Last week I filled you in on the different requirements for model releases when you sell your photos for stock or for editorial. This week, I’d like to cover another difference when it comes to these two markets. I’ve offered tips on editing your photos in Photoshop before, but if you want to sell your photos for editorial, you should know a few things, first, before you go fiddling with your images. When you hear the word “editorial” what do you think of? Newspapers and magazines most likely. And that would be correct. Add to that text books, the internet, and TV news and you’re more-or-less covering the “editorial” bases. Now, when you look at photos in a newspaper that are used to illustrate a story, you expect them to be “factual.” You assume that every bit of every image is “true.” You expect that nothing was changed, taken out, put in, or in any other way altered. For editorial use, that is, in fact, industry standard. (And more than one person has lost his job for not adhering to it.) But outside of editorial, it’s a free-for-all. Editing photos in Photoshop for fine art purposes — or simply to improve some basic aesthetics — is fairly common practice. In stock, for instance, it is not only acceptable — at times it’s required if you want to sell those stock shots for commercial purposes. Take this picture of a little boy in his baseball uniform… 
If this shot were used for an editorial story in the local news paper, it could be printed exactly as it was shot. But for stock, it would have to be edited in Photoshop to sell; that “Red Sox” logo would have to come off (and you’d have to secure a model release). 
Again, for editorial purposes, this shot of three Italian doors could go unchanged… 
but for fine art or stock purposes, the photographer could play with the image to his heart’s content. 
Keeping in mind how you intend to use an image while you are shooting can help you decide not only what you want to shoot but how to take the shot. (Will you be selling your photos for stock or for editorial?) Just remember that different markets have different guidelines and requirements — especially when it comes to altering the final image. ENTER TO WIN! This month’s photo challenge theme is Passages and Doorways. If you have a picture to submit, log on to our website and click on the Enter to Win tab. (Note: First-time users need to register on the “register” link on the right side bar first. Once you have a username and password, click “Enter to Win” to upload your photo. Only one photo per applicant will be considered. No purchase necessary to register.) Photos are due by 8:00 a.m. EST, Tuesday, January 29, 2008. [Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can turn your pictures into cash in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel. Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Selling Photos for Cash: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]
