What is Editorial Photography?
One of the hobbies that have continuously evolved in the past years is photography. The purpose as well as the machines used to capture the subjects’ images changed through time; what used to be a simple picture-taking session is now a photo shoot, done with a scientific and artistic approach.

Before, people take pictures to preserve a moment, freeze it in time at the exact way that it is taken, for future generations to get an idea of the past. Nowadays, it is considered as both a career and a hobby, and is a must-have in all kinds of occasions. Graduation parties, birthday celebrations, anniversary get-togethers, corporate affairs, or a surprise party, name it and photographers are a requirement, not anymore a luxury that only those who can afford it have access to.

Picture taking at this point is also a passion for the younger generation. Students take pictures during their lunch breaks, lovers document their time together through photos taken from each other’s cellular phones. Mothers who just gave birth not only adorn scrapbooks with small remembrances of their newborn babies, but also many pictures. Everyday life is influenced with pictures, and photography is now a lifestyle.

Surprisingly, if one is to look at the emergence of cameras, is that it started as big, heavy machines that needs a carrying case for one to lug it around. Then, as the new millennium approaches, cameras became smaller and smaller, until cellular phone companies even decided to include this as a feature to their products. However, since five years ago, digital single-lens reflex cameras, more commonly known as DSLRs, were made available in the market to photography enthusiasts, making hobbyists seem like professionals.

Editorial photography is a branch of photography that refers to the pictures taken to be featured in magazines, publications, and newspapers that are not used for advertisement purposes. Very different from commercial photography and digital photography, editorial photography is more of getting in touch with the artist in you.

Since the job for editorial photography does not pay well compared to commercial or digital photography, it is best to engage in it to build one’s portfolio. Editorial photography requires only one thing from practicing photographers, and that is to express freely and fully what is in their artistic minds.

A series of pictures, not just one picture, is the goal of an editorial photographer. The goal is to tell a story through his lenses. Common tips for editorial photography also apply to photojournalism such as high quality pictures and if possible, minimal or no Photoshop editing.

The market for this kind of photography is very competitive, but the supply for jobs overpowers the supply of available photographers. It is a good thing that technology has paved the way for freelance editorial photography to come into the scene. Photographers can now offer their services for a more affordable price while marketing themselves not just in their location, but also to the rest of the world, compliments of the Internet.