An excellent talking point in connection with photography is a depart ment specially devoted to children's sittings. A great proportion of the income of the local photographer is derived from producing pictures of children, and an influx of business of this type serves as the best intro duction possible to a studio. People who are brought into contact with a photographer who can produce excellent photographs of children, frequently remain as patrons in other directions.
But the conventional work of the photographer is not by any means the only field available to the man with the camera. There is a distinct market for good pictures of almost any subject under the sun. The growth of the illus trated press and the modern tendency to illustrate only by photographs have provided a market for the artist with a camera which he would be unwise to neglect. The illustrated press itself is practically open to take almost any pictures bearing on our social or business life. For press purposes, photo graphs of interesting personalities are always acceptable, and there is scarcely a district which does not produce subjects which are interesting from this point of view. Good local views have also their market, both locally and generally, while pictures of social events of every description are in constant demand. Photographs with a news interest are always acceptable to such papers as the Graphic, the Illustrated London News, the Sketch, the Taller, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Sketch, while most of the daily papers are prepared to consider pictures which have a news interest. It should be remembered that very often a news interest underlies the most commonplace subject. Frequently, in every district, there are industries, local events in the sporting connection, social events, which have a news value which is neglected by the photographer, and this field only needs exploiting to produce a ready source of income.
There is also a demand for artistic subject pictures amongst the illus trated journals, and any photographer who has an idea of subjects should find ready employment in catering for this demand. The growth of adver tising of recent years has also opened up a field for the photographer. Ideas which illustrate advertisers' propositions are always acceptable, and there is a steady demand for good photographs which can be used for publicity purposes.
The photographer who is anxious to make a connection along these lines should carefully study his market. If he is desirous of going in for press work, he should take the illustrated papers available, note the type of picture they use, and make a point of providing that kind of photograph.
Choosing a list of a dozen papers who use photographs along definite lines, if he takes the trouble to provide subjects which fit into the policy of those papers, he will be surprised at the readiness with which they are accepted. Photographing for advertising purposes is much more difficult, as it requires the specific subject rather than the picture of general interest, and has a greater possibility of leakage in that a picture which will suit one firm will not often suit many others. Success along these lines depends upon the photographer's instinct in choosing the useful subject, but if he has that instinct he will find a ready sale for his illustrations.
Prices in photography rule pretty much the same everywhere. The right of reproduction for one issue is usually valued at about 10s. 6d., particularly when the pictures are taken from men who only occasionally supply subjects. If, on the other hand, working for the Press, the photo grapher can devise a line of photographs and supply them regularly, he would possibly be asked to supply them a little cheaper. The regularity of the income from this kind of work would be ample compensation. Again, if he specialised the work, and provided a type of photographs which was not available in other directions, he might even increase the usual price and get steady support for superior work on a much better basis. This particularly applies to advertising, where the idea rather than the subject is valuable. The man who is capable of producing photographic pictures with good illustrative ideas in them is always sure of a ready sale.
In dealing with the newspaper, the simplest way is to send unmounted copies of the photographs direct to the editor, although there are numerous agencies which are always open to consider good photographs. In dealing with the advertiser the best method is to choose a list of agents representing various well-known firms, submitting the photographs to them. They in their turn submit the photographs to their clients, and if the ideas suggested are at all practical, they meet with fairly free acceptance. Success in photo graphy along these lines depends upon the intelligence of the operator in considering his market and understanding its needs. Directly he appreciates the possibilities of the demand for suitable pictures, he is on the high road to success.