Editorial Photography:
Unlike advertising photography, editorial is not there to sell what is in the images / being implied in the image, but more to enhance factual based writings, or support text. This is something I feel very passionately about – showing the truth.
Upon research, I have discovered that editorial photography is not the most glamorous genre of the industry. It does not pay the same as being a high class fashion photographer or a retoucher, however it is more about the honesty and the love of photographing the world around you. This can range from simple still life in a situation to (as stated) support a body of text, or of a person to show the reality of somewhere or a situation.
In terms of pay, it depends on the publication you are selling the images to and the reason you are selling them. The top end magazines/ publications will pay around £767 (1000$), where as the very local and low budget publications may only pay £50 (64$) per editorial imagery piece. Much of the time you are freelance, however some magazines have ‘go to’ photographers who they use on a regular basis and fund to go out and photograph stories.
According to https://petapixel.com/2013/07/09/the-economic-realities-of-editorial-photography/ ” if you were to shoot three days per week — one day for the New York Times, one day for Sports Illustrated and one day for the AP — you’d make around $1,050 for that week. If you could do that every week, a 50-week income would be around $52,500 per year before taxes, retirement funding, health insurance costs, equipment acquisition and marketing expenses.” BUT “if you instead work the same three days a week for the $100 per assignment offered by some photo agencies, your annual gross pay would be around $15,000. Once you deduct all of the above expenses, your income would actually place you below the federal poverty line. And, since the agencies that pay at this level often take ownership of the images as well, there is no resale rights retained by the photographer and no residual income to make up for the low creative fee.”
This is definitely the definition of a ‘Dog eat Dog World’. You have to start off small and build your way up through the ranks. However, as mentioned, it is about the love of honest photography than the money. A side job/ other photography career is to be had on the side of an editorial career.
In order to become an editorial photographer, it is best to have studied photography in some way – so that you have a good grasp of that the industry will be like and your technical abilities are good enough to need no prompting to get a good shot.
Should you wish to get into the editorial photography industry then you would need to email, phone and send in imagery to magazines, publications and art editors of the place your want your images to feature. It is a tough industry to get involved with, however it would be extremely rewarding to have your imagery on display for the public to see.
Something to consider is copyright. This means that the company or publication you are selling your image to can either re-use your image, have limited right to use it or own it totally – you no longer hold the right to use the image for self promotion.

Fashion Photography:
When it comes to Fashion Photography, you have to be good to get the work for the major clients. As learned from all of our visiting lecturers, they have stated that if they have gotten fashion photography work, it is often from their personal work. It is something to keep in mind when shooting work for yourself; put it on your website, someone may see it and feel it is new, inventive and could be incorporated into the genre/ style of the fashion world.
According to http://work.chron.com/much-money-fashion-photographer-earn-19458.html the amount a fashion photographer can earn is: “The average annual income of a fashion photographer was $59,000 (£45,462) as of 2013, according to the job website Indeed”
It is clear that you will earn far more being a constantly employed fashion photographer than being an editorial photographer, however you almost always must have an industry based degree in order to know the technical skills required of you. It is also a good idea to have assisted within the area of fashion to ensure you are aware of the tolls taken out of you to get a shoot perfect without the pressure of being the photographer.
Though you will probably earn more than being an editorial photographer, you never have as much creative freedom, as most of the time you are working for a client. This means you have to be an amazing communicator; you must be able to visualise what your client wants, to ensure you are able to achieve the outcome they are paying for.
The fashion industry is even more ‘cut-throat’ than editorial, as, as stated, you have to be the best in order to achieve the major companies and clients. It is often you will begin your career at the bottom, assisting photographers, then gaining status as an assistant and beginning to assist bigger names. Then from there gaining contacts and being given a chance to shoot at a lesser known magazine, building up from there.
This is something I am fascinated by, as I adore assisting, and if I can finally get into the industry and known through that, then I would be content with that career path.