaper or magazine features. Good animal, nature
and landscape shots may also find a market with greeting card
manufacturers and if you can write the sentiments to accompany
them so much the better.
In fact, once you build up a collection of quality photographs
your options increase all the time, not only in providing
illustrations for your own articles, but as stand alone sales to
newspapers which for the new comer, is one of the easiest
markets to break into.
Our canine Romeo for instance could just make an editor’s day as
an alternative and humorous slant on Valentine’s day. Now
there’s an idea! How about a feature on love in the animal
kingdom? Just the thing for next year’s Valentine’s day!
Finally, a word of caution. Do be careful when taking
photographs. Many people consider it a breach of privacy having
their photographs taken without asking and may not relish being
splashed across the front page of the local rag.
You need to be even more cautious when photographing children.
They of course make excellent subjects but sadly your motives
can easily be misconstrued. If you want to cover a local sports
day, school fair or play always obtain permission from the
school first.
When you arrive at the event, make a point of letting the head
teacher know that you are there. Sending copies of snaps to the
school and the children concerned will help to establish trust
and credibility.
So, going back to the hanged man, all you need to make sales is
an alternative view point. Thankfully you don’t have to suspend
yourself upside down from a tree, just reach for the light box
and light the lamp of creativity!
Poetry for Profit contains a lot of information on the greeting
card market which is an ideal place to target words and pictures
while READ ALL ABOUT IT! The WriteLink to Newspaper Writing has
a detailed chapter on taking photographs for the local and
regional press.