Have you ever read an article on Phototuts+ or in a photography magazine and thought that you could do the same, or even better? The good news is that writing an article about photography (or anything you're passionate about) is not really difficult. It's a learnable skill, and all you need to start is some guidance.
Why write articles? One motivation is money. Photography is an expensive pastime, and writing about photography can help you pay for it. I've written articles about accessories that I've bought (such as a close-up lens, pictured below, light tent, neutral density filter and various software plug-ins) which have more than paid for those purchases.
Another is to build a reputation and bring traffic to your website. For that you can also volunteer to write guest posts for photography blogs and websites.
Freelance writing can be a great way of earning a part-time income to supplement the salary from your job. With hard work, and a bit of luck, it's possible to turn it into a full time career.
The advice in this article will help get you started. While it's aimed principally at people who would like to write about photography, the advice applies to any type of non-fiction writing.
Before you can begin writing articles, you need to find something to write about. It helps if you have expertise in a certain area of photography. If you are good at taking portraits, for example, then put together some ideas for articles about portraiture using your photos to illustrate them.
If you lack expertise, you need to gain some. You should master a technique before you write about it. Once you've learned something, the knowledge stays with you forever and you can go on and learn something else. Over time your expertise and experience will grow.
If you're a regular reader of Phototuts+, you'll have a pretty good idea of what sort of articles the we publish. Go back through past articles of the website or magazine you hope to write for. Study them so you can get a feel for the type of material used. There are several 'styles' of articles on our website, of instance, and you should think about what article format or style you want to use for your first piece.
The first article I wrote for Phototuts+, Seven Tips for Taking Travel Photos Like a Pro, follows a simple formula that anyone can use. Whatever your area of expertise, I'm sure you can think of seven tips to write about.
If you're going to pitch an idea, it has to be something that hasn't been covered before (or a new angle on something has). If someone else has already written a similar article, your idea will probably get rejected.
Once you've decided what to write about, you need to put together an outline. A plan is essential, as you will follow it when you come to write the article. It will also form the basis of your proposal.
Your outline should have a short paragraph for every main heading your article has, and a short sentence for every sub-heading.
Research is an important part of any article. When you are planning an article you should go online and search for articles written on a similar topic. You can also use photography magazines and books as references. You may learn something you can use in your article, and if you are writing about the technical aspects of photography, you need to verify your facts.
However, don't believe everything that you read on the internet, especially if it's on a forum. As a rule, you should verify a fact with three different sources before you accept it.
Don't be afraid to show some initiative when it comes to research. For example, I wrote an article about memory cards a while ago, but when I researched it I found so much conflicting information that I didn't know which sources to trust. So I emailed the PR departments of three major memory card manufacturers, and they all replied with the information that I needed.
Whatever you do, don't copy someone else's article (or part of it). That's plagiarism, and if an editor catches you doing it they have the right to remove your article from their website and refuse to pay you. They'll also never work with you again.
There's a difference between research and plagiarism. You can write about the facts that you read about, as long as you use your own words and perspective. There are countless articles online about the rule-of-thirds, for example, but that doesn't mean you can't write another one. Just make sure that you're writing about it from your own point of view.
You may want to write about a particular technique, but not have any photos yourself to illustrate it. Or you may want to put together a '80 stunning examples of landscape photography' type article. In this case, you can search the Flickr commons for suitable images. The important thing is to verify that the photos you would like to use have a Creative Commons license that permits you to use the image in your article without asking for further permission.
Using other people's photos without permission is a big no-no. That's copyright infringement, and can lead to legal action against you or your client. It's also highly unprofessional and will ensure that your client won't want to work with you again.
The first thing you should do when you make a proposal is to check the website for writer's guidelines. (You'll find the guidelines for Phototuts+ here). Read them, and follow them to the letter.
The proposal is a sales pitch for your article, but you don't need to use any clever or pushy techniques. Start by introducing yourself, then sum up your article idea in a sentence or two. Follow up with the outline and include some photos so the editor can see what you intend to illustrate it with. The other option is to write the entire article and shop it around to several places. Most reputable website and magazine understand you're trying to make a living and will not steal your content or ideas just because you've included it in a pitch.
The editor will get back to you with a response. The editor here at Phototuts+, Cameron Knight, often gets back to you quickly. Other websites or magazines may not be so quick, or reply at all. If that happens, send a polite follow-up email after a couple of weeks. If there's still no reply, then forget about it and move on. Don't waste your energy on them.
Articles can be rejected for a number of reasons. The website may have published a similar article before. The editor may feel that there isn't enough 'meat' in your article to fill the required word count (1500 words on Phototuts+. Your photos may not be good enough, or you may not know your subject well enough. If your article idea isn't accepted, don't take it personally, and listen to any feedback offered. It will help you make successful proposals in the future.
Once your idea has been accepted you need to write the article itself. I'm going to outline the most important skills here – you can learn more by reading the websites and books listed at the end of the article.
You must know how to spell and the basics of grammar. This includes things like the difference between 'it' and 'it's' and 'lose' and 'loose'. We all make spelling mistakes and grammatical errors from time to time (that's one of the reasons that we have editors, to put these things right) but making too many is careless and sends a message that you are not an accomplished writer.
Also be aware of that English has two forms. Phototuts+ is an internationally website, so you'll see articles here with American and British/Australian spellings. Some websites are targeted to a more specific audience, so it's important to remember to write in the audience's common spelling and even language if necessary.
Your message needs to be as clear as you can make it. This is where a good outline, plus research comes in. If you don't know your subject, you won't be able to write clearly about it.
Keep the language simple and informal. If the tone is too serious you may alienate the reader. Don't use long words for the sake of it, but do use precise words. Don't repeat words too often; use a Thesaurus if you need to find synonyms for any that appear too frequently.
After you have written something, read it through and ask yourself if the message is easily understood by the reader. You can also send it to a friend or acquaintance and ask them for their thoughts. Sometimes it takes another person to point out anything that isn't clear.
One of the most common mistakes beginners make is to write in the passive voice. This is a vital concept to master (it's so important, that I recommend you read this article, which explains the active voice in full). Writing well for the internet means writing in the active voice as often as you can. Take the following sentence:
'The criminal was arrested by the police.'
This sentence uses the passive voice. The subject of the sentence is being acted upon, not doing the action. The object of the sentence, the police, are connected to verb. In the active voice, the sentence's subject is more connected to the very.
'The police arrested the criminal.'
Even better, if the topic of the paragraph is the criminal:
'The criminal yielded to the police.'
We often put the most important thing at the beginning of the sentence even if that thing is not doing the action, but being acted upon. Use of creative, powerful verbs can solve this problem. Or you can let the important thing end the sentence.
After you have written the first draft, put the article aside for some time and then come back to it. You will read it with fresh eyes and pick up on things that you missed before. The longer you can leave it the better. A couple of days is good, a month is better (though not always practical). It also helps to read the article out loud. Hearing it adds another sense into the equation.
Finally, when you edit the article, eliminate unnecessary words. Your writing becomes clearer when you use fewer words to express a concept.
It takes time to learn how to write well. One advantage of writing for websites like Phototuts+ is that you learn as you go along. My writing has improved in the time that I've been writing for this website.
If you're learning to write you may not yet be at the stage where you can write an article for any site or magazine, but that shouldn't stop you writing articles.
A good way to get started is to create a photography blog. This isn't complicated, or even expensive, as you can start a free blog at Blogger or Wordpress.com without any programming knowledge.
The benefit of writing for your own blog is that you can publish articles as you write them. The more articles you write, the better you'll get. You may also get valuable feedback from readers. Take a look at my blog if you need some inspiration, or the blogs of David duChemin, Michael Frye or Mitchell Kanashkevich – all writers and photographers.
When the time comes that you are ready to write for someone else, you can mention your blog in your initial proposal. It gives the editor something to look at to assess your skills.
Professionalism isn't measured by how much you are paid, it's measured by how you act. You should always have a professional attitude. Be courteous, don't say or write anything hateful about anyone, stick to deadlines and respect any feedback that you receive. Your aim is to build long-term relationships with the people that you are dealing with, and professionalism is key to that.
Copyright law can vary from country to country, but here's an overview. When you write an article or take a photo, you automatically have copyright. It's your intellectual property. You are free to give away your intellectual property (although it's not a good idea) but no-one can take it from you without your consent.
Instead of giving away copyright, you should grant your client a license to publish your work. Licensing is very complex, but you will find some good information here. You can also download a free ebook about copyright for writers from here.
Unfortunately, there are publishers that will ask you to sign a contract that assigns copyright of your article and photos to them. If someone asks you to do this, you should refuse unless they're are willing to pay a high premium. Ask them for another contract, one that is more friendly to you. They normally have one, and if they don't, then I recommend that you don't do business with them.
Once you've written an article, what next? It's time to do it again. Idea generation is one of the hardest parts of writing. I spend time reading photography websites, magazines and books, looking for new things to learn and fresh ideas for articles. The more I learn about photography, the more ideas I get. I write any viable ideas in a notebook so that I don't forget them.
A tip is to borrow an idea, but approach it from your point of view. If you read an article titled '10 ways to take better landscape photos', for example, see if you can come up with your own ways to take better landscape photos. Or apply the same concept to a different genre like portraiture or close-up photography.
A few weeks ago Phototuts+ made a call for writers. Could that be you? If you've ever fancied writing a photography article for Phototuts+, now's your chance. The advice in this article should help.
Good writers are hard to come by. Good writers with extensive knowledge about a certain topic are even harder to come by. With some strong fundamental writing skills, you can translate your passion into a different market. Most Phototuts+ writers never imagined they'd be writing about photography. They thought they'd be taking pictures for a living. The bottom line is writing about photography is another source of income that keeps me involved with my passion. At 1 a.m. when there's no assignments for me to shoot, I can write an article on my couch and make money doing it. It's not a bad way live.
These websites will help you learn the craft and business of writing:
