11
Assignments

AN EXTRA DIMENSION FOR THE PHOTO ILLUSTRATOR

Buzz Soard of Littleton, Colorado, was taking a family vacation trip to New Zealand and he decided to query editors on his Market List before he left. The result was a four-page article on New Zealand’s flora and fauna for Adventure Travel Magazine.

Gene Spencer of Payette, Idaho, queried his Market List before he left for the Northwest and learned that one photo buyer needed a picture of the Olympia brewery in Washington state. “I did several other assignments, too,” Gene said, “but that one picture nearly paid for all my gas!”

William Neumann received an assignment after a conversation with an art director in an AOL chat room. Jock Fistick sold a photo from his website and also established inroads to assignments for the Los Angeles Times.

Assignments can be fun, lucrative and fascinating, and you can generate them yourself, as well as experience those happy times when the phone rings unexpectedly. One of the biggest rewards, even for those workaday situations (“We need a shot of the National Balloon Race winners”), is the satisfaction—and the glow—that come from the professional recognition of your competence that’s implicit in any assignment.

As a stock photographer, you can nail plenty of assignments, many of them by mail (postal and electronic). Once you’ve sold several pictures to a photo buyer, you become a valuable resource. Most photo buyers keep a list of “available photographers,” and this is the first resource they consult when looking for a photographer who has special talent or who is located in a particular part of the country. Make sure you work to get on that list. Once you’ve made a couple of sales to a buyer you are generally considered an “available photographer.” If you don’t receive periodic “want lists” from the photo buyer, ask to be put on his mailing list. The situation can arise where the buyer needs a particular picture in a particular part of the country. The photo buyer consults his list of available photographers (in much the same way as you consult your Market List) and finds that you live near the area. He contacts you and offers you the assignment.

It also works the other way. You’re planning a trip and you tell this to several of the photo buyers on your Market List, as Buzz and Gene did. One buyer might respond with a two-day assignment; another might tell you that she needs one picture dependent on the weather (“The sky must have clouds”). A third might imply that he needs three different pictures if you’d like to take them on speculation. Assignments come in all varieties and will be limited only by the focus of the markets on your personal Market List.

Are assignments in your future? It all depends on your own personal interest in being mobile in your photomarketing operation. Some editorial stock photographers thrive on travel; others like to work from their homes. If you opt for assignments, you’ll find it rewarding to apply the principles in this chapter.

Because of the proliferation of generic photos on CD-ROMs and in online galleries, assignments take on a special meaning for photo buyers who hire you to get a specific picture or series of pictures. Your assignment pictures will be unique and content-specific. Photo buyers are willing to pay high fees for assignment photography.

Negotiating Your Fee

How much should you charge when you get an assignment? I could give a quick answer to this question by referring you to ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). However, this guide doesn’t have all the answers since it reflects top-dollar fees from top-drawer markets commanded by top professionals. Moreover, it pertains primarily to the world of service photography, where fees range from $650 per day for corporate photography to $5,500 per day for national ads (note that ASMP “does not set prices”).

The other guides for pricing assignments are the software fotoBiz X with fotoQuote by Cradoc Bagshaw, www.cradocfotosoftware.com; Negotiating Stock Photo Prices by Jim Pickerell and Cheryl Pickerell DiFrank, www.pickphoto.com; and Pricing Photography: The Complete Guide to Assignment and Stock Prices by Michal Heron and David MacTavish. All three are excellent sources of information.

As in any business, until you have an impressive track record and your name is known, it’s unrealistic to expect top dollar. Perhaps the most basic point to keep in mind is this: Many of the markets you deal with as a stock photographer are publishing markets that consistently pay you respectable fees for your photos—but they can’t match New York day rates. Your fees will depend entirely on your own mix of markets. Some of the photo buyers on your Market List may indeed have healthy budgets for photography assignments, but feel them out. Don’t price yourself beyond what they can bear.

Essentially you’re left on your own to judge the particular market and your track record with it and to negotiate accordingly. Effective negotiations will make the difference between making or missing an assignment.

Now that I’ve delivered a caution to not overprice yourself, I want to emphasize, on the other hand, not to undervalue your services. Many creative people tend to put too low a price tag on their talents. A good formula to follow is to take whatever you decide to quote to the photo buyer as your day rate—and quote half again as much. You will be surprised how many will accept your higher fee.

In other words, say you have a chance at a plum assignment from an oil company’s regional trade magazine. Taking into consideration that you’ve already sold two pictures to this magazine and that this is your first assignment opportunity, you arrive at a $600 a day rate for such a market. Instead, quote $900. You’re probably worth it—and the photo buyer probably agrees—but you won’t know until you start negotiating. In a situation like this, think big. With assignment work, while you have to walk a fine line and not charge beyond the range for the particular market, if you quote too low a figure, you lose not only the photo buyer’s dollars, but also her respect for you as a professional.

When you get an assignment with the higher-paying trade magazines, you probably will be invited to the photo buyer’s office, provided you’re in the same town, rather than having to negotiate by phone or mail. Being there in person is an advantage in this case because you can watch the photo buyer’s expression and body language when you quote your fee. He’ll let you know if you’re on target.

If your figure is high for his budget, you’ll get some resistance. However, he invited you to the office; thus, you know he thinks that:

1. You’re an established photographer.
2. You bring specialized knowledge and talent to the assignment.
3. You have access to a certain profession and/or geographical area in relation to the assignment.

HE WHO SPEAKS FIRST . . .

Keep in mind that the photo buyer could have invited a dozen other photographers to his office. It may seem like a disadvantage to have all that competition, but it’s actually a plus in this case. By inviting you, he has established in his own mind that he has chosen the right person. If you quote a low fee, it might lower his estimation of you.

Remember, the photo buyer must report to his superiors. A high fee tends to justify his choice of photographer.

How you state your fee should go like this:

When the photo buyer inquires as to your rate, state your prepared answer confidently—and then remain quiet. Don’t say another word. This is a well-established principle of negotiating. The person who speaks next is at a disadvantage in the bargaining process.

Let the buyer do the talking. When he speaks, it’ll probably be to commit himself to your fee or to indicate his budget. He’ll probably indirectly answer some questions that are important to you:

1. How badly is the picture needed?
2. What is the competition charging?
3. How easily can he get the picture from some other source?

If the photo buyer seems genuinely resistant to your fee, determine the basis for his resistance and you’ll be able to figure the direction you should take in the negotiations. There are a lot of tactics you can consider. Here are some possible scenarios with suggestions about how to handle them:

1. He’ll probably come back to you quoting a lower figure (you’ve tossed the ball to him—now he’s tossing it back). Don’t immediately accept it. Why? He’s probably testing you with a figure lower than what he actually could pay. He’ll make some concessions if you press him.
2. Don’t concede anything if you can help it, or at least don’t be the first to concede (“Okay, I’ll complete the assignment in two days instead of three . . .”). If you concede first, the photo buyer has the upper hand.
3. If you have to concede something, ask him for a concession, too (“I must have double mileage for this trip. There are a lot of dirt roads out there in West Texas!”).
4. If you must match concessions with the photo buyer, remind him that these concessions are valid only if you and he are able to reach a final overall agreement on a contract or a fee for the assignment.
5. Decide beforehand what you want: a minimum and a maximum. Make sure these figures are realistic. Keep mental score as you negotiate.
6. If you come out smelling like roses, don’t feel guilty about it. Remember: You don’t always win in such negotiations. Enjoy the glow while it lasts. Next time you may not come out so well.
7. What if the photo buyer says, “This is the fee we can pay. You can take it or leave it!”? You can either say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” or explore with him the possibility of retracing your steps to either narrow or broaden the scope of the assignment. Offer more or fewer pictures, discuss travel expenses or change the length of the assignment; these are areas where you can concede wisely. Don’t agree, however, to grant the buyer ownership (all rights) to your pictures.

Even in these areas, though, it isn’t a case of “never”; you may get in situations where the fee for all rights is sky-high or where you are eager to get that particular assignment at all costs. (See the discussion of work for hire in chapter fifteen.)

An excellent book on how a stock photographer should negotiate a fee is Negotiating Stock Photo Prices, now in its fifth edition, by Jim Pickerell and Cheryl Pickerell DiFrank.

Negotiating can be challenging—even fun. Practice makes perfect. Try variations of your routine with your spouse or a friend playing the part of photo buyer. If you’ll be negotiating by phone, make sure to practice. You’ll find that just running through your script is a tremendous catalyst for new thoughts and new ways to phrase your points.

In the long run, a photo buyer will appreciate your efforts to get the best fee for your pictures. Even if you come away with six hundred dollars a day instead of the nine hundred dollars you asked for, remember, that’s the fee you were willing to settle for originally.

Do you own the pictures you take on assignment? It depends on what type of contract, if any, you have signed, or what rights agreement you and your client have arranged (see chapter fifteen).

Expenses

The day-rate quote you give to a photo buyer does not include your expenses. These are over and above the day rate you receive and they depend on a number of variables.

When negotiations reach the point where you address expenses, your reliability factor will be strengthened if you hand the photo buyer a copy of your expenses form.

Have a personalized business form that lists expenses involved on assignment work. When Rohn Engh first started out, he had his own form printed on 4¹⁄₂" × 9¹⁄₂" (11cm × 24cm) paper in three different colors—white, blue and pink—then collated and gum-sealed the forms into a pad using NCR (no carbon required) paper. He sent the first two copies to his client and kept the third for his records. The pad paid for itself on his first assignment.

In a corner of the pad in small print is this message: “This sale or assignment is in accord with the code of practices as set forth by ASMP.”

You may not be an ASMP member, and your client may not be able to afford ASMP rates, but your expenses are a fixed cost, and you should expect reimbursement accordingly. Your expense form should be similar to the one in Figure 11-1.

An equally effective approach is to present to the photo buyer a printout that includes not only your expense estimates, but other points you agreed upon during the negotiation.

You can have your expense form professionally printed or make one on your own computer. Any word processing and/or desktop publishing software should work for this.

Extra Mileage From Assignments

Your assignments will take you to locations you might not ordinarily visit. Shoot some stock photos for other photo buyers on your Market List. These are called “sister shots.”

This will not be as easy as it sounds. Full concentration on your assignment is essential to producing quality results, which is also the way you maintain a strong reliability factor with your client. Anything less than 100 percent attention to your assignment will give you mediocre, or at least ordinary, results. When you shoot “side” pictures while on assignment, then, plan to shoot them on your time and at your expense.

Many assignments call for only specific pictures. This situation allows you to add the sister shots to your stock file. Some stock photographers arrive early on the scene or stay late on an assignment. As long as the client has paid the transportation expense, you can capitalize on the (sometimes exotic) locale and shoot for your stock file. Some photographers shoot to add to their collection of pictures on special themes. Simon Nathan of New York, for example, snaps pictures of clothes hanging on clotheslines all over the world. “One day I’ll have an exhibit—or publish them in book form,” says Simon.

Industry-Sponsored Assignments

Funding is available for your trips. Since the article or book you produce as a result of a major self-assignment (which I’ll explain in this chapter) will be read by thousands, even millions, you’re in a good position to get sponsorship from manufacturers, governments, TV networks and cable companies. Media coverage would normally cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. You’re providing it free.

The Stringer

Another assignment channel is open to the photographer who is on tap for picture-taking services for a trade magazine, news service, newsstand magazine or industry account. The photographer in this situation is usually called a “stringer.” You are, in effect, a part-time freelancer who sometimes works on a retainer basis—that is, for a regular monthly fee. In most cases, however, you work on a per-assignment basis. You get paid only when you produce.

Being a stringer falls primarily into the area of service photography and news photography, but stringer opportunities also are there for the stock photographer. By working out flexible contracts with trade publications, you can arrange to regularly supply them with single pictures relating to their subject theme. I have had great success working this way over the years. I pitch ideas for text and photos to magazines all the time and have about a 30 percent success rate.

For example, if one of your PS/A areas is purebred dogs and you travel often to dog shows, you would be a valuable resource to editors of various dog magazines, which have audiences ranging from breed associations to veterinarians. (We’re talking about good working shots of dogs in action or breed portraits. Remember, if you emphasize cute-puppy pictures, that’s crossing into Track A—pictures that you’ll want to place in a photo agency. See chapter twelve.)

If you travel often, you could tie in your mobility with other photo buyers on your Market List (for example, recreational pictures for outdoor magazines, horse shows for horse magazines, or equipment in use for heavy-equipment magazines).

Your contract need not be more formal than a letter of agreement stating that you will supply them with X pictures a month (week or year) for Y dollars. The fee won’t be monumental, but if you have several contracts, the sum will more than cover your expenses to those dog shows.

Competing magazines, of course, would not appreciate your supplying the same photographs simultaneously across the market. By researching the specific needs of the photo buyers on your Market List, you can guard against inappropriate multiple submissions, yet set up an operation to receive checks with regularity.

As a stringer, you are not “working for hire.” Avoid any agreements with your clients that would allow them to own all rights to your photos.

Self-Assignments—Where Do You Start?

If assignments aren’t coming your way yet, give them to yourself. Such self-assignments will reward you with new insights into lighting, working with models, using the P = B + P + S + I principle (see chapter two), and using varied lens lengths for effect, as well as pulling elements together to make a cohesive and interesting feature.

You can start right away and give yourself a course on producing the picture story if you’re not afraid to copy. Through the ages, creative people have learned from each other through imitation. As the Bible says, “There’s nothing new under the sun!” A simple, effective technique based on this principle is the switch. Here’s how it works:

Let’s say you come across a one-page, three-photo picture story in one of the magazines on your Market List. It’s about a young man from Philadelphia who’s spending his summer in the West, earning money for college by working as a wrangler at a dude ranch in Wyoming. The copy block contains about three hundred words. The pictures are one close-up of the young man and two middle-view shots, one a vertical and the other a horizontal.

You will use this story as a blueprint. It shows you what the requirements are for a similar picture story (not the same story, but one that’s similar). In your case, you know of a young Japanese girl down the block who is in the United States for a year as a high school exchange student. To improve her English and to earn spending money, she is working as a babysitter for your neighbors.

The city-boy-turned-cowboy story showed the young man with a ten-gallon hat. You will picture the Japanese girl in a kimono. The blueprint story showed the boy helping in the early morning roundup of the horses. You will picture your subject showing the neighborhood children how a Japanese-style kite is made. The blueprint story showed the boy at breakfast with companions, downing heaps of flapjacks. You will picture the Japanese girl cheering with friends at the local high school basketball game.

The original article is also a blueprint for the writing. Tailor your writing to match the content and style of your blueprint. Insert quotes and anecdotes in much the same proportion as your model. If your writing skills are weak, team up with a friend who writes well. Or simply amass the details (who, what, where, when, how), and submit them to the editor with your pictures. The editor will find a writer.

Where should you market your picture story? Start with the local metropolitan Sunday paper. Many editors are interested in seeing this slice-of-life kind of story. Then e-mail the feature editor at a couple of Japanese-American newspapers and magazines, and query to find out whether they’re interested in the story (often they are). Also send it to noncompeting magazines on your Market List (those that have no cross-readership with each other) that accept brief photo stories.

Expand certain aspects of your story to fit other markets. The kimono, emphasized correctly, would appeal to trade magazines in the teen-fashion industry. Periodicals in the educational field would like to see emphasis on the Japanese girl’s learning experience in this country. Cultural and children’s magazines may like more insight into Japanese kites and their popularity and importance to children in Japan.

Submit at least a half-dozen pictures to give the photo buyer a choice for his layout. Again, tailor your story line to your original blueprint, and you will earn not only the price of this book, but possibly the price you paid for the camera that took the pictures.

The key is to locate your blueprint example in the magazines on your Market List. This way you know you’re on target with subject matter and treatment that are coordinated with your PS/A.

While you’re learning the ropes with such self-assignments, remember: If your first tries don’t prove immediately marketable as picture packages, certain photographs may become individual stock photo winners.

SPECULATION

On self-assignments, you’re working on speculation. Is this a no-no in stock photography? Not if you’ve used some savvy and done some homework to identify your PS/A and become familiar with the kind of pictures needed by those on your individual Market List.

This way, if your stock photo doesn’t sell the first time around, it’s a valuable addition to your files and stands a good chance of earning its keep over the long haul.

You also can take pictures on speculation in response to a specific photo request by a photo buyer (this is not a no-no either). In fact, this is especially helpful to the newcomer to the field. When you speculate by following the guidelines of a photo buyer, you are, in effect, receiving free instruction in what makes a good, marketable stock photo. The photo buyer’s specifics will tell you what to include and what not to include. Subscribers to our PhotoLetter and PhotoDaily, which lists the current needs of photo editors, often will use a current photo-need listing as a guide, take the picture and submit it to the photo buyer, if the deadline is within reason.

There are times, however, when you shouldn’t speculate. For example, a timely picture will quickly lose its marketability. A highly specific picture will probably not be marketable to many targets. Going after a picture that entails a good deal of expense (in time, travel or special arrangements) is questionable. The president’s visit to Ohio might attract so much freelance and staff-photographer competition that it would not be cost-effective for you to become involved. Finally, a picture that’s outside your PS/A might reflect your lack of expertise, and that would certainly limit its marketability.

TAKE A FREE VACATION

One type of self-assignment you can give yourself with assurance, over and over again, is the travel assignment—but with a switch: If you’re planning a vacation or a business trip, plan to profit on your trip through your photography. Because your travel can be a business expense when it involves getting pictures to add to your stock photo files, your travel expenses can be a tax write-off, another way your trip pays for itself. (Chapter sixteen details the tax benefits of making a business out of your photography expertise.) However, rather than aiming your camera at standard tourist attractions (Track A pictures with limited marketability), concentrate on pictures where the supply is short and demand is great.

Another free vacation is one that’s offered to established stock photographers and writers by public relations firms representing ship lines, ski resorts, hotel chains, spas, and so on.

Who buys travel pictures? Travel editors, of course, but they are so deluged with travel pictures (exquisite clichés) from freelancers, government agencies, stock photo agencies, public relations people and authors of travel stories, that this market takes time to break into. At first you represent more work for the travel editor, as someone new that she has to deal with, communicate with and explain her picture needs to—all of which she wants to avoid since she already has established picture sources that supply her needs. Instead of aiming at travel editors at first, direct your marketing efforts toward the publicity offices of airline, bus, train, ship and hotel organizations; city, state and national tourist offices; public relations agencies; CD-ROM companies; video production companies; ad agencies (who represent a country or state); plus encyclopedia and other reference-book publishers who are continually updating their publications. Also, it’s helpful in some cases to contact photo agencies. (See Figures 11-2 and 11-3.)

Standard travel pictures are difficult to market because of the competition. Do not submit spectacular (in your estimation) pictures of standard tourist sites. The publicity officer or photo buyer has already rejected hundreds of them. You can, however, include pictures of new travel attractions or changes in existing attractions.

What does the travel photo buyer really need? Current pictures in their locales of these areas of interest: agriculture, mining, transportation, cuisine, contemporary architecture, celebrities, communications, recreation, education, industry, labor, sports, business and special events.

Your travel pictures, then, are not really travel pictures at all; they are pictures of factories, airports, new sports facilities, freeways, festivals, open-pit mines, housing, people and skylines.

To know what to take and where to find the subject matter, write to the Department of Economic Development and/or Department of Tourism (or Consulate/Embassy, if foreign) of the area you will be visiting. They will supply you with several pounds of literature, all of which needs updating. Travel agencies can supply similar literature. Consult the encyclopedias at your library as well as other reference books, maps, CD-ROMs, websites, videos and pamphlets that feature your areas of interest. All of this material will serve as a blueprint for the kind of pictures that photo buyers need. Make photocopies of pertinent leads, pictures and details (these will aid you in your query letter).

The agencies you will be working with are actually public relations and promotion agencies. They want to put their client’s best foot forward. In these times, the profile of a city, tourist attraction, national park or monument changes rapidly. Updated quality pictures are always of interest to travel photo buyers. (Note: Remind the photo buyer that your pictures are an update.)

Certain stock agencies are interested in seeing specific quality travel pictures (see chapter twelve). If they like your selection, they’ll probably ask to see more from other areas of the country or the world that you could take or may have in your files. If your travel pictures are large format (120-size, four-by-fives or eight-by-tens), you may have a better chance of scoring at an agency than if the pictures are 35mm or digital. Yet some stock agencies deal strictly in 35mm. Others prefer high-resolution digital images.

However, scoring with an agency depends on factors other than size. One of the most important is content. If the photos cover a relatively untraveled area of the world, or places currently in the news, they will probably interest an agency more than if they were taken in, say, the Grand Canyon or Paris.

Here’s another type of buyer for your kind of travel pictures: publishers. New books, CD-ROMs, photo products and websites focusing on the area you just photographed come out all the time. Why not have your pictures appear in them? The tourism departments and economic development offices mentioned earlier are often aware of projects in progress. They will steer you in the right direction (since their job is public relations) if you mention in your letter to them that you would welcome information on forthcoming features on their area. Photo agencies, too, are aware of new projects in progress because photo researchers are knocking on their doors, looking for a picture from such and such a place. While you’re checking at the photo agencies, tell them you have fresh, updated pictures of the places you’ve visited. Frequently, photo agencies miss a sale because their locale images are outdated.

Public relations agencies will be interested in placing your photos if your pictures match their client’s area of interest. Let’s say, for example, you just returned from a trip to Venezuela, where you took forty marketable pictures of birds. Using the Society of American Travel Writer’s SATW Member Directory (see page 56), find out which public relations agencies represent Venezuela. For example, XYZ Agency will have an in-house writer prepare an article on “Birds of Venezuela.” Using your photos, the agency will sell the article to several nature magazines in several countries. You will receive payment for your photos as well as recognition.

What about postcards? Postcard companies rarely are good markets for your travel pictures. They pay low fees, your picture is fighting hundreds or thousands of others for selection, and the companies usually want all rights. The commercial stock photography competition is stiff in the photo products, postcard/gift area, and the fees are generally low. Unless you have a special reason for marketing in these areas, avoid them.

Making the Contact

When possible, contact photo buyers before you go on your trip rather than after you return. Photo buyers, editors and agencies can inform you of their current needs and suggest side trips to collect pictures (on speculation or assignment) to supplement or update their files. Independent photographers do sometimes shoot first and ask questions later (the shotgun method). However, most veterans inquire first, with a letter like the one shown in Figure 11-2, and then shoot (the rifle method). The following are some letter-writing guidelines:

1. This is a form letter you will send to a number of promotion directors or editors. So include your address, phone number, e-mail address and website address on your professional letterhead. Leave a blank in the salutation to fill in the name, with space above for each different address. (You can write to “Editor,” “Photo Researcher,” “Photo Editor” or “Art Director,” but if you can find out the name of the individual, this is preferred.) The form-letter format is an asset here because it tells the photo buyer two reliability factors about you: (1) You deal with many photo buyers who are interested in your pictures—and the photo buyer believes that if he acts quickly, he can be first to review them; and (2) you do business in volume, so you must be competent and familiar with the marketing process—you’re someone he could develop as a consistent source of pictures. Photo buyers usually aren’t interested in dealing with one-shot, now-and-then photographers.
2. In your first paragraph, let the photo buyer know when you’re going, for how long, what your itinerary is (only the routes that will relate to his area of interest) and how you’ll be traveling (car, plane, train or bus).
3. Never ask if he’d like to see your pictures of standard tourist attractions—national monuments, parks and so on. (You should know that he already has these covered.) Instead, ask if he would like his files of these pictures updated. Recognizing his need to constantly update his files puts you in a professional light.
4. Explain whether you will shoot film or digital, and tell him the size of the film format(s) you’ll be shooting. If you’re able to offer digital delivery from the location, this can be an important point worth mentioning.
5. Suggest that if he has some upcoming photo needs, you can save him time and expense by shooting them for him—if it’s not too much out of the way for you. Assure him that you are not locking him into any definite contractual arrangement. (It’s easy to say no to those.) Let him know your pictures will be taken with no obligation or precommitment on his part. Mention in the next paragraph your stock file of several thousand images. The editor will interpret this to mean that it will be no loss to you if he doesn’t accept your pictures—that you’re an established stock photographer with a high reliability factor and plenty of available markets. Let him know you are licensing these pictures, not selling them outright. Try to find out the going rate for his publication or publishing house before you contact him; if you can’t, tell him your pictures are available for publication at his usual rates.

Figure 11-2 is a typical assignment query letter. Notice that it’s brief. No photo buyer wants a history of you or your photography. If your photos fit her needs, she’ll buy. If they don’t, she won’t.

Let’s say you didn’t contact anyone before your trip, and you’ve just returned from Germany with many fine pictures. What do you do now? Contact all promotion bureaus, offices and agencies that represent Germany. These will include government agencies as well as private German and American agencies such as airlines, ship lines and hotel chains. Your list might also include American ad and public relations agencies that handle these accounts. Design a form letter that informs these agencies of your pictures of Germany. Do not send actual pictures or a Germany portfolio until an agency expresses interest to you. Visit the agency in person, if possible, with a portfolio of pictures tailored specifically to the agency’s interest. Or upload them to your website and inform potential buyers of your website’s URL. Use the tips in chapter seven on how to contact photo buyers by e-mail, by phone, by mail and in person. It’s on these visits that you might receive referrals for your pictures (“No, we can’t use them, but I know Mike Sarfaty is preparing a book on southern Germany”).

Here’s how to develop an after-the-trip query letter (see Figure 11-3):

1. See number 1 of the instructions for writing a letter of inquiry (on page 193).
2. In your first paragraph, let the editor or art director know who you are, where you’re from (your letterhead will help) and when you were in her state or area. If your pictures are fresh updates, she is going to be interested. Mention specific areas that you have photographed.
3. Ask if you may send a selection of photos for her consideration. (Don’t send photos with this first letter.) If you know what she pays, mention this fee in your letter. This will save both of you an extra exchange of negotiating correspondence. If you don’t know her fee range, apply some of the pricing tactics outlined in chapter eight.
4. Being an unknown photographer puts you at a disadvantage: Editors sometimes ignore introductory letters such as this. They prefer to stay with their own cadre of familiar and reliable photographers rather than do the extra work of establishing contact with a new one. It’s a good idea, therefore, to insert a line in your letter to this effect: “Requesting review of these pictures does not obligate you to any purchase.”
5. Ask outright which pictures (of those you’ve listed) the photo buyer would like to review.
6. Copywriters tell us that the section of your letter that gets read first (if your letter gets read at all) is the postscript. You can attract a photo buyer’s attention by listing some of the places you have previously (or recently) photographed in her city, state or country. Since these names will be familiar to her, this will help personalize your letter to her.

If your contact person does ask to see your pictures, you should enclose a cover letter when you submit them for consideration. Again, a form letter is useful both to you (for your own records) and the editor. Your pictures, of course, will sell themselves, but as consumers, we all know that we’re unlikely to buy a new product (in this case, you are the new product) if service and support aren’t available. In other words, if the editor suspects you are a fly-by-night, that you have no reliability factor, or that your telephone number or business address might change next week (I know it’s tempting, but try to avoid using a P.O. box), she is not likely to give your submission much attention.

Photo buyers recognize the professional touch in submissions accompanied by a form cover letter. Again, it must be brief. Editors must sift through hundreds of photo submissions weekly. They don’t appreciate lengthy letters that ask questions or relate irrelevant details about the enclosed submission. If you do feel compelled to ask a specific question (and sometimes it is necessary), write it on a separate sheet of paper and enclose an SASE for easy reply.

The Photo Essay

1. The portrait establishes that this is a photo essay about a horse and/or equestrian things.
2. Show a photo with people. The farrier is starting his work while the owner of the horse holds on to the reins.
3. Show a detail shot. This detail photo shows what a farrier does: shoeing a horse.

If your form letter is neatly formatted (don’t handwrite queries to editors unless you’re on a first-name basis with them), the editor will greatly appreciate your professionalism. Better yet, have a fast-print service print it (ask for seventy-pound, off-white stationery stock), leaving blanks to fill in specific details for each different situation. The editor will then recognize you not as a one-shot photographer, but as someone with a good supply of pictures and, therefore, as an important resource for handling future stock-photo needs and assignments. (The thinking here is that no one would go to the expense of a printed form letter if he had only a few photographs to market.)

A typical form letter to accompany your submissions could be the standard cover letter in chapter nine (Figure 9-1 on page 138). (If your submission is solicited, you can begin the letter with “Thank you for your request to see my coverage of . . . .”) Be sure to mention in this letter that “captions are included.”

Ordinarily, stock photos do not require identifying captions (unless the photos are meant for technical or scientific use), but travel and location pictures generally do. In your captions, identify the location and the action/situation in the picture.

As a photo illustrator just starting out, your reliability factor can increase several notches if a selection of your photos can be found on the World Wide Web. Another approach: on-demand printing, which allows you to print a short run of sell sheets at a low cost. Marv Dembinsky Jr. captures a half-dozen images from a recent trip onto a single sheet using his scanner, Photoshop software and a good-quality color printer. He then mails or hand delivers the results to his photo buyers.

A Sampling of Hot Sellers

Each of your prime travel markets (e.g., mining, transportation, education) will present varied opportunities for stock photos. The pictures are a good indication of the style and type of pictures sought by textbook publishers, encyclopedias, TV stations, tourism bureaus and the education industry.