The Photo Essay – Getting Your Foot in the Door 

- Course Outline -

The object of this course is for you to learn how to create stunning Photo Essays, and GET THEM PUBLISHED. By the time you complete this 8-lesson course, you should have created at least two, possibly three, marketable photo essays which you should be able to sell and resell to create an extra income, or even the beginnings of a new career.

 You work at home at your own pace. There is no set timetable for you to complete the course, although we do suggest that you set a goal to get it done in 6 to 12 months. We will work along with you, every step of the way! As you progress through the course you will even be able to call Blair to get first-hand, help and practical advice as to exactly how to proceed through the marketing, final phases of the course, and the publishing process. Once you have learned how to build a saleable essay, you will also learn how to sell and resell it to maximize your income. The photo essay is, without doubt, the easiest way to earn a living as a travel writer/photographer. You can be building and selling them in a matter or weeks. 

Lesson 1

What exactly is a Photo Essay? The nuts and bolts of the easiest and quickest route to a by-line and a check. Why the Photo Essay is so popular with editors. The lesson explains the four essential components of a successful essay. You will also learn how you can make a great living traveling, shooting, creating and selling this most popular of all magazine/newspaper features.

 Assignment: Identify your own interests and local attractions. List three ideas for photo essays. Shoot photographs for one of those ideas and submit your five best shots for critique.

 Lesson 2

Component 1: Great photography – the four components of a saleable photograph. The emphasis of a photo essay is, obviously, on the photographs themselves. No editor will buy a photo essay if the photography is not outstanding. This lesson teaches you exactly how to make your photographs irresistible.

 Assignment: shoot photographs for the second of your ideas and again, submit your five best shots for critique.

Lesson 3

Component 2:  The text. Even though the photo essay is essentially a collection of great photographs, those photographs have to be tied together and explained. This is done by way of extended captions. There’s a right way to write this type of caption and, of course, there are hundred ways to do it incorrectly. YOU have to be able to get it right every time. This lesson teaches you exactly how to do it.

 Assignment: shoot the photographs for the third of your ideas and submit 5 of them for critique. Write one extended caption to one of the photographs in this assignment and submit it for critique as well.

 Lesson 4

Component 3: the outline - tying it all together. It’s here in this lesson that we will begin to form the basis for your first professional photo essay. We will also begin to think about marketing your essays. You will be provided with the resources to identify suitable publications for your ideas, and the contacts within those organizations to whom you’ll eventually submit your completed article. Finally, we’ll discuss and set the strategy and goals for your future.  

Assignment: Submit your completed outline along with the photographs and captions for critique. Identify at least five potential markets for your article ideas, and explain why you think they would be interested in your piece. Identify, by name, the editor to whom you will eventually submit your essay. Create a basic plan with goals for the next 12 months.

 Lesson 5

Component 4: Professional presentation. In this lesson you will learn exactly how to put together and present your photo essay in a professional and workman-like manner.

 Assignment: build and submit your photo essay for critique. Blair will edit the piece and give you feedback. He will also offer guidelines for improving the piece. If it’s in publishable condition, you will submit it to at least five non-competing markets. If it’s still not quite ready for submission, you will work on it and then resubmit it to Blair for final assessment in assignment #6 before sending it to an editor.

 Lesson 6

How to work with an editor. You will learn the practicalities of dealing with the editors of the publications to which you will submit your essays. At this point I will provide you with my phone number and a time when you can call me.

 Assignment: submit the second of your essays, and the final version of the first essay, to me for assessment and critique. Send in the responses from your first submission for assessment and advice. Resubmit the first essay to five new, non-competing markets. 

Lesson 7

Complete the third of your essays, and do any follow-up work on the previous two essays. By now you will have completed three marketable photo essays. The result: you will now have on hand the means to earn a considerable amount of income. These three essays will form the core of your new career or source of extra income. You should have no trouble selling them, not once, but many times. Together, we will discus the final details for the submission of your work for publication, and your goals for the future.

 Assignment: The idea of this course is that you should be able to continue to produce new essays on a regular basis, and then sell and resell them for a continuing income, so you will be asked to identify your goals and set a specific timeline for building your track record and new career. We will also decide together (via the telephone), what your special needs might be at this point in the course, and we’ll work together to meet them.

 Lesson 8

Ok, this is the moment of truth. By now you should have a published piece of work and the clipping in your hand. In this lesson, you will learn how to capitalize on your essay and turn the clipping into an asset that will open the doors to any number of new publications. You will also learn all about your rights as an author and photographer. 

Assignment: This assignment, as with the previous one, will be determined by the progress you made throughout the course so far. We will, via telephone, identify your individual needs and work with you to meet them.

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