July 26, 2018

Education

How I got my First Magazine Publication

I'm a photographer and online educator serving the Carolinas + Beyond. Based in Spartanburg, SC. I'm known for creating a seamless client experience, natural posing that feels comfortable, and timeless photography captured on both film and digital. Whether it's photographing you and your loved ones, or helping your business implement workflows that elevate your brand. I'm so happy you are here! 

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For Photographers | How to get Published in a Magazine

How I got my First Magazine Publication

For the past 4 years I’ve had this item on my list of goals. It’s so important to write down your goals. It keeps all your daily, monthly, and even annual tasks in line with what the end game is. Having a clear goal in mind helps you take the steps necessary in achieving it, and that’s exactly what I did with my goal of “Getting Published in a Magazine”.

Perhaps now that this goal has been achieved, I can tackle my next one; printing my own wedding magazine! With companies like Printivity being able to print magazine copies, there’s no reason as to why this shouldn’t be a goal of mine with a little hard work and effort.

Magazines are not the only place that I want to see my work published though. For as long as I can remember I have dreamed about publishing my very own book filled with wedding photography tips and tricks that I have learned along the way. Although I only have a few chapters mapped out so far, I have already been researching how to publish a book online as I am keen to turn my dreams into a reality. Being a published author must be such an incredible feeling.

For now, though, I want to share with you the determination I had to have to get my work published in a magazine.

I’ve written out 5 steps that helped me eventually get my work noticed, and published in a magazine and I want to share them with you today. So here goes!!

Step #1- Planning

There is a common misconception that those photographers who get photos of invitation suites with florals, velvet ring boxes, and portrait locations with beautiful light, are just lucky. They just happen to be working with an amazing planner, and the bride provided that $100 velvet box, and every square inch of the venue had beautiful light and was already stylized for photos. And sometimes that’s the case… but most of the time it’s NOT! We as photographers need to plan and make things happen for ourselves!

From the moment my brides book me, I am very involved in their planning process. I recommend vendors that I know will make their day amazing and I always talk with my brides on the phone a few months before the wedding to go over all the things they need to provide for certain photos.

  • I tell them to bring a bag with the invitation suite, a ring box, vow books, rings, jewelry, and any other detail they may want photographed.
  • I tell them to swap out the plastic hanger their dress was delivered on and buy a pretty bridal hanger. I tell them to reach out to the florist about providing a separate bunch of blooms and ribbons for styling.
  • I tell them to communicate with their officiant about not allowing guest photography during the ceremony (it’s awesome to not worry about cell phones distracting from the bride).
  • I tell them to communicate with the venue about not letting any guests into the reception area until it has been photographed.
  • and I tell them 100 other things :) But you get the idea.

Providing all this information is the first step into getting images that can be published. Magazines and blogs like details and clean images so by planning with your couples ahead of time, you are much more likely to get great images for publication.

Interested in how I prep, style, and photograph bridal details? Download my free pdf HERE!

Step #2- Tell the Story with Establishing Shots

Establishing shots are photos that capture the scene of the event. Don’t just photograph the obvious weddings details. Take time to photograph WHERE the wedding is taking place. Get a wide shot of the venue, but also photos such as vines climbing up the walls, rain on the window, the courtyard archway, closeups of plants, vintage lamps lighting the pathways, etc. Make time for those establishing shots. Magazines and blogs like it when you tell a story with your images, starting with the setting.

Step #3- Do your Research and Be Intentional

Publishers for magazines and blogs have certain things that they look for when they are picking images for publication. It’s so important to do your research and find out what those things are. For example, I attended a workshop where we had the opportunity to chat with one of the publishers from the Style Me Pretty blog. One thing she mentioned was they like images that make sense with the story. For example, if a bride is getting ready in a bridal suite, why would you photograph her dress in a tree outside? It doesn’t make sense with the story unless she was actually going to get her dress on outside.

Another example of this is I’ve noticed certain publishers prefer specific crops of photos. Blogs like mostly vertical images because they look better on phones or computers. Magazines like both vertical and horizontal images so that they have the option to run an image over a full spread. The important takeaway from this step is to research who you are wanting to get published with and be intentional when taking photos so you can provide those options for them. Ask yourself, what are these publishers looking for in images?

Step 4- Blogging, Social Media, + Submitting

It’s not enough to just take beautiful photos and give yourself a pat on the back. You need to get your images out into the world so that they can be noticed! This was the step that got my images from my computer to a print magazine. I blogged the images, shared them with all the vendors, provided a vendor list so that they could tag photos appropriately, and posted them to social media. 6 months later I received an email from The Knot Magazine saying they saw my images and wanted to feature them in their next issue. YES!

My second magazine publication happened a little differently. I did a styled shoot with some local vendors and afterwards gave all the images and vendor list to each vendor. A local magazine was doing an article on one of the vendors and they decided to use my image because they saw it on her instagram and loved it! Good things she had the images from the shoot and tagged me in them! Always share images and a vendor list with your vendors!

Not all images can end up in a print magazine. But the good news is there are so many blogs out there that will publish your images. Most blogs will let you submit images for publication right on their website. Remember what I said earlier? We need to make things happen for ourselves! So don’t just sit around and wait for them to come to you. Submit your images and get published!

There are your 4 steps to getting your images published in a magazine (or a blog). Try them out and let me know how it goes! Your first publication is closer then you think.

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Hillary Muelleck is a photographer and online educator serving the Carolinas + Beyond. Based in Spartanburg, SC.

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