So you want to write?

The adage that a picture is worth a thousand words is an incomplete assessment! A picture and a thousand words is worth much more than either of them, separately.

Words and pictures go together like plums and custard. Did you know that a caption with a picture, in an advertisement, gets read seven times more frequently than the body copy. Do you know where you should place the headline in a flyer? Read on!

The need to combine pictures and words falls into two categories for photographers. Broadly these are creative writing and business literature. The aim of the creative writing is to use the words to assist in the selling of your pictures – you are, after all, a photographer! The purpose of your business literature is to sell your services be it weddings, portraits, commercial, whatever. This can take the form of flyers, promotional material or posters. The two categories share many characteristics but not all characteristics, there are things you might do in a poster which you would not do in a creative piece of writing. A concrete example – ordinarily you do not write ‘7’ in a creative piece, you write ‘seven’. However, for advertising headlines you always use numerals to gain attention (and by the way one to nine are good numbers along with 11, 22 and 33).

If you have a bunch of competent pictures of the highlands you are unlikely to sell them. If you add good words they suddenly have contact and more value, and you could then approach outdoor, lifestyle and holiday magazines. If you win an SWPP monthly award and send just the picture to your local rag they are likely to say, “so what?”. Add a bit of spiel, a mug shot of yourself holding a print, topped with the caption ‘Local photographer wins national award’ then you are suddenly tempting the editor to use your material. Editors under stress are just like any other humans – if you offer them something quick and dirty they take it; offer them something quick, dirty and correctly spelled they grab it out of your hands! Do not imagine that we sit here at our Editor Mansions in a perfectly ordered world, in which everything is planned – when an advert fails to arrive, despite numerous phone calls, we are on the lookout for a half page to fill the hole – it might just be the shot of you and your SWPP entry.

Creative Words

Many photographers are persuaded to enter the profession by compliments when they show friends their pictures – the “These are so good you should try it for a living!” response. No such equivalent is around for words – when was the last time a friend brought out a sheaf of foolscaps and asked if you would like to see what they wrote while on holiday? Many people will have a view to express about the merits of a picture, far fewer would pass comment on the merits of a piece of writing.

The route to becoming a writer is therefore slightly more complex. This should not, however, put you off. Write about things you know and understand, an unusual hobby, craft, or item of local interest, for example. If you have a set of unique and interesting images of something, an editor will soon knock the words into shape if the subject is truly of great interest to their readers. If you have the only pictures ever taken of the ‘cross-gender smoke box of the Hogwart’s Express’ somebody will polish your words if you provide factually accurate notes! You can also get help, there are lots of creative writing course available at local colleges; the Bureau of Freelance Photographers correspondence course also covers captioning and writing (see the call-out box and note that they do not fully endorse what is said above – it’s a free world, we would not presume to hide a difference in approach from you!). When looking amongst your friends for a critical response to your writing try, journalists, librarians or English teachers who are friends or acquaintances. You are unlikely to receive a response from a busy editor – we are an overworked bunch (sound of distant violins being played!).

“The benefits of being able to produce tightly written, informative copy cannot be over-stressed” says Tracy Hallet in the introduction to The Bureau of Freelance Photographer’s Project Book.

When captioning, remember the rule that ‘the caption should add information to the image’. Do not caption an image of Blackpool Tower with, ‘Blackpool Tower’, everybody can see what it is! Add value by saying ‘Blackpool Tower, built in 1894 is 518 feet high and is presently owned by Trevor Hemmings who also owned Grand National Winner, Hedge Hunter’. It took me under two minutes to find that out, by the way, using the web.

Accuracy

The importance of accuracy cannot be over-emphasised. We include advice from Professional Imagemaker’s copy editor, Shirley Lamb, in a call-out box, but factual accuracy is also important. You would be amazed by the collective length of memory of a readership, and how quick they will be to point out the errors of your ways when they catch you out!

Accuracy of spelling and correct English (or language) are vital in business literature. Without repeating the words of Shirley Lamb, just remember this – if a spelling error causes you to lose a commission, that single event will wipe out the cost of having the document professionally proof read in the first place. You may be oblivious and insensitive to poor spelling but if you are the last of two proposals on the table for a commission, and somebody is rooting for your opponent, rest assured that poor spelling will tip the balance – people like to make decisions on tangibles and spelling errors are absolute and unequivocal; they make the process easier than arguing over the merits of picture ‘a’ or picture ‘b’.

There are a number of references for use of English. We use the Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors and The Guardian Style Book along with the usual array of dictionaries and thesauri. Shirley Lamb has an even more impressive shelf of reference works (it is her job at everythingwrite!).

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Photo Quote: I love the medium of photography, for with its unique realism it gives me the power to go beyond conventional ways of seeing and understanding and say, "This is real, too." - Wynn Bullock