Pitching Travel Articles & Photos to Magazines in the UK and the US (Print is not dead)

A Swedish pal from one of the photo forums that I subscribe to was asking about how to find English-language magazines for an article that she wrote about surfing in Ireland.  A fellow photographer wrote back with links to a book with markets in the UK. It's funny, I never think of pitching articles to other English-speaking countries and this got me to realize that such an effort makes sense, especially for travel articles and travel photographs.

For markets in the US, I have always counted on Writer's Market  (and Photographer's Market too). Both give you a year's subscription to an online database that keeps everything quite current. I usually buy them every few years for the guidelines and for setting out the different types of magazines. A quick online search will help insure the info is not outdated once the book is more than a year old. Call me old-fashioned, but  I like having a book that I can mark up and annotate. For me, print will never be dead.

It's interesting, the book that the UK Photographer/writer suggested, The Freelance Photographer's Market, is available for purchase at Amazon in the US (click on photo below) and in the UK. It has greeting card and calendar markets too. Here's the link to the same book on the Amazon UK site:
Freelance-Photographers-Market-on amazon UK
Or you can click on the photo below to link to the US site. 

The one bad review complained that it was all UK markets, but with the Internet today I'd think that's a real plus. In fact, it opens up a whole new world of markets for you.

So, if you want to search US markets, the books above are a safe bet. In the UK, I'd trust my Photo forum buddy. I'm going to give it a try soon and will report back on this site.  

The US books mentioned are also available on the UK site.

If you decide to purchase any of these books or even just want to take a look, please use one of these links.
Thanks.

Buxton Pond Farm : self-assignments and photo books

Last summer, I took a class with Linda Meyerriecks of National Geographic Traveler Magazine. She suggested that as an emerging photographer, the best way to hone my skills was to give myself a project and keep heading out to the same place to take photographs. So, at her suggestion and in connection with another class taught by Howard Goodman at WCC, I spent some time last fall photographing the riders, horses and general beauty of Buxton Pond Farm in Bedford, New York over the space of a few weeks. It's a fabulous place and everyone there was so friendly. As a photographer, it was the perfect subject as I could take portraits, action shots, and still life shots to add to my portfolio. I plan to head back there again when the weather warms up.

If you are looking to improve your photography skills, I highly recommend the self-assignment route. It gives you the opportunity to get to know a place and to really see it as well as a chance to review your photos and try something a new way if you are not happy with the initial attempt. It's a great learning tool whether you are an emerging pro or an amateur photographer.

As part of the class, we also put together a book, which was a fabulous way to memorialize the project. With digital photography, it's so easy to keep everything on your hard drive and backup CD's that you often fail to print more than a handful of photos. Although I frequently shot for various magazines, and get to see some some of my work in print, the bulk of my work is for web sites and stock photography.  Even when I take photos of my family and friends I find that I'm emailing them instead of making prints. The only good thing is no more guilt about all those photos in shoeboxes rather than in albums (I know the should be in archival boxes--and some are). Anyway, a photo book is a great way to make an album and for you pros out there and even you talented amateurs it might just be something you can sell as well. Once you make one they can print as many as you want so it is also a great way to share photos with your friends and relatives.  Here's a look at my book: The Riders of Buxton Pond Farm