Freelance Writing and Photography
Thinking of becoming a freelance writer? Then you should also think about photography. Your articles will be much more valuable if you can include some good, original and pertinent photographs in your articles.
As a freelance writer you will have to travel. Sometimes you will have all of your expenses paid for you, but most of the time you will have to pay for your own expenses and then get them reimbursed. Make sure that you have the deal in writing, you don’t want to go and spend your hard earned money, thinking that you will get it back and then find out that you are out of pocket for your photographs.
It isn’t too difficult to take clear, focused and colorful photographs, anyone can do this. The difficulty is taking photographs of pertinent subjects that relate to the articles you are writing, and then getting paid. Every magazine editor wants photos, but are they willing to pay for them.
Rule number 1 of freelance writing is “Get It In Writing” and get a signature. The days are gone when you could do a deal with a handshake and then be sure that it will be honored. You need to have the offer in writing, better still, in an email, detailing everything.
If you have agreed to be reimbursed for your travel expenses you must be absolutely sure that you are giving your client what he wants. It is no good going to Spain and writing and taking photographs of the most wonderful things that Spain has to offer if your client wants an article on Portugal.
You will need to know how many photos he is willing to pay for. What photos he wants, and what the subjects are to be. How much per photo are you going to get paid, and who holds the copyright.
Some editors will want the copyright of any of the photos that you take. If you can avoid it never sell your copyright, let alone give it away. As a newcomer you will feel under pressure to hand over your copyright to your employer, don’t. A professional will never give away his rights and will only sell them for a large fee.
To the uninitiated it may seem a waste of time and effort to take so many pics of the same subject. But it is better to have too many photos than to have the few that you take turn out to be useless and amateurish. Take lots of photos then you won’t have to go back to your location to re-shoot if something goes astray.
This is why digital photographs have become much more popular. Taking hundreds of photos on film was a very expensive exercise. With a digital camera you can take thousands of photos, download them onto your computer, chose the ones that you want to keep and discard the rest and it wont cost you a cent.
