Editorial photographers provide photos to enhance stories for magazines, newspapers, or books. They need to understand the topic and capture the heart of the story. They have creative freedom but often work with smaller budgets than commercial photographers. Freelance work is common, and crossover between editorial, commercial, and fine art photography is possible.
An editorial photographer works closely with magazines, newspapers or book authors to provide photos that enhance a story. Unlike commercial photography, these photos are not meant to promote a specific product, but to highlight the discussed topic. An editorial photographer can work freelance or with a specific organization, and many also do fine art or commercial photography.
Magazines are a particularly popular place for an editorial photographer to find work. To help readers understand the reality of the article’s topics, photographs are widely used to provide explanations or create emotions. An editorial photographer needs to have a good understanding of the topic and background of the story they are working on. Editorial photos must be able to capture the heart of the story and help readers understand the point or meaning.
Unfortunately, an editorial photographer is often given a considerably smaller budget than a commercial photographer. As companies need considerable publicity to sell products, product photography is often an essential feature of marketing and therefore gets a lot of money. Editorial photographs, on the other hand, are often seen as supplemental and budgeted as part of the article’s overhead.
The advantage of working as an editorial photographer is increased creative freedom. Commercial photographers often tell you what to emphasize and capture as part of a marketing strategy. On the other hand, editorial photographers must rely on their own instinct and understanding of the story to capture the best and most useful images. As an editorial photographer, artistic ability and vision are far more important than just camera proficiency.
Due to the wide variety of publications that use editorial photos, photographers can orient their work towards areas of interest to them. For nature lovers, that might mean tackling publications that deal with the natural world, like National Geographic. Whatever specific area of fascination a photographer has, chances are there is some market for it in editorial photography.
As many photographers work as freelancers, crossover between editorial, commercial and fine art photography is quite common. By working in more than one field, a photographer can nurture his bank account and artistic sensibility. As in most freelance areas, the keys to finding work are talent and persistence. Editorial photographers with a good portfolio are often able to find commercial work between assignments, allowing them to network and find their next job.
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