Publications and Enquiries

I have undergone some research into publications that include photography I am personally passionate about. This is not something I have thought much about, and perhaps should have done sooner. This aside, I have been looking at magazines that include wildlife, nature and landscape photography as the kind of publications I would like to see my own work published in.

Wild Travel:

I noticed that a wide number of the smaller images used throughout were taken from stock photography such as alamy, apart from when in specific picture stories or features. I therefore chose to email the publication to ask about how such photographers are commissioned. I am hoping for a reply before the end of the brief but a reply at any time would be very insightful and appreciated.

BBC Wildlife: 

I also chose to email this magazine, and whilst I do not expect responses from such established magazines, it can't hurt to try! I will continue looking at publications of this manner, perhaps some with a smaller audience that may have more time to reply to my question.

Cheshire Wildlife:

I have also emailed Cheshire Wildlife Society as they have a number of publications that reach a wide audience. I am myself originally from Cheshire, so found it interesting that the company has such a wide audience yet seems to have avoided my eye.

I emailed Lancashire Wildlife Society too but this was through a contact form.

To my surprise, I received two replies the very next day. One from Cheshire Wildlife Society and the other from the BBC!

Below are the replies I received...

Cheshire Wildlife:

From this I learnt that the publications printed by the society are not paid photography, they are perhaps taken by those willing to work for free and through some stock photography. The rest of the email surprised me, as I have potentially started to develop a professional relationship which could lead to published work in the field I am interested in. This to me demonstrates the importance of communication within this profession, and that shyness will hold me back. Being a student perhaps led to such a response and it is important that I use this to my advantage whilst still in University. I am very impressed with this response and will definitely be looking further into it. 

BBC Wildlife:

I was very surprised to receive an email back from the BBC, especially overnight. I had expected that such an established business would have their own hired photographers. It was thoughtful of the editorial assistant to send me this link also, and again believe that this is due to my student reputation.

From the link that I was sent, I found the following information regarding contributing photographs to the BBC Wildlife magazine...

'General photography:

BBC Wildlife welcomes photographic submissions, but please bear in mind that we do work with a large number of photographic agencies, as well as more than 100 professional wildlife photographers worldwide.

To illustrate regular sections of the magazine, such as Wild, Agenda, Q&A, etc, we contact the most appropriate agencies and professionals. This allows us to view a vast selection of pictures with great efficiency and minimal administration.

• If you would like to submit your images for our consideration, please make sure that you have first familiarised yourself with the magazine and the quality and type of photography we use. 
• If yours are of a comparable standard then email your 10 best shots as low res jpgs (under 1MB) to BBC Wildlife’s picture researcher Wanda Sowry along with your full contact details.
• Please title the jpgs with the species common name first, then the Latin name for insects and rare species, and then your name last.
• Unfortunately, due to the volume of correspondence she receives, Wanda will not be able to acknowledge your submission, but she will view your images, assess their appropriateness for publication and keep them on file. 
• Then, if an opportunity to publish them arises, she will contact you to request the high res and discuss terms of usage.
• I’m sorry but we only send out our regular ‘wants’ list to a limited number of professional photographers.
  Q&A photos:
  If you have one or two pictures that show really interesting or unusual behaviour (even if the quality is not faultless), why not think of a question to go with your picture and send it in to the Q&A editor?
  Q&A is one of the main sections of the magazine to which we encourage readers to send their own shots.
  Simply email details about when and where you observed the behaviour, what you saw, what happened next and your question to Sarah McPherson and attach your image as a medium res jpg (about 3MB).
   
  
  
  Exposure photos:
  The Exposure section is always looking for extraordinary shots that are both beautiful and show unusual, extreme or unique behaviour. Please look back through some past issues to see the sort of image we are looking for.
  The Exposure section covers a double page spread, so the image must be high quality.
  If you are successful, you will also be asked to write 150 words about your experience.
  If you have any one-off images that are totally amazing and show exciting, rare or striking animal behaviour, please email a maximum of 10 low res jpgs to BBC Wildlife’s picture researcher Wanda Sowry along with your full contact details and an outline of the story.
  Unfortunately, due to the volume of correspondence she receives, Wanda will only be able to respond to successful pitches.
  
  
  
  
  Photo stories:
  If you have considered all of the above, and have not just individual photos, but a large body of work making up a photo story that you would like to pitch, then here is some useful advice.
  
  
  • Before you submit your idea, read BBC Wildlife and familiarise yourself with our usual photographic content and type of feature.
     
  • Make sure your idea has not been covered recently by browsing our back issues.
     
  • Ask yourself – which section of the magazine would your idea be most suitable for? What would the angle be? How would it surprise and delight our readers? When should we run it and why? If you can answer these questions, then your pitch has a greater chance of success.
     
  • Then ask yourself – who would write the copy to go with your images? Remember that BBC Wildlife requires not just stunning photography, but a compelling story, written by a skilled writer or expert in the field, who can share exciting new insights into the subject. Though you may know a lot about your chosen subject, are you really the best possible writer? Have you written for our kind of audience before?
     
  • If you have worked with a scientist, researcher or charity on your photo story, could they write the copy? If so, simply provide their contact details with your pitch. If not, you can provide just the photos and leave it to us to find a suitable author, though – if we accept your images - this will delay their publication significantly.
     
  • Then send an email, outlining your story idea in no more than one or two paragraphs (150 words), and covering the points above, to features editor Ben Hoare and cc Wanda Sowry
     
  • Attach 15-20 of your best shots that illustrate your story to the email as low res jpgs (no more than 1MB).
     
  • Do not send high res images unless requested as these take too long to load and as a result may not be viewed.
     
  • We do accept CDs of images, but email is preferred.
     
  • Unfortunately, due to the volume of correspondence he receives, Ben is not able to acknowledge or give feedback on unsolicited photo story pitches unless they are successful.
     
  • If they are successful, you will be contacted to discuss the development of your idea and asked to send more photos.
    
    
    Portfolio:
    BBC Wildlife is always looking for spectacular photography and groundbreaking new ways of seeing the natural world to showcase in its prestigious Portfolio section.
    Do you have images that show a species as its never been seen before, new behaviour, unprecedented intimacy, or showcase a new photographic technique? It goes without saying that images should be technically perfect as well as taking the art of photography to the next level.
    If you have a unique body of work, then email 15-20 of your best shots to editor Sophie Stafford. 
    Unfortunately, due to the volume of photos she receives, Sophie is not able to acknowledge or give feedback on unsolicited portfolio pitches unless they are successful.
    However, she will view all the images she received, assess their appropriateness and, if possible, redirect them to another section of the magazine, such as the photo story section or Exposure.
    
    
    Online gallery
    BBC Wildlife's website receives some of the highest traffic for 'wildlife photography' searches in the UK.
    Therefore, an online gallery is a fantastic opportunity to showcase your photography (or art), drive traffic to your website, sell tours, books and pictures - or just raise your profile as a photographer.
    Galleries should have a popular 'theme' and contain 16 very different images.
    To pitch an online gallery, please send 16 low-res jpgs to Sophie Stafford and Jo Price.
    If your gallery is selected, it will appear in the carousel on the home page and in a glorious gallery. It may even be chosen to headline our next fortnightly e-newsletter.
    There is no fee for online galleries and we are not able to acknowledge or give feedback on unsolicited gallery pitches unless they are successful.'

Getting published:

I came across an article by Andrew S. Gibson, the technical editor of EOS Magazine. He discusses how to get published within a photography magazine. Below are my findings from the article which were most interesting to me.

'Photo submissions.Your first step when considering a submission is to get hold of several copies of the magazine that you’re interested in and take a good look at the photos it uses. What’s the purpose of the photos in the magazine? Do they illustrate specific photographic techniques? Are they stand-alone images or are they part of an article? Do you recognise any of the names in the photo credits – are they professional photographers or magazine readers? How much post-processing have the images gone through? All of these points help you get a feel for the types of photos used in the magazine.'

This opening paragraph reinforces a common theme found within my research, the importance of planning. The above questions would allow a photographer to have a greater knowledge of the magazine and how it works, in turn making it more accessible. If a publication knows you are aware of how they work and what they are looking for, along with having a knowledge of the audience, they are more likely to hire you.

The article gives a bit of information on EOS magazine itself, as to back up the above questions.
'Our photo requirements at EOS magazine are quite specific. To start, all the images in the magazine must be taken on a Canon EOS camera. We use photos to illustrate very specific photography techniques. Some of the topics we’ve covered in recent issues are hyperfocal distance, mirror lockup, astrophotography and Picture Styles'.
This demonstrates the importance of knowing about the publications well, as they can all be very different and specific.

'Once you’ve sent us some photos, we’ll add them to our library and they may get used in the future to illustrate an article. Admittedly, this is bit hit and miss as we have thousands of images on file, and our requirements depend on the articles that we’re writing. But you can increase your chances of publication massively by sending in high quality images that illustrate specific photographic techniques and include comparison photos. If your photos are good enough, they will get noticed.

The second approach is to send some lo-res images by email to our editor (you’ll find her email address in the guidelines). I don’t want to encourage general submissions that way – you should only email images if you have strong set that illustrate a specific technique. So, for example, if you have a set of photos that illustrate the use of Speedlites, then send them in. If the photos are good enough, and we haven’t published anything similar in recent issues (that’s where your market research comes in) we may use them – we may even write an article about the techniques you used if the photos are interesting enough.'

The article gives the read information on how to get published in EOS magazine, saying that images to the specific requirements should be sent directly. The writer does note that there would be a lot of submissions and therefore your work needs to stand out to get noticed.'Some magazines have a section where they invite readers’ submissions and this can be a good place to get started. I got my first photos published this way. A word of warning – not all photography magazines pay for photos published in these sections. It usually says in the submission guidelines (you did read those didn’t you?) – the magazine may pick an image to receive a prize or you may just get the glory.'
As a student I feel that perhaps the best way to get my own images published would be through a readers competition or something of the like, as my photography may be seen as amateur or disregarded due to the student label. However this would be a good way to get your work and name known, and you would be more likely able to work with the magazine again. It seems that money is not the main priority when starting at getting your photography work published, as this comes in time with recognition and respect of your work. It is important not to refuse or ignore opportunities simply for financial factors.

http://digital-photography-school.com/getting-published-in-photography-magazines-an-editors-view

http://www.discoverwildlife.com/contribute-photos

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/world/wild-travel/

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?EID=9df38063-8117-4535-99ae-c816b442c2fe

http://www.lancswt.org.uk/index.php/publications

http://www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/contact-us