What is "editorial" photography?

[poker]

I've been seeing some photography described as "editorial." What exactly is that? When I hear the word "editorial" I think of newspapers but it appears to be different from photo journalism. Is it a type of story telling though photos with staged shoots?

I'd love to be enlightened. Samples would be great and please describe the work flow from concept to final output.

Thanks!

[Axle]

Taken from WikiAnswers

Editorial photography refers to the pictures in a magazine that aren't ads. The photographs that go along with the articles - even the cover of the magazine. Some photographers shoot only editorial type work, others shoot both editorial and commercial.

Commercial photography is essentially advertising photography - or photography for brochures, annual reports, things like that.

Editorial photography does not pay nearly as well as commercial, but with editorial, you usually get much more creative freedom, and you get a credit line. You do it to add to your portfolio - then show the portfolio to get commercial work.

Let's say you want to be a fashion photographer. Would you like to shoot a layout of photographs for Vogue? Even if you only got paid a few hundred bucks? Of course you would. Then you show those pictures to potential commercial clients - they are impressed - and you make real money shootiing for them.

It's far easier to get your foot in the door of lucrative commercial accounts if you have editorial tearsheets. Shooting editorial work might not pay the bills, but it will be a very good investment in your future.

[poker]

Thanks Axle.


Anyone have first personal experience?

[Axle]

Actually yes I guess I do have experience.

I've had my work published throughout the September 2007 issue of the Presbyterian Record (along with a written piece) including the cover shot.

http://www.presbyterianrecord.ca/ind...d=youthfeature

I'll be working for the Record again this summer at a huge youth event.

I'm also an active photographer for a local event paper.

[Ron Kruger]

I guess I've been shooting editorial photographs for 30 years. I just always called them "illustrations." They are shot with a specific article or subject in mind and try to capture the essence of the subject matter or activity. To shoot editorial photographs, it's best to specialize in a particular subject, study your markets and try to anticipate needs.
I'm a freelance writer, too, so a lot of my illustrations are shot with specific articles in mind, and I sell photos with them as a package. But often a good shot, or series of shots, will inspire an article.
The best illustrations are candid and capture the mood or the action of the activity. Technical quality is a given. What sells an illustration is composition.
The very best of them tell a story all their own, and these are the ones most often chosen for covers. They are what editors call "stand alone shots." Usually these have to be shot a little differently than standard illustrations. They pretty much have to be verticle format, with the subject offset (most of the times to the left) to leave room for teasers, which usually run down the right side.