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MAKING YOUR CAMERA PAY
By
FREDERICK C. DAVIS
NEW YORK
ROBERT M. McBRIDE & COMPANY
1922
Copyright, 1921, 1922
_Photo-Era Magazine_
Copyright, 1922, by
ROBERT M. MCBRIDE & CO.
_Printed in the United States of America_
Published, 1922
A WORD BEFORE
The demand of publishers for good pictures is increasing. Editors
are eager to use the best photographs that may be obtained. They
draw no distinction between the work of the amateur and that of the
professional photographer. If a photograph meets their requirements,
they buy it and care little whence it comes. The opportunity to sell
good pictures has never been better than it is to-day.
To give accurate and helpful information with regard to making the
camera a profitable investment is the purpose of this book.
Frederick C. Davis is well-known to readers of photographic magazines,
and is a practical photographer in addition to being a successful and
experienced professional writer. Mr. Davis has written this monograph
in a non-technical style that will entertain the reader and encourage
him to make the most of photography.
This little book is a practical, up-to-the-minute answer to the
question: "How can I make my camera-work profitable?"
A. H. BEARDSLEY,
Publisher, _Photo-Era Magazine_.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
A WORD BEFORE v
I. WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT 1
II. THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE 6
III. WHAT TO PHOTOGRAPH 11
IV. WHAT NOT TO PHOTOGRAPH 23
V. SIZE, SHAPE AND FORM 29
VI. WHERE TO SELL 35
VII. A SURVEY OF MARKETS 43
VIII. SHIPPING THE PRODUCT TO MARKET 60
IX. THE PRICES PAID 65
X. ART PHOTOGRAPHS 72
XI. COMPETITIONS 74
XII. PRINTS FOR ADVERTISING 78
XIII. COPYRIGHTS AND OTHER RIGHTS 82
XIV. ILLUSTRATED SPECIAL ARTICLES 88
XV. THE HIGH ROAD 93
MAKING YOUR CAMERA PAY
I
WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT
Whence come the thousands of photographs used every month by newspapers
and magazines?
More than that, whence do the photographs come which are used by makers
of calendars, postcards, for advertisements, and for illustrating
books, stories and articles?
At first thought, the answer is, "From professional photographers and
publisher-photo-services." But professional photographers do not
produce one-third of the photographs used, and publisher-photo-services
are supplied by that same large number of camerists that supply
publications with most of their prints.
No one can deny that the greatest number of prints published are bought
from amateur photographers in towns no larger than the average, and
sometimes smaller.
The camerist does not have to get in an air-ship and fly to Africa in
order to produce photographs that will sell. Read what Waldon Fawcett
says, himself a success at selling his photographs:
"The photographer is apt to think that all his ambitions would be
realised if only he could journey to foreign shores or to distant
corners of our country; or if he could attend the spectacular events
that focus the attention of the world now and then. _This is a
delusion. The real triumph is that of the photographer who utilises the
material ready at hand in his own district, be it large or small._"
And more, a person does not have to be an expert photographer in order
to succeed at the work. Here is what one prominent writer says about
it:
"The requirements of the field are well within the capabilities of even
the beginner in photography, viz.; the ability to make good negatives
and good prints, the ability to recognise news-value, and a methodical
plan to find the market where the prints will find acceptance. The man
or woman who can meet these requirements should be fairly successful
from the beginning, and will open up quickly new avenues of special
work and profit."
In short, ability to make metaphors, create lovely heroines or such is
not at all necessary to the successful selling of photographs to
publications.
Is the field overcrowded? _No._ If there were ten times as many
persons engaged in the work they could all keep themselves busy.
The field--how wide is it? Get out your map of the world. The field for
_making_ photographs extends from the top margin to the bottom, and
from the left to the right. The field for _selling_ photographs--which
is more to the point--extends over about five thousand publications
which use prints; not to speak of a few score of other markets.
The markets may be classified briefly:
(1) Newspapers
(2) Magazines
(3) Postcard-makers
(4) Calendar-makers
(5) Art-study producers
(6) Illustrations for books
(7) Illustrations for articles
(8) Prints for advertising.
And there are more, of more specialised branches.
And how does it pay? Please note: "A certain magazine once paid $100
for four prints of sundials. An amateur, who happened to be on the spot
with a kodak, made over $200 out of a head-on railroad-collision. A New
York professional netted $125 from the newspaper-use of a
wedding-party, of considerable local prominence, which was leaving the
church after the ceremony." One amateur "realised $300 a year for two
or three years from a lucky snapshot of eight pet rabbits in a row."
A set of South-Pole photographs brought $3,000 from _Leslie's_ and
$1,000 more from the International Feature Service. These all, though,
are very exceptional instances. The average print sells for about three
dollars. But there is absolutely nothing in the world to hinder a
wide-awake person with a camera from making from several hundred to
over $3,000 a year from his prints. If he becomes a specialist he may
earn as high as $5,000 or even more.
No discrimination is made between press-photographers. The person wins
who "delivers the goods."
However, I do not mean that the instances of $200 or so for prints
should be taken as the prices ordinarily paid. I do not maintain that
there is a fortune awaiting the man with the camera; but I do say there
are unlimited possibilities for salable photographs and almost an
unlimited number of markets for them. But there are not "barrels of
money" in it, for all. A person may add appreciably to his income for
having sold photographs; and having developed the trade to a high
degree, he may cash cheques to the amount of $5,000 or more a year. But
not every one. Just some. And it isn't like the log and the falling off
it. It's work--hard work--_hard work_.
Success at selling press-photographs does not depend on the size of the
town you live in, the cost or manufacture of your apparatus, or on your
literary ability. It depends on you and your worship of the homaged
gods of success if you would sell photographs. The gift of these gods
is the ability to make good.
II
THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Have you ever wakened in the drear dead of a dismal night, possessed
body and soul with a great desire--an incontrollable, all-moving,
all-consuming, maddening desire that knows no satisfaction--a desire
for a new camera or a better lens? It is a sensation more disconcerting
than that of the father who is detected by his small son in the act of
rifling the latter's bank for car-fare. Never would I be so unwise as
to cultivate that desire in any one; for that reason I do not here go
deeply into a discussion of the best kind of camera for
press-photography! Unless the camera you now possess is of a hopelessly
mediocre grade, it will do very well.
A reflex camera is of course the ideal instrument for the purpose, for
sharp focusing is so easy and so necessary. The high speeds of the
focal-plane shutter incorporated into such a camera will rarely be
utilised by the average user; but its other features are admirable.
However, the hand-camera of the folding type is supreme. It is so light
it can be carried for a long time without fatigue; the user of one is
inconspicuous when making exposures; the cost of operation as well as
the original outlay is comparatively small--and there are several dozen
more things in favor of it, including its greater depth-of-field, which
is most important.
The lens is the heart of the camera, and some cameras have
"heart-trouble." If you intend seriously to market photographs you
should possess an anastigmat lens; not necessarily an F/4.5 lens, nor
even an F/6.3 lens if too expensive; in that case an F/7.5 lens will do
very well. An F/7.5 anastigmat is slightly slower than a
rapid-rectilinear of U.S.4 aperture; but its excellence lies in its
ability--as with all anastigmats--to form images of razor-edge
sharpness, which is a prime requisite of a print intended to grace a
page of a periodical. A rapid-rectilinear lens will do very well if you
are always assured of sunshine or bright clouds to supply
exposure-light--and in such conditions even the lowly single-achromatic
lens will suffice.
Now you see I have agreed that virtually any lens that will form a
sharp image will meet the requirements. Indeed, to paraphrase Lincoln:
"For the sort of thing a lens is intended to do, I would say it is just
the lens to do it." In other words, each lens has its limitations and
abilities very sharply defined; and these limits the user must know and
appreciate.
And the shutter; it is folly to put a poor lens in a good shutter, and
just as absurd to do the opposite. An expensive shutter with high
speeds cannot be successfully used except with a lens capable of large
aperture--otherwise underexposure will result. A speed of 1/300 second
is the highest available in an ordinary between-the-lens shutter, and
that is sufficient for almost anything.
The slower speeds, as one-fifth, one-half and one second are in my
opinion more usable than the extremely fast ones. Speeds varying from
one second to 1/300 second are embodied in two well-known shutters: the
Optimo and the Ilex Acme. The one is on a par with the other. But no
such high-grade shutter is needed unless the high speeds are necessary
to the user, for the slower speeds may be given with the indicator at
B. But enough! This is not a manual on the elements of photography.
The requirements of the apparatus to be used for press-photography are
that the lens produce a sharp and clear image, the shutter work
accurately, and the whole be brought into play quickly.
I have used every sort of camera; reflex, 8 x 10 view, 5 x 7 view,
hand-cameras with anastigmat, rapid-rectilinear and single lenses, and
box-cameras, and they are all entirely satisfactory "for the things
they were intended to do."
The camera I have used most and which is my favorite is a Folding
Kodak, that makes 3-1/4 by 4-1/4 photographs, and is equipped with an
Ilex Anastigmat working at F/6.3, in an Ilex Acme shutter. To this I
have added a direct-view finder for reasons apparent to any one who has
tried to photograph high-speed subjects by peeking into the little
reflecting-finder. This camera has served me admirably for interiors,
flashlights, outdoors, high-speed work, portraiture, and anything else
to which I have applied it. Your own camera should do the same for you.
A photographer comes to know his camera as a mother knows her baby--and
if he doesn't he will be no more successful than the mother who does
not understand her child. The camera-worker must forget all about
manufacturers' claims and should judge his tool by experience; he must
ignore most of the theory and rely wholly on practice. In short, he
must know his camera inside and out, what it will do and what it will
not do; everything must be at his finger-tips ready for instant use.
Coupled with that is the need of the ability to produce, sometimes,
within an hour after making the exposure, crisp, sharp, sparkling
prints.
After all, no more qualifications are required of the
press-photographer than of most other photographers. He may have to
work like lightning, snap his shutter literally under the very hoofs of
racing-horses, rush out of a warm and cozy bed into a chill and bleak
night--but "it's all in the game." If any one of the old veteran
press-photographers were to lead the life of an ordinary business-man,
he would die of ennui. When the camerist makes photographs for
publishers it is zip-dash--and later, cash.
It is the exciting life of a never-sleep reporter, with a camera to
manage instead of a pencil.
III
WHAT TO PHOTOGRAPH
If you wish immediate wealth you have only to locate several
oil-pockets and dig into them. Similarly, if you aspire to success at
marketing photographs you have only to discover the needs of editors
and to satisfy them. But although there are not many more available
oil-pockets, there are many editors and innumerable editorial needs.
It would be as absurd for me to attempt to state precisely what you
should photograph as it would be for me to make a pencil-dot on a map
and to say: "There's an oil-pocket; go dig into it." The one way to
discover the needs of editors and how to satisfy them is to develop a
"nose for news."
A "nose for news" is simply the ability to determine the value of any
certain photograph to any certain editor. The several ways of acquiring
that very necessary ability are: (_a_) by experience, which consumes
the most time and is the most difficult; (_b_) by examining the nature
of photographs already sold to publications and printed in them, which
is less difficult and just as effective; and (_c_) by careful study of
prevailing editorial needs and market-demands, which is the best method
of all.
To succeed, mix thoroughly liberal quantities of (_a_), (_b_) and
(_c_).
Not many, other than the large metropolitan newspapers, employ
staff-photographers; and if a smaller one does, the photographer is
usually a reporter who has much scribbling to do besides. When most
newspapers require a photograph of something local, the city-editor
telephones to a commercial-photographer and tells him to "get it."
Thereupon, the commercial-photographer packs up his forty-pound outfit,
goes out and gets it.
However, a good many subjects are not of sufficient interest to cause
the city-editor to dispatch a commercial-photographer to obtain them;
but, if photographs of those same subjects were brought unsolicited to
him he would at once see their value and buy them. That is the biggest
advantage of the free-lance photographer with the newspapers.
If the press-photographer wishes to follow these tactics he may profit,
even in a very large city; for staff-photographers go where
city-editors tell them to go, and city-editors have much to think
about.
The kinds of subjects bought by newspapers from free-lance
photographers are those of local interest, brought to the office while
the interest in them is still keen. A large number of such subjects are
available daily. The news-photographer may glean his tips from a
morning-newspaper and sell his prints to an evening-journal. When he
becomes sufficiently well known, he may be called upon and dispatched
after a photograph just as the commercial-photographer. But first he
must impress the editorial mind by giving it, unasked, the very sort of
thing it wants.
The free-lance photographer should see possibilities in many subjects:
A public building burns.
A corner-stone is laid.
An illicit still is found.
A new building is erected.
A murder occurs.
A new fire-department truck is bought.
The governor comes to town.
Josh Jones finds a hen's egg three-times normal size.
A park is improved.
The first baseball-game is played.
The robber of the postoffice is caught.
I. Wright, the local author's new book, is published.
The local inventor again invents.
Any one of these suggestions holds possibilities for photographs useful
to a newspaper; and many more events are just as promising.
The types of photographs used by postcard-makers are known to almost
every one. The subjects run from famous buildings and historical
monuments to artistic human-interest pictures such as a small kitten
sleeping with its feet entangled in a maze of thread with which it has
been playing.
At that point, merge the demands of the calendar-makers. They use the
human-interest type, and run to landscapes, seascapes, and portraits of
pretty girls. Usually the demand of both postcard- and calendar-makers
is that the picture tell a story. If it can be used without an
explanatory caption, all the better. For an example of a picture-told
story, glance at almost any cover of the _Saturday Evening Post_ and
note how the whole situation is made clear without one word of
explanation. It is that kind of photograph that postcard- and
calendar-makers want. If you will glance over the postcard- and
calendar-illustrations you have at hand you will readily see the types
of photograph used.
Sometimes book-publishers send out calls for special kinds of
photographs they need in preparing certain books. In that case, they
usually advertise in an appropriate magazine and mention the kind of
photograph they wish; for example, historical prints if a history is in
preparation. The unlimited variety of books published calls for an
unlimited variety of photographs. Certain publisher-photo-services make
it their business to supply publishers with the photographs they wish;
but that is not hurtful to the prospects of the free-lance, for the
photo-services must obtain photographs of every kind from every source,
and must be stocked with a larger number and variety of prints than any
one magazine or publisher could possibly use. Thus, in fact, the
news-photographer has an increased market.
The largest field for the free-lance photographer I have left until
last; that is, the magazines. There are so many magazines and such a
variety of them that almost any print, if it is of interest at all,
should find a place with one of them. Besides the large magazines there
are many smaller ones; those devoted to almost any conceivable
vocation, and others to almost any interest or hobby.
Besides the publications issued for the great mass of the reading
public, there are magazines published solely for advertisers,
architects, real-estate agents, automobilists, bakers, confectioners,
cement-users, drug-stores, dry-goods merchants, electricians,
engineers, miners, bankers, financiers, fraternal members,
furniture-dealers, millers, grocers, hardware-sellers, historians,
hotel-owners, owners of restaurants, jewelers, labor-union members,
lawyers, insurance-agents, soldiers, sailors, municipal workers,
printers, publishers, railroad men, magicians, fox-raisers,
blacksmiths, fruit-growers, undertakers, stamp-collectors, and scores
of others, not to speak of almost two thousand house-organs issued by
manufacturers as sales-promotion literature or for the benefit of their
employees. And each of these uses photographs occasionally, if not
regularly. The photographer need not deplore a lack of sufficient
markets for his photographs.
The greatest influence toward the development of a "nose for news" is
the giving to it of several whiffs of news. A photographer may
"shoot"--a professional photographer never photographs--he shoots--he
may shoot and shoot, and have his every photograph returned to him as
useless for publication--but not if he first discovers what to
photograph and what not to photograph.
As a means toward that end I have selected, at random, issues of three
magazines whose pictorial sections contain prints which are, broadly,
just the sort of photographs the photographer in a medium-size town
produces. The magazines are _Popular Science_, _Illustrated World_, and
_Popular Mechanics_; despite their names, these magazines print
photographs of a very general scope--more general than one would
suppose. I have selected only photographs with short captions, or those
with explanatory articles not more than two hundred or so words in
length.
In _Popular Science_ I find:
An Apartment-House for Plants.
A Hospital on Wheels.
Potato-Gathering Made Easy.
This Rudder Makes the Boat Behave.
New Light for the Photographer.
He Wears a Showcase.
A Rubber Heel with a Noise.
Milking Cows by Electricity.
Anchoring Bricks to the Side of a House.
Sketching on Fungus, One Artist's Hobby.
Sampling the Soil.
Making House-Wrecking Easy.
A Machine that Harvests Crimson Clover Seed.
Wheel-Guards that Save Life.
Working Safely on High Voltage Lines.
A Lake that has a Crust of Salt.
Punching Your Votes.
Your Money is Safe in this Bank-Tank.
In _Illustrated World_:
Motorized Wheel-Chair for Invalids.
Whirr of Motors Replaces Song of Cotton-Pickers.
How Aristocrats of Dogdom Travel.
Perform Marriage-Ceremony in Oil-Filling Station.
Rail Motor-Trucks for Short-Line Road's Use.
No More Backaches from the Lawn-Mower.
Novel Arrangement of Air-Hose for Work-Benches.
Largest Milk-Tank in the World.
Comfortable Footrest for a Rustic Seat.
Dog Hurt in Auto Accident Wears Wooden Leg.
Street-Cars Adopt "Pay-As-You-Leave" System.
Dentists' Scales for Weighing Mercury.
Toy Makes Spelling Easy for Kiddies.
Small Check-Book in Silver-Case.
Nine-Story Building Collapses.
Traveling Mail-Box on Interurban Car.
Clever Method of Advertising Perfume.
Makes Suit Out of Stamps.
Wellesley Girls Have a "Sneezing Closet."
Raising Chickens on a Back Porch.
In _Popular Mechanics_:
Owner of Artificial Hands is Proud of Dexterity.
Imperishable Burial Robes Shown on Living Models.
Novelty Window-Sign Spells Words with Snowflakes.
Imposing New Bridge at Jacksonville.
Street-Sign Calls for Help if Robbers Invade Store.
New Style Log-Cabin Built Like Stockade.
Vines Completely Cover Office-Building.
Beautiful Ice Stalagmites are Pranks of Jack Frost.
Unique Wood-Sculptures are Work of a Decade.
Electric Warehouse-Truck Performs Heavy Tasks.
Hydraulic Jack Tears Up Street-Car Tracks.
Man-Power Onion-Planter Sets an Acre a Day.
Grotesque Images Reward Motor-Cycle Race Winners.
Weak Derrick Starts Work of Steel-Building.
Concrete Logging Piers are Used in Lumber-Industry.
World's Largest Clock Keeps Accurate Time.
Grotesque Face on Auto Advertises Carnival.
River-Bed Proves to be a Rich Coal-Mine.
Outlets of Odd Shapes Made for Irrigation.
Unusual Park-Playground Built in Circus-Form.
Giant Vase, Lawn-Ornament, is Made of Concrete.
Old Silo in Railroad-Yard Houses Little Store.
Street Rises so Abruptly Four Flights of Steps are Necessary.
Church Uses Bill-Board to "Sell" Scriptures.
This wide variety of subjects cannot but serve to show that even in
very small towns there are many opportunities for salable pictures.
More than that, there are markets for prints of:
Statues
Blacksmith-shops
Farm light-plants
Sheep
Landscapes
Paintings
Girls' heads
Farm-buildings
New inventions
New achievements
Live game
Birds in flight
Industrial arts
Fields of grain
Desert-views
Domestic animals
Poultry
Harbors
Garage-methods
Railroading
Concrete-construction
Flowers
Electrical appliances
Live-stock prize-winners
Art-museums
Motorboats
Musical work
Shoe-factories
Prize-dogs
Yachts
Farm-scenes
Mural decorations
Seascapes
Gardening operations
Interior decorations
Designs
Camping-scenes
Trapped wild animals
Freaks
Cattle
Orchards
Time-saving plans
Social progress
Fashions
Wharves
Paint-departments
Mills
New banks
Large estates
Factory-equipment
Show-window displays
Store-fronts
Motorcycles
Economic interest
Good and bad roads
Spraying-methods
Counter-displays
Blasting
Landscape-gardening
Sports
If you live in a large city you have the additional opportunities to
obtain photographs such as are published in the _Mid-Week Pictorial_
and the _Illustrated Review_, and also in some of the large national
magazines and in the rotogravure-sections of the leading Sunday
newspapers. Although the large city offers more opportunities for
photographs of celebrities and such, there is much competition. The
photographer in an average-size city may not have frequent
opportunities for photographs of renowned persons; but he has many
other chances for salable photographs, which evens up things.
Sometimes, a notable person does come to town; but I would no more
presume to tell you here to camp on his trail than I would dare to
remark to a duck-hunter: "Pardon me, old man, but you'd better pull
your trigger. There's a bird right where you've pointed your gun."
IV
WHAT NOT TO PHOTOGRAPH
Knowing _what_ to photograph is no more important than knowing _what
not_ to photograph. I cannot show you so easily by example the kind of
photographs editors will not buy; for a search of any number of
magazines will fail to unearth such examples.
Experience is an expensive school; but, sometimes, the others are
closed because of lack of patronage. It would seem that when you learn
_what_ to photograph you should learn automatically _what not_ to
photograph; and, indeed, you should; but you don't. However, there is
another way. After sending a photograph to a score of publications, and
after the photograph is returned from the same score of publications,
you may truthfully say: "Well, I've discovered one thing that those
editors don't want."
Editors have very clear reasons why they don't buy certain kinds of
photographs. The editor is there to produce a live, newsy, unusual
publication. He buys only live, newsy, unusual photographs. What could
be simpler?
Publications do not want photographs which are similar to other
photographs that they have already printed. The reason is obvious. To
take an example from my own early days: a shoe-dealer, for an
advertisement, placed a huge pair of shoes, size 35, in his window. I
grasped the opportunity to make a salable photograph. It did sell; but
not to _Popular Mechanics_, for the editor wrote that he was unable to
use it because he had printed, several months before, a picture of a
huge pair of shoes made for a circus sideshow worker. Consequently, the
subject of your photograph may be just the thing the editor would want
if he hadn't had his requirements already satisfied. Therefore, study
those photographs which have been printed, and make newer and better
ones.
When the King of England comes to town, it may be all very well to
command him to stand still, to look serious or to smile, for a picture
of him so posed may be literally "eaten up" by the local newspapers;
but a national weekly, such as _Collier's_, demands something
different. Posed photographs are at a discount. They are too plainly
"pictures of men having their pictures made." What is wanted are life
and action. It isn't necessary to ask the King to stand on his head.
Ask him to shake hands with the Chief-of-Police; or let him do
something else which shows he has the power of action.
On an invaluable rejection-slip prepared by a national magazine,
examples are given of "What we want and don't want." Under a photograph
of Senator Johnson with upraised fist, as if he were driving home a
point in his speech, is printed: "Here the upraised fist does the
business--makes action, life--and transforms what would otherwise be
just an ordinary likeness of Senator Johnson into a striking and
arresting picture."
But if a photograph is sufficiently unusual it may be without life and
yet may sell, although it gains materially by a show of action. Under a
photograph of a floating submarine, the rejection-slip notes: "No
action here; but it is safe to say that few of the readers of this
magazine skipped this one when it appeared. Submarines are common
today; but not the kind that carry huge twelve-inch guns." Similarly
under a photograph of three men standing in a row and looking with a
"where's-the-birdie?" expression at the camera, the caption is: "A
posed picture and, as is usual in such circumstances, a dead one. We
used it because a story centering around these men was a singularly
interesting one appealing to a large audience in America." But no
matter how extraordinary a photograph is, it gains a hundred-fold by
exhibiting signs of _life_.
True, a "dead" picture may sell; but a live one will sell more quickly,
and the photographer's work will be more in demand, and the resulting
cheque will be larger--much larger.
If you make a photograph of a building--even for instance, a new
arsenal--you will never sell it to such a publication as the New York
_Times_ roto-section. The rejection-slip says, under such a picture:
"There isn't even a human being in it to relieve the severity of the
building's hard lines and the flat expanse of water. We do not care for
such pictures." True, a photograph of a building--and of a building
only--may sell for a few dollars to an architectural magazine; but more
dollars and a bigger future come from putting life into photographs and
in getting your work into the national weeklies as a result.
Again, no magazine wishes to buy a photograph of something not new. A
monument, if photographed a moment after the unveiling and with the
crowd around it, is a likely seller; but if the photographer waits
several years, a print of the monument is unsalable. And that is not
strange: you prefer fresh to cold-storage eggs.
The big secret of the successful press-photographer is the introduction
of human beings into his photographs of inanimate objects. Human beings
have a deep interest in each other. When one is introduced into a
picture, human-interest is introduced at the same time; and, if the
human being is pictured in the act of doing something, the interest is
even higher. For no one ever outgrows the question, "What ya doin',
mister?"
_Popular Science Monthly_ says: "We want good, clear photographs of a
human being doing something of a mechanical nature. The subjects must
be new." If a new invention is pictured alone, it is lifeless and
meaningless. But let a human being operate it and a photograph of it
gains in value.
One has only to apply his common sense to the matter. If a murder is
committed in the city, the newspapers will not demand photographs of
the corpse; it will do very well to obtain a photograph of the
"arrow-points-to-the-scene-of-the-crime" variety.
One has to depend wholly on his "nose for news" and this sometimes
proves treacherous. "A human-interest photograph sometimes slips past
the trained nose of a photographer of twenty years' experience and is
picked up by a beginner," to paraphrase Charles Phelps Cushing. And, on
the other hand, the old-timer may snap away confidently at a subject
which the beginner has scorned, and then find he has an unsalable print
on his hands. Sometimes, so to say, "noses for news" contract colds and
are unable to scent a subject's salability. But colds may be cured and
the scents picked up once more. The best remedy is to stop, to think,
and to sniff again.
There is a market somewhere for every good print. There is no market
anywhere for a print that is not good.
The best part of the whole business is this: no one--not even old
Nick himself--can induce an editor to buy a photograph he does not
want; and if, on the other hand, he knows he can use it, he will buy
it at once, be it offered by Donald Thompson, who is a world-famed
press-photographer, or by John Brown of Smithville, whose first
attempt it may be.
V
SIZE, SHAPE AND FORM
Aspiring fictionists learn at some stage of their budding genius that
one long stride toward editorial favor lies in the proper preparation
of the manuscript. Just so, a photograph which is not prepared in
accordance with editorial standards suffers a handicap.
Some editors specify the size of photograph they prefer. Thus,
_Collier's_ prefers 4 x 5 prints; but it will use prints larger, and a
few smaller than that size. In the same way, _Garden Magazine_ reports
that it prefers 6-1/2 x 8-1/2 prints, and the Thompson Art Company says
it prefers the 5 x 7 or 8 x 10 size.
Other magazines make no mention of size. _Popular Mechanics_ reports:
"The size of the print is not so important as clearness and gloss."
Indeed, the greater number of magazines do not specify a preferable
size because by so doing they discourage contributors of prints which
are desirable, but not of the size specified.
If a magazine insists on having prints of one certain size the
photographer should not be discouraged because his camera does not make
photographs of those dimensions. The making of enlargements is now no
more difficult than the making of contact-prints; if the negative is
sharply focused and the lens of the enlarging-machine is good, an
enlargement will not differ much in quality from a small print.
To me, it seems that the ideal camera makes photographs of 3-1/4 x
4-1/4 inches. This is very slightly smaller than 4 x 5, and a less
costly "film-eater." Negatives of that size are sufficiently large to
make salable prints without enlarging them, and if a larger print is
desired, they are of good proportions for the operation of enlarging.
Prints of the 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 size are too small to offer to magazines
unless the subjects are all-commanding; however, the size is a very
good one, and not too small for the making of excellent enlargements if
the lens of the camera is good. I have heard of one photographer who
uses exclusively a vest-pocket camera equipped with a fast anastigmat
lens: he never attempts to market any of the small prints, whose size
is 1-5/8 x 2-1/2, but enlarges the prints to about 4 x 6. There are
many advantages possessed by the small camera over the large camera;
but 3-1/4 x 4-1/4 is the happy medium. I have never had a print of that
size returned because it was too small.
There is no need to limit one's self to the production of prints of
only standard dimensions. In the cases of magazines desiring artistic
prints, the prints gain materially by trimming them so as to produce a
compositional balance of masses. Also, some buyers specify prints of a
certain shape for use as covers and headings, to fit frame-cuts and
such. These buyers state their specifications, as "prints size 4 x 6,
with the long edges horizontal," or the opposite. It is not necessary
to produce prints trimmed to the exact size of the cover, either; all
that is necessary is to make the print of the same _proportions_ as the
cover, and the engraver will enlarge or reduce it to the correct size.
There is one best finish for prints intended for publication: that is,
black-and-white--_never sepia_--and glossy, burnished. Glossy prints
are not much more difficult to make than dull-surfaced prints, the only
necessary additional effort being the use of a squeegee plate, or
ferrotype plate. The preference for glossy prints results from the fact
that their surfaces are absolutely smooth and without grain. This
enables the engraver to make a clearer halftone, for a print with a
grained surface reproduces surface and all in the cut.
Glossy paper, when dried in the ordinary way, has a surface which is
perfectly smooth, yet half-dull. When glossy prints are dried in
contact with a ferrotype plate the surfaces are highly polished, and
this gives the prints more brilliancy. Prints so prepared are ideal for
reproduction-purposes.
Newspapers, as well as some moderate-priced magazines printed on
news-print paper, and printed at high speed, require coarse-screened
cuts; in these, fancy lighting is detrimental, and fine details are
lost; what is wanted are broad masses of light and shade.
Some editors prefer prints which are untrimmed and printed to the very
edges of the negative. Such prints give the editor opportunities to
trim the prints as he pleases. And in the case of simple
news-photographs and ones which have no claim to artistic
consideration, it seems to be the preferable method of submission.
Certainly, editors will not object to such prints, and they may welcome
them in preference to trimmed ones.
Single-weight paper is always preferable to double-weight, even in the
larger sizes.
Prints must be sharply focused and distinct--not "fuzzy."
A contrasty print is sometimes recommended as the best to offer; but
that is a mistake. The photo-engraver wants prints with plenty of
detail in the shadows, and with a tendency to softness; but with not a
vestige of flatness. "In the making of the screen-negative and in the
various steps of etching, he--the engraver--can introduce highlights
into a rather soft subject; but he cannot produce detail in harsh
lights and shadows," declares _Photo-Era Magazine_. The process of
halftone-making has developed so that the reproduction can be made
almost indistinguishable from the original. In any event, make the best
print possible--a normal and truthful representation.
Having produced your print, add your name and address to the back of
it, and then write, in pencil and on a hard surface, the caption that
should be placed under the photograph when it is printed.
Some editors decry the practice of writing the caption on the back of
the print; for the print goes to the engraver and the copy for the
caption goes to the printer. The alternative is to write the caption on
a slip of paper which should be pasted by one end to the back of the
print. In any case the photographer's name and address should be
stamped on the back.
An ideal print for reproduction and publication, then, should be:
Not smaller than 3-1/4 x 4-1/4 inches; on single-weight glossy paper,
burnished; very sharp; not contrasty or flat; correct proportions if
necessary; untrimmed, if preferred; name and address on back; caption
plainly written on back, or on an attached slip.
Prints passing this examination are ready to be shipped to market.
VI
WHERE TO SELL
Once upon a time a publisher had a remarkable inspiration. He would
publish a perfect book. He went about the task with painful care.
Months were consumed in the making of a book which would be perfect
from every viewpoint. After the publisher had corrected every
typographical error, had made every possible improvement, and was
unable to detect even one flaw in it, he made proof-copies of it and
sent them to men on the faculties of universities, to leading printers,
to book-making experts, to authorities in English, and to leaders in
every other branch of work from which it was possible to view
critically the making of the book. He asked them to examine the proofs
minutely and to tell him of any flaw, however small, that they might
find. Each one of the critics returned his proof with the statement
that he had not found the slightest imperfection. Thereupon the beaming
bookmaker published his perfect book and offered a large sum to any one
who could find a single flaw in it. And many months passed.
Then, one day, he received a letter that pointed out an error in the
book. Another letter followed; then another; and at the end of a year,
he had received a half dozen letters, each pointing out a different
mistake--and each was very noticeably a mistake. And that is the story
of the perfect book.
It is with that book in mind that I have decided not to give here the
usual list of buyers of photographs. Such a list may be complete and
correct when compiled; but by the time it could be put into print and
published, lo! some of the magazines would have suspended publication,
other new ones would have sprung up, other buyers would have changed
their requirements; so that after a year, the entire list would be
useless.
I do not add even a list of non-buyers who were once buyers, for the
reason that some of them may become buyers again at any moment.
Consequently, in my opinion, to place a list of photograph-buyers in
this article would be to waste much space, and with the possibility of
inconveniencing any photographers who might attempt to use the list
after a year or so of its publication.
Furthermore, there are magazines and other books issued yearly which
are devoted almost exclusively to listing markets for manuscripts and
photographs; these are in a position to make changes, additions and
withdrawals with each subsequent issue, and so to keep the lists
up-to-date and of value.
One such book is, "Where and How to Sell Manuscripts." This book
classifies photographic markets separately; and also lists elsewhere
many buyers of photographs. In addition, lists are given of newspapers,
postcard-and-calendar-makers, and lists of magazines devoted to the
household, agriculture, gardening, juveniles, sports, outdoors, the
drama, music, art, the trades, etc., all of which magazines use
photographs. The book is published by the Home Correspondence School,
Myrick Building, Springfield, Massachusetts.
Another such book, which is very similar and which contains such lists,
is "1001 Places to Sell Manuscripts," published by James Knapp Reeve,
at Franklin, Ohio. These are the only two market-books which are
enabled to keep their lists up-to-date and correct.
Writer-craft magazines, which maintain literary-market news-columns,
list markets for photographs; these supplement the market-books.
_The Editor_, published weekly at Book Hill, Highland Falls, New York,
publishes perhaps more market-notes than any other.
_The Writer's Digest_, 15-27 West Sixth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, is a
monthly writer-craft magazine which conducts a very good department of
market-notes.
_The Writer's Monthly_ is the name of another magazine that lists such
markets. It is published monthly. Its market-news, upon publication, is
rather older I have found, than that printed in _The Editor_. The
longer time necessary to print the magazine may account for that. This
magazine is published by the Home Correspondence School, Springfield,
Massachusetts.
_The Student Writer_, 1835 Champa Street, Denver, Colorado, published
monthly, maintains an excellent market-list. Their notes are many,
varied, and reliable.
Photographic magazines sometimes list markets for photographs, although
not frequently.
_American Photography_, 428 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts,
sometimes publishes market-notices in its "The Market-Place"
department, but they are scanty.
_Photo-Era Magazine_ lists, when available, market-notes.
Book-publishers wishing prints of special character have used this
magazine as an advertising-medium.
Besides the magazines noted, other writer-craft and photographic
publications may publish market-notes from time to time.
It is by no means necessary to buy both books and to subscribe for all
the magazines; but if you can do so without financial discomfort, it
cannot be otherwise than to your advantage. By all means, obtain one of
the market-books and subscribe for one of the writer-craft magazines;
and if you can add a photographic publication, so much the better. Even
a market-book alone is a great aid; indeed, it is a necessity. Obtain
one or both and you will be amazed at the number of times each can say,
"Open Sesame" without stuttering.
The best salesman in the world could not induce a sane blacksmith to
put in a stock of groceries. If the salesman has groceries to sell, he
goes to a grocer and talks. Similarly, a photographer cannot hope to
sell the most remarkable photograph in the world, unless he sends it to
the right market.
Each magazine has its own particular needs; but the needs of different
ones overlap so far, and are sometimes so similar, that a print offered
to one and rejected by it may be very desirable to another; this
applies to _classes_ of magazines as well as _individual_ publications.
As an instance: _Popular Mechanics_, or _Illustrated World_, although
requiring unusual photographs, rarely buy photographs of human
freaks--but nevertheless the _Saturday Blade_ (Chicago) uses just that
sort of thing.
A few blocks from here stands the largest writing-tablet factory in
the world: a photograph of it would not be acceptable to the
rotogravure-sections nor to _Popular Mechanics_, _Illustrated World_,
nor to _Popular Science_; yet such a photograph would be useful to
an architectural magazine, a stationers' publication, or a local
newspaper. When a photograph may be viewed from several industrial
angles, as well as from a new-achievement or from a human-interest
standpoint, the more likely are markets to open for it. _The
press-photographer should not stop until he has tried every possible
market._
After one or two rejections, the photographer is apt to form the
opinion that editors are prejudiced against his work because he is a
beginner; but nothing could be further from the fact. One national
magazine says; "Should we return what you submit, do not be
discouraged. Sooner or later, if you study our needs carefully, you
will succeed in finding what we are after." The same thing is true of
every other magazine. There is not one of them but is eager to buy your
wares if you offer them the kind of goods they want.
A rejection is not a rebuke. It is a challenge. It means that your
"nose for news" has failed you--has played you false; or that you have
tried to sell groceries to a blacksmith. Rest assured that no editor
will willfully refuse to accept, pay for and print any photograph which
possesses enough merit to warrant acceptance. The editor holds his
chair only so long as he produces the kind and quality of magazine its
owners want him to produce; and he can do that only by co-operation
with contributors. Without contributors he is at sea in a tub. The
editor is the best friend the press-photographer can have.
It matters not how much "pull" you have with an editor, or how near a
relative you are, or how good a friend, you can't sell a photograph to
him unless you "deliver the goods."
Elliot Walker observes: "The way to sell is to give editors what they
want and in the way they want it." If you do that you can't fail if you
try.
Nor will any editor reject your photographs because of his personal
feelings. "The magazine-editor, in the first place, keeps his personal
feelings tied up; in the second place, he would be foolish, indeed, to
allow them to influence his decisions; and, in the third place, the
editor 'ain't got no' personal feelings when it comes to buying
material for his magazine."
There is only one course to pursue--send the photograph to every
possible market for it in its special line; then see if it can be
viewed from another magazine-angle, and try every magazine of that
trend; then repeat and repeat and ship it away again and again. _Don't
stop until it has been returned from every market with the slightest
possibility of buying it._ Then sit up nights to discover another
shipping-point for it. Keep on to the bitter end; but if your "nose" is
working and you keep on steadily, the end will come rather suddenly,
and it will not be bitter.
VII
A SURVEY OF MARKETS
What follows is no attempt to list and classify existing markets, but
to offer a generalized survey of magazine needs by class. While the
success of the small-town press-photographer is not in proportion to
his city's size, the magazines which find their ways to him month after
month do not disclose the whole field of markets to him. He needs
something more--something to reveal to him the broad needs of
magazines. This chapter has as its mission the summarizing of the needs
of magazines of every class.
Thus, photographs taken all over the world, showing the beauty and
commerce of the old and new eras, are eagerly sought by several
magazines. _Travel_, 7 West Sixteenth Street, New York, wants
photographs of out-of-the-way places, unusual methods of producing
world necessities, and photographs of general travel interest.
The same may be said of the _National Geographic Magazine_, though the
photographs and articles used by this publication are so specialized
and exhaustive that it is rarely a free-lance writer can supply their
needs--for they maintain their own staff of writers and explorers.
However, if you are able to catch vivid photographs of wide travel
interest, here is a most excellent market.