Brendiver's World

Photojournalism Workshop - this is how it went

Last Thursday (15th July) 15 budding photojournalists took part in one of my workshops, this time a bit closer to home (previous workshops have been run in the Philippines, Florida and London) in Timperley, Manchester. 

A big thank you to all who attended and contributed to the discussion and debate. Some examples of what we covered over and above what was in the aims and objectives:

The range of magazines who will accept (and in some cases are actively requesting) photo and article submissions

When to write for free and when to start asking for payment

How part time freelancers might be ruining the industry for full time (NUJ member) photojournalists and how there might not be as many magazines on the market if freelancers weren't there to 'ruin' it.

How to approach editors

How to create an angle out of a destination

And how budding photojournalists might be better off setting a goal of being a writer who specialises in writing about sectors such as walking, cycling, diving, windsurfing, where travel is involved, as opposed to aiming to become a travel writer. The latter being a goal which is too generic, competitive and most likely, unachievable.

And how there are no rules, only what works.

Really enjoyed the evening, thanks to everyone who made it so.

Thinking about a day long workshop next. One where we will start with magazines the attendees want to get published in - the day being geared around what will be required to achieve this. The plan being for each attendee to leave the workshop with very a very specific list of things to do to achieve their goal.

Once I've finalised something I'll post more.

Keep Writing...

Brendan

   

What Bob and David thought of the workshop

As part of the article the attendees on my workshop put together for Sport Diver magazine, the editor, Mark Evans, asked them to put together a box out on it. 

So if you are wondering what is involved, this is what Bob Yee and David Kittos had to say about the workshop:

“Keep writing until you don’t suck at it.” Our workshop instructor informed the participants. “Or until someone is willing to pay you.” This sage advice was our introduction to the writer workshop. Brendan O’Brien, a noted underwater photojournalist and contributor to Sport Diver, conducted the workshop in hopes of educating neophytes the intricacies of writing for publication in the competitive world of scuba travel writing. 

Prior to the workshop, most of the participants were captivated by the lure of being sent on a commissioned assignment to an exotic dive location or defraying some or all of the costs of an occasional dive holiday with a magazine byline. Our instructor quickly doused that dream with the icy water of reality. The leading diving publications have a small cadre of proven photojournalists they rely on. It’s extremely tough to break into the ranks as an unpublished freelancer.

A novice will probably spend years honing their skills on peripheral publications, such as club newsletters, columns and websites, before breaking into a major diving magazine. The workshop offered budding photojournalists the opportunity to shorten this apprenticeship period by learning from the instructor’s publication experiences. 

Some examples of the topics and exercises covered in the workshop included scrutinising contributor guidelines, submitting proposals, avoiding multiple submissions and examining magazine images. Naturally, images stirred the most interest for the photographers. Participants learned what image types intrigued readers and editors. Perhaps the biggest revelation was to learn editors were not ogres who savoured eating the flesh of freelancers while using their manuscripts as napkins, but dedicated professionals with unrelenting publication schedules. 

The writer workshop was held in the late evenings after finishing other evening activities: night dive, dinner, photo workshop assignments and camera maintenance. Needless to say, the participants were exhausted before the writer workshop started each session. The workload from both workshops ensured working through midnight on most nights. Fortunately, the instructor and topics were lively and relevant enough to keep the attendees attentive and responsive.

The workshop had the support of Mark Evans, the editor of Sport Diver. He issued each participant a commissioning letter. The letter stated that the magazine was interested in publishing a feature on Puerto Galera from just one of the participants, providing the text and images conform to Sport Diver’s usual high standards. The letter became a powerful incentive to follow up on the lessons gleaned from the weeklong workshop. Writing for this publication took a great deal of hard work and dedication; the pros make it seem so easy. 

Robert Yee  

Before attending Brendan’s workshop I thought that only professional journalists and celebrities get to write in diving magazines. 

Now I know better – it was explained to us that you don’t need to be a super-diver or a TV personality to write about diving trips and destinations, but you have to be able to write. This ability can be developed but it does take a lot of time and effort. Equally important, budding writers benefit from having some insight on how to approach magazine editors and by figuring out the house writing style.

The workshop covered the important aspects of writing for commercial publications: how to structure and write an article so that it’s interesting, informative and keeps the readers glued to it until the end. Brendan went over the annoying bits of coming up with a good story, such as getting the beginning right: grab the editor’s attention from the start and there’s a good chance that he may read the entire article; bore him to tears and two months work ends up in the bin. There were sessions on how to get the article to flow smoothly from one paragraph to the next, anecdotes and themes, how to end it and about interview techniques, for those important quotes to make the story come alive. 

Brendan also talked about some of the inner workings of magazine and newspaper publishing, how articles are selected and photographs sourced. It has changed my perspective: I now read travel magazines and try to figure out what kind of material they are likely to consider. For example, a magazine that routinely prints stories about budget destinations is unlikely to publish anything about the diving at the Seychelles. 

A training pack was provided and this consisted of contributor guidelines from various diving publications (printed and online), interviews with magazine editors and a few sample magazine articles.

The diving photojournalism workshop was an optional extra for attendees of Michael Aw’s Digital Underwater Photography week in Puerto Galera which took place during March 2008. Ideally it would have been organised independently, allowing participants more time to take part in writing exercises or log a few more dives. Brendan is aware of these issues. 

Post-workshop support has been impressive, including a blog for posting general questions and comments (www.brendiversworld.com ) quick replies to attendees’ queries via email, as well as critiques on article drafts. 

Diving photojournalism is unlikely to be everyone’s cup of tea but if you are the kind of diver who likes writing, the workshop is definitely worth a go.

 

David Kittos

David and Bob put a lot of work into their articles and I hope that seeing them published online has given them some satisfaction, despite being runners up and not winning the prize of publication in the magazine.

Keep Writing...

Brendan

And here's the link...

... for the two articles put together by David Kittos and Bob Yee, the runners up in the Sport Diver writer's competition following my workshop in the Philippines. 

You can find their articles here.

Keep Writing...

Brendan

Licence to Thrill...

... Is the title of Virginia Fage's winning article which appeared in this April's Sport Diver magazine. Virginia attended the writer's workshop I ran last year in the Philippines and this is what Sport Diver had to say about the course and how they chose the winner:

"Writers' Workshop Winner

Students enrolled on a photo-journalism course in the Philippines had the incentive of possible seeing their work published in Sport Diver.

Sport Diver teamed up with occasional contributor Brendan O'Brien, who was running a photo-journalism course in the Philippines with underwater photographer Michael Aw (Brendan handled the writing side of things, Michael the shooting bit). We supplied a commissioning letter to those taking part to get them to focus on what was needed in an article for a mainstream diving magazine, and as an added incentive, we agreed that the best finished product (text and images) would appear in print. Virginia Fage emerged as the winner after impressing the judges with her photographs and writing style.

How we chose our winner

Mark Evans on the decision process he went through

Congratulations to Virginia Fage, who was chosen to have her debut scuba-diving article published within the pages of Sport Diver. The judges liked the style of her article, which immediately threw the reader into the midst of an exciting dive, and her photographs were consistently good, both macro and wide-angle.

Runners up David Kittos and Robert Yee both did well - we liked David's writing style, but there were too few underwater photographs; and Robert had some great shots, but this article didn't capture our attention."

Hopefully this will give you some idea as to what editors are looking for, it's not just about the writing, but the complete package. I know that much of what Virginia prepared in terms of box outs didn't get published, but that's the way it is in the magazine world, it's all down to space and the balance between editorial and advertising.

Congratulations again to Virginia and I hope this isn't the last we see of her efforts to get published.

For Bob and David, I believe their articles will go online on the Sport Diver website soon. I'll publish the link as soon as they do.

Keep Writing...

Brendan   

Another article published by....

one of the attendees on my Philippines photojournalism course. Following on from his success in getting a camera review published in one of the many photography magazines, David Kittos has just been published in Underwater Photography Magazine (March 2009 edition) with his review of an underwater photography course.

David is as keen as anything and I'm sure it won't be long before he gets other stuff published.

Well done matey,

Keep Writing...

Brendan

And the Winner is!

OK, it's not the Oscars, but for the hopefuls who attended my Photojournalism Course in the Philippines last March it might as well be. 

Yes, the results are in, Mark Evans, editor of Sport Diver UK has decided which of the articles he liked best:

"Hi Brendan,

The winner has been chosen! Virginia Fage. One of the others had a nice writing style, but was let down by pics (only seven underwater out of 20), and the other had reasonable writing and the odd nice pic, bit overall, in terms of workable text and a usable mix of pics, Virginia had the edge.

So, she will be appearing in print in the April issue...


Mark Evans
Editor
Sport Diver

The Mill
Bearwalden Business Park
Wendens Ambo
Essex
CB11 4GB

Tel: 01799 544243 (direct line)
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sportdiver.co.uk"

As you can see, it's not just all about the words, but the package you provide for the editor. Those who attended my course will remember me saying time after time how it's your job to make your article as attractive as possible for the editor. Getting them to say, "yes" is more than just doing the words, it's about providing for their every need, so when they finish reading your copy and looking over your package of photos and associated material they think to themselves, "I wish every freelancer would do this!"

Well done Virginia, and for some of the other would be contributors, there's a little surprise when the April issue comes out. Watch this space (and Sport Diver's website - there's a clue!).

Keep writing.....

Brendan

PS - I'm back! :)

Sport Diver (UK) assignment update

I had a quick chat yesterday with Mark Evans, the editor of Sport Diver magazine (UK).

For those of you who have been following the progress of the attendees on the last "From Photograph to Byline" workshop in the Philippines, they have all been working on an article for Sport Diver magazine as part of an assignment

Download Brendan_Letter.pdf

they received from Mark at the beginning of the workshop.

However, only one of the articles will be selected for publication. Mark told me he hasn't had time to look through each submission in detail, however, he did tell me how, "from what I've seen of the opening paragraphs it's going to be a tough decision."

It'll be a week or so before Mark makes his final decision and the result will be announced on this blog.

What Mark said reinforced my belief that you have to have a strong lead paragraph to catch the attention of the editor. Mark also told me how he reads far too many unsolicited submissions which start off with, "we were in XXX to..." followed by a chronological account / diary entry of what they did. I won't say what happens to these submissions, it would be unfair on those who hope they will be published.

What I will say is, how many articles do you get to read that start like this?

A strong catchy lead, essential if you want to succeed.

Keep writing...

Brendan 

Time

The next few days will be special days for quite a few budding photojournalists. Following the workshop in the Philippines they will be preparing their final submission for Sport Diver magazine. One of them will have their article selected for publication by the editor, Mark Evans.

Unfortunately a few of the workshop attendees dropped out of the 'competition.' The problem? Time - there just wasn't enough of it in their lives for them to organise their photographs, work out what they would include in their article, write it, go through more than several drafts, submit it to me for feedback, re-work it, and then, finally, send it to the editor. Even these steps are just the main topics to consider, there's a lot more detail underpinning all of this that takes at least a day to go through on my workshops.

The challenge? Finding enough time. If you are serious about getting published you have to set aside time to get your work done and trust me, this can be the cause of all sorts of issues in your personal life. You really do need a good support network as the time you create to hide away in your cave and write will be the time that used to be assigned to someone else or another activity.

So - how do you find time?

Some top tips:

Wake up an hour earlier than your loved ones to write (exactly what I am doing now!)

Turn of the TV and write - do you really need to watch all of that stuff?

Create an hour each day of the weekend which is designated as writing time - that way your loved ones will know what you are going to do for that period and can plan to do something else.

Involve your loved ones in organising the photographs to go with your submission while you write.

Finish your day job on time - will you really be appreciated for staying an extra few hours in the office? Although my colleagues regularly work a 50-60 hour week, I've got into the habit of working just 40. If I work 12 hours on one day, on the next I have the freedom to finish early, and I only ever do eight hours as a standard working day. if you have that regime in the back of your mind, you will invariably get your 'stuff' done in that time period.

Can you work variable start times? I sometimes start late, maybe a 12-8 day, which allows me a few hours in the morning to get my writing done without anyone else being around.

If you say to your loved ones you are going to write for an hour, then make sure it is an hour! (my greatest broken rule, the phrase, "Yes, yes, I'm almost done..." is often heard in O'Brien Towers).

You don't have to be at a computer to write - I carry around a small notebook, or I'll find a scrap of paper if I forget it. On the plane, train, in standing traffic, anywhere I am not required to be doing other stuff, I'll scribble down ideas, phrases that come to mind, good words I come across, and then these will litter my 'cave' - it works most of the time, but on occasion I will pick up a piece of paper with something unreadable on it. I hate it when that happens - feels like I have lost something and I can't get it back!

Keep writing...

Brendan

Photojournalism Workshops - update on the last one and news of a new one!

I've been asked when the next diving photojournalism course will be run, well the date isn't fixed yet, but it will probably be in the Autumn at Eynsham Hall in Oxfordshire. I'm quite excited about this one as it will be in conjunction with Maria Munn from Oceanvisions - what she doesn't know about compact digital underwater photography isn't worth knowing.

The attendees from my last workshop will be spending this bank holiday weekend preparing their copy and photographs for submission to Sport Diver magazine - the best, chosen by the editor, Mark Evans, will be published this Autumn. I've read and provided feedback on the first drafts - they're all very worthy submissions, it's going to be a close run race!

For the next workshop I won't be able to guarantee one of the attendees will have an article selected for publication in Sport Diver, but if they follow my guidance on the journalism side of things, and Maria's advice on photography, I'm confident at least one person will get published within four months of attending (everyone gets post workshop support).

More detail about the next workshop in a future post, but in the meantime, here's a selection of what people are saying about my seminars and workshops:

"Enjoyed your seminar… you taught very well" - Elizabeth Quinn, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

                                                                              

"The seminar was awesome!  Full of practical and important information, unwritten information that nobody wants to give away, except you. I think everyone who attended your seminar found doors to underwater photojournalism and your new blog site is as great and informative as your seminar" – Mina Cassandra Kuhn, Miami

                                                                           

"I learnt a lot in the short time I was at your seminar as you were talking about international dive travel, this is a new area for our publication and I'm learning as I go" - Doug Counts, Scuba News, Jacksonville, Florida

                                                                  

"Superb insight into the magazine world and your enthusiasm really helped" - Craig Koltasz, Australia

"The course was great, not what I imagined it would be, saved me a considerable amount of time" – Bob Yee, California

                                                                              

"It was eye opening – your encouragement and involvement was really amazing" - Chris, Boston, USA

                                                                               

"Lots of insider tips, insider info about magazines and ideas about how to come up with new angles, all very useful. You severely undercharged for the course, you should have charged twice as much!" - David Kittos, UK

                                                                                                

"I really enjoyed it, I now know I didn’t have a clue before" – Virginia Fage, London.

                                                                                             

"The Top Tips were useful; even if they all seemed obvious, but they are the things you don’t think about beforehand, like how to contact editors" - Christian, Singapore

                                                                                       

Keep writing...

                                                                                    

Brendan

Who Needs People When You Have Talking Computers?

For those of you who have been on my workshops and seminars, you'll already know one of my top tips for improving your writing is to read it out aloud, and then get someone else to read it back to you.

By using this technique I guarantee you will find all the gremlins that make your copy read weird. But what do you do when there is no one else around?

David Kittos, who was on my last workshop, has come up with the answer, and although I don't profess to understand any of it, he assures me it works.

Thanks for the contribution David. Computers that talk - whatever next.

Keep writing...

Brendan

Computer, please check my article

OK, this is a slight exaggeration, but while completing the article about
Puerto Galera, I managed to get my PC to read it aloud for me.
"Delegating" this task allowed my mind to focus on finding and correcting
flaws such as paragraph flow, grammar mistakes and repeated use of the same
word. I went through each paragraph about 10 times, fixing mistakes and
replaying it, until it sounded good.

I am using standard software which most people have - Windows XP and MS
Office 2003. I don't know how you can do this on a Mac - sorry!

So if you are getting a friend to read your articles aloud for you consider
this: your PC will not complain that it's bored or that it needs a break
for a cuppa and/or some nicotine. It just keeps doing as it's told!!

Now for the techie bit. This shouldn't take more than 20 minutes from
start to finish.

Prerequisites
- Windows XP SP2 with multimedia stuff installed (i.e sound card and
speakers)

In the Control Panel, find the Speech icon and double click on it. There
should be a "Text to Speech" tab with at least one item (voice) in the
"Voice Selection" menu. It may be called "Microsoft Sam" but there may be
additional voices you can choose. With a voice selected, click the
"Preview voice" button and you should hear a synthetic voice that sounds
like Stephen Hawkins. If this step didn't work, don't proceed with the
rest of the process.

- MS Office 2003 (SP2) full installation

How to do this.
1. This is the technical bit, and I am not claiming credit for this.
Follow the instructions in the URL below to the letter.

http://www.gmayor.com/word_text_to_speech.htm

If you can't find the bit about "Microsoft Speech Object Library" described
in the instructions, you may not have a full Office 2003 installation and
the rest of the steps will not work.
The only easy option here is to do a full MS Office 2003 installation.

Also if you are not familiar with the VBA editor, use the help facility
(it's very good).

2. After you have finished with the instructions in the website, you should
have a MS Word template with a new toolbar with two buttons: "Speak Text"
and "Stop Speaking".

Turn your speakers ON and make sure that the sound volume in NOT muted.

If you have attached the macros and toolbar to the Normal template
(normal.dot), then create a new document and type some text in it (or just
paste the contents of another document).

Select a paragraph using the mouse and click the "Speak Text" button - it
should start reading out your text.

The voice isn't really natural but you get used to it!!

Click the "Stop Speaking" button if you've had enough.

3. There are more natural sounding voices that can be added (from third
parties) but they are not free. Check the URL:
http://www.bytecool.com/voices.htm for more information.

Note that we are interested in SAPI5 voices (not SAPI4) . Also I haven't
tried any of these 3rd party products myself (yet).

Best of luck.

DK