What kind of a website do magazine editors look for

[WadeCourtney]

Greetings all,

The other day I sent an email to a local magazine asking how to get my name on their list of freelancers and how to submit photos for print. I didn't really know what kind of response to expect. But, the art director responding telling me to send my website and information and they would keep it in their directory and when something came up that fit my style they would give me a call.

The only website I have right now is my Flickr account. Is that ok to send as a website? I don't post family photos on there, only stuff that I want to display for all. I think my photos are good. If Flickr isn't good enough, two questions first what is a good web hosting company for photographer where I can use my own domain name, second, what kind of photos do I put up?

Thanks

Wade

[RichardTaylor]

I would use something else that shows your talent off a lot more than flickr - possibly something like Zenfolio.

I am just a hobbyst.

[WadeCourtney]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

I would use something else that shows your talent off a lot more than flickr - possibly something like Zenfolio.

I am just a hobbyst.

What do you think of this site?

Artist Websites - Professionally Designed Websites for Artists and Photographers

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by WadeCourtney

The other day I sent an email to a local magazine asking how to get my name on their list of freelancers and how to submit photos for print. I didn't really know what kind of response to expect. But, the art director responding telling me to send my website and information and they would keep it in their directory and when something came up that fit my style they would give me a call.

The only website I have right now is my Flickr account. Is that ok to send as a website? I don't post family photos on there, only stuff that I want to display for all. I think my photos are good. If Flickr isn't good enough, two questions first what is a good web hosting company for photographer where I can use my own domain name, second, what kind of photos do I put up?
Thanks
Wade

Hi Wade,
your post leads to several questions which would, I believe, also lead you to some answers.

What sort of magazine are you seeking to work for? By this I mean, is it a travel, or music, or photojournalism? This would lead you to answering what sorts of photos you should display on your website/online portfolio.

Do the magazines you'd like to work for expect you to write? If so, you ought to have a website/portfolio with a blog so they can get an idea of your writing style.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but there's no way in hell you can expect an art director to look at your 694 flickr images to get an idea of who you are or what you can do (photographically). You need to be able to present them a proper portfolio of your select images. To be honest, I looked throught the first 8 pages of your flickr and basically saw plenty of decent snapshots 90% being of fireworks or a Joan Jett concert with all of them being composed pretty much smack dab in the middle of the frame taken almost exclusively from the exact same angle. I doubt that's the way you want to sell yourself.

You need to be able to show you can do many things photographically, so your portfolio ought to reflect that. It out to have your 1-2 best fire works, 1-2 max from the same concert, etc etc with all your 'styles'.

I have built my own site through wordpress, so I can't really talk about what out there is good for you portfolio-wise, but I suggest NOT using something that has the host in the name such as "www.wix.wadesphotos.com" or "Wadesphotos.wordpress.com" or anything like that.. to me it screams amateur.

I'd suggest creating specific portfolios that target the magazine/client you are going for. For example, if you're targeting a music magazine, you ought to give them the link to your site, but specifically the portfolio of your music/concert related work. The will have no desire to go through 50 firework photos on your flickr account to get to the concert stuff and then, they don't want to see 50 of Joan Jett shot from the exact same angle..
Does that make sense or am I rambling?

I know I sound a bit harsh, but I also think i'm being fair and objective.

Good luck, and if you have more specific questions, post away.

Al

[WadeCourtney]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

What sort of magazine are you seeking to work for? By this I mean, is it a travel, or music, or photojournalism? This would lead you to answering what sorts of photos you should display on your website/online portfolio.

Hi Al,

Thanks for you reply.

This is the magazine. San Diego Magazine

Do the magazines you'd like to work for expect you to write? If so, you ought to have a website/portfolio with a blog so they can get an idea of your writing style.

I am a professional writer, but I didn't even think about writing for a magazine. I'll have to ponder that one.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but there's no way in hell you can expect an art director to look at your 694 flickr images to get an idea of who you are or what you can do (photographically). You need to be able to present them a proper portfolio of your select images. To be honest, I looked throught the first 8 pages of your flickr and basically saw plenty of decent snapshots 90% being of fireworks or a Joan Jett concert with all of them being composed pretty much smack dab in the middle of the frame taken almost exclusively from the exact same angle. I doubt that's the way you want to sell yourself.

You need to be able to show you can do many things photographically, so your portfolio ought to reflect that. It out to have your 1-2 best fire works, 1-2 max from the same concert, etc etc with all your 'styles'.

You are absolutely right. I don't want to do that. What I was thinking of was creating a set with exactly what you talk about with 1-2 pictures, and then linking to the set.

I have built my own site through wordpress, so I can't really talk about what out there is good for you portfolio-wise, but I suggest NOT using something that has the host in the name such as "www.wix.wadesphotos.com" or "Wadesphotos.wordpress.com" or anything like that.. to me it screams amateur.

I took a look at your site. It is very cool. If you don't mind my asking, how did you create your portfolios? Did Wordpress have the tools already or did you have to buy a third-party tool? I also agree that I don't want the urls you quoted above, I was planning on getting my own domain.

I'd suggest creating specific portfolios that target the magazine/client you are going for. For example, if you're targeting a music magazine, you ought to give them the link to your site, but specifically the portfolio of your music/concert related work. The will have no desire to go through 50 firework photos on your flickr account to get to the concert stuff and then, they don't want to see 50 of Joan Jett shot from the exact same angle..
Does that make sense or am I rambling?

I know I sound a bit harsh, but I also think i'm being fair and objective.

Good luck, and if you have more specific questions, post away.

Al

Nope. Not rambling at all. I appreciate the honesty, and you did give me several things to think about.

Thanks very much for your time and suggestions.

Wade

[Jim Bryant]

BigFuzzy is right. One thing you need to do is study the stye of the magazine you;re interested in submitting pictures to. Each mag has a unique style that sets them apart from one another. You don't want to submit pictures of flowers to Sport Illustrated or sports pictures to a food and wine mag.

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by WadeCourtney

Hi Al,

Thanks for you reply.

This is the magazine. San Diego Magazine
I am a professional writer, but I didn't even think about writing for a magazine. I'll have to ponder that one.
You are absolutely right. I don't want to do that. What I was thinking of was creating a set with exactly what you talk about with 1-2 pictures, and then linking to the set.
I took a look at your site. It is very cool. If you don't mind my asking, how did you create your portfolios? Did Wordpress have the tools already or did you have to buy a third-party tool? I also agree that I don't want the urls you quoted above, I was planning on getting my own domain.
Nope. Not rambling at all. I appreciate the honesty, and you did give me several things to think about.
Thanks very much for your time and suggestions.Wade

Hi Wade,

Ah, the magazine seems pretty wide ranging, which to me would mean you want a pretty diverse portfolio to be appealing to them. That doesn't make it easy to focus your portfolio/site At the least you want a strong a)on-location portraits b) product photography and c) travel/architecture-ish styles...

Seeing as you're a writer, you may even want to do some preemptive work and put together the whole package, images and words and present it to them that way. You'd be double valuable to them I'd think.

At the very least, create a new flickr account with very specific Sets now, that way you're already spending time narrowing down your pool of images. And be tough on yourself (something I suck at!)

Thanks for the kind words on my site. The portfolios are part and parcel of the theme I purchased through Themeforest.com it was called "Big Feature" which had the ability to set the thumbnail size and how many images to show in each portfolio in it. I chose 150x150 thumbnails and for it to show them all. You can limit it to 20 per page or something like that which is what I try to do... try.
It was pleasantly cheap but there is a learning curve. It's taken me a while to chip away at the settings and coding to make it different enough for my taste. I'm still working on my portfolio page which i've figured out (thanks to google) is the main "entrance path" to my site.. hmm.

I think i answered everything... I'm happy to help no matter how little, good luck!

Al

[Jim Bryant]

WadeCounty. I have two portfolios. one is at url:Jim Bryant Photography Shoots Corporate and Family Portraits, Youth and Professional Sports, Weddings, Festivals, Parties and Other Events. That one is to show off my strengths in various categories. The other, Seattle, WA., based freelance photojournalists specializing in sports, travel | Jim Bryant Photography, is more in depth and gears to documentary, photojournalism and sports, targeted to sporting and travel magaiznes. This shows an editor I can take a story and follow it from beginning to end.

[WadeCourtney]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Hi Wade,

Ah, the magazine seems pretty wide ranging, which to me would mean you want a pretty diverse portfolio to be appealing to them. That doesn't make it easy to focus your portfolio/site At the least you want a strong a)on-location portraits b) product photography and c) travel/architecture-ish styles...

Al

Thanks for the help.

It is also hard for me to be tough on myself. One thing I did realize that you pointed out in your first email was that the fireworks and the joan jett pictures are all shot a the same angle. Something had been bugging me about those pictures since I posted them. And I believe you hit the nail on the head. It is annoying that all of the pics are at the same angle. Thanks, I don't think I would have ever made that connection. I think I've done a pretty good job of putting my photos in sets on my current flickr page. Those are probably alot easier to look at.

[WadeCourtney]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

WadeCounty. I have two portfolios. one is at url:Jim Bryant Photography Shoots Corporate and Family Portraits, Youth and Professional Sports, Weddings, Festivals, Parties and Other Events. That one is to show off my strengths in various categories. The other, Seattle, WA., based freelance photojournalists specializing in sports, travel | Jim Bryant Photography, is more in depth and gears to documentary, photojournalism and sports, targeted to sporting and travel magaiznes. This shows an editor I can take a story and follow it from beginning to end.

Thanks for the feedback Jim. I really like that you put stories with your photos on your photojournalist page. Now I just have to remember where I was and what I was shooting so I can do that too!