Shooting Magazine Editorial

I’ve been asked to post information on how to shoot editorial for Perfect Wedding Magazine. The reality is this information should be used to shoot any image, whether it be fashion, commercial products or scenery but  you need to remember the one golden rule: shoot loose!

Shoot Loose

is a term I use when explaining to other photographers how to crop photos. It is extremely important that there is enough ‘extra’ space around the image so the image can be adjusted and cropped for the page size. These days I see many new photographers shooting images full frame, meaning their ‘works of art’ are shot by composing exactly what the see in their viewfinder as the final crop – edge to edge to edge to edge.

Often, images need edges rebuilt so there is enough of that ‘extra’ image area to use in full bleed pages. For you newbies, bleed edge is what gets cut off when the magazine is trimmed to size. If there isn’t sufficient image area for bleed edge, or it simply can not be recreated, white area will need to be added around the image, sometimes decreasing the ‘impact’ of the shot. I’ll be posting more info on the different aspects to consider when shooting for a magazine, so check back soon.

Sincerely,

Gordon S. Cooper
Photographer, Art Director and Editor for Perfect Wedding Magazine