FORTUNATELY FOR THE RAILFAN photogra- pher who aspires to see her or his work pub- lished, over four dozen magazines are devot- ed to some aspect of railroad interest, be it railfanning, modeling, or historical. And all have an ongoing need for photos of railroad subjects, many relying heavily on their read- ers to supply those photos. But you cannot simply stick some of your favorite photos in an envelope and send them in and have much chance of getting one published. There are many variables that determine whether or not a photo is chosen for publication.


How To Get Published Create the Need


Fill the Need Of course, it should go without saying that all photos need to have sharp focus, proper exposure and good composition. But no mat- ter how technically correct they may be, all must meet one very basic criteria: an editor has to need your photos. For example, you would not have much chance of selling Beau- tiful Railroads magazine a photo essay of the XYZ railroad a month after they have just run a full feature on this operation. They simply do not need your photos now, no matter how eye-catching they may be. Six months ago when planning the arti- cle they might have needed your XYZ photos.


Considering that an av- erage railroad magazine may use anywhere from around 40 to 150 or more photos (not counting in ad- vertisements) per issue and is published four, six, or 12 times a year; editors have a continuing need for a con- siderable number of good photos to illustrate feature articles, news items, and general photo essays. To start getting an idea of


the type of photos editors routinely need and how they use them, just check out the images in the publi- cations you regularly read. To see what else is out there,


visit a large maga- zine store that carries sev- eral railroad related publi- cations. You can also visit a hobby or model railroad store, as model magazines need to present good photos of the prototypes their read- ers are modeling. Also look outside the railroad field. Travel and outdoor maga- zines and state tourist pub- lications might like to see some dramatic train photos for a feature on train travel. Photography magazines can also be buyers of rail- road photos as, after all, railroads are a great sub- ject to photograph.


This is probably the single most important step to follow. Aside from individual news photos or an occasional photo essay, in your perusal of railroad magazines you may have noticed that most photos illustrate an article and have been supplied by the article’s au- thor. Take a tip from this, and write your own article or photo essay feature. If the ed- itor wants to publish it, he or she will need your photos. Without the article, even if the editor liked your photos, there may be no reason to use them. In effect, you will have created a need for your photos. Any editor will be glad to see and publish a well writ- ten, informative and interesting article with good photos on a subject they have not cov- ered.


Ideas on Writing an Article


A railroad you normally railfan is an obvi- ous choice to work up an article on, but con- sider alternatives. If you are a model rail- roader, an article with photos could be put together illustrating how you use trackside photography to relate to your model layout.


PHOTOGRAPHY: GREG MONROE


This photo was one of my 12 images published in the November 1981 issue of Rail Classics magazine along with my article “The Roundhouse and the Smoke are Still There” (about the Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge in Durango, Colo., in 1980). Writing a good article and supplying the photos to illustrate it is the best way to get your photos published.


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