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Career advice
How to start out as a wildlife photographer
We are often asked: how can I become a professional photographer? We usually answer: don’t give up the day job.
Nature photography is a very competitive field and very few professionals live in the lap of luxury, so it’s best to get your career off the ground, and establish links with publications and/or agencies, before you wave gooodbye to the 9 to 5 and skip off into the sunset with your camera gear in hand.
- Your chances of success are considerably improved if you are technically competent. There are a range of courses available, from casual evening classes to degrees.
- Alternatively, you could join a photography club. There’s bound to be one in your area and they often invite professionals in to speak about their work and review yours. This is a great opportunity to network and get honest feedback.
- Keep a portfolio of your work to show to people. Edit it brutally so that you only include the very best shots. Ask friends to help you choose if necessary – your personal attachment to particular images may influence your judgement.
- Showcase the breadth of your work – different subjects and camera techniques, close-ups and in its environment, etc.
- Enter competitions – being able to say you won an award might make an editor, who may otherwise delete your email, take a glance. Ideally, try to win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, as this will help launch your career in one easy (or not so easy) step.
- Get your images seen – donate them to local conservation groups for their websites and member magazines. Don’t be mean, let them use them for free – it’s a great way to get published and your name known.
- Keep up to date with the work of professional wildlife photographers – you can learn a lot by studying, but not copying, the work of others.
- Visit the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition or look at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio hardback book – this is the standard you should aspire to.
- Buy BBC Wildlife and other photography magazines. See if they have dedicated reader sections you can submit your photos to. BBC Wildlife has our Your Photos section in the magazine, the Photo Contest online, the Q&A section and Letters, which all welcome amateur photographers (see our guidelines for submitting photos).
- Many photos published in our Your Photos pages attract the attention of other media, who are often prepared to pay for their use.
- If your work is of an equal standard to the professional work published in a magazine – or you have something new to offer – try sending a low res jpg and brief description to the picture researcher.
- If you do not hear anything within a month, send a polite follow-up but do not harrass them. If you do not hear back, simply accept that, on this occasion, you did not have what they were looking for and try again another time.
- Many photographers usually work on a freelance basis, selling their work directly to publications, or using an agency to market their work on their behalf.
- If you have built up an extensive body of excellent work and need some help to promote it, why not approach an agency?
- To see which agencies BBC Wildlife uses, simply read the picture credits in the magazine. Our main agencies are NPL, FLPA, NHPA, photolibrary.com, specialiststock.com, RSPB, Alamy, ardea.com and Natural Visions.
- It is extremely difficult to make a living out of wildlife photography alone. Some professionals supplement their income with commercial photography (such as weddings, etc).
How to start out as a wildlife journalist
We receive many queries about how to get established as a freelance journalist specialising in wildlife or environmental issues.
Why not start by contacting your local careers service or the National Union of Journalists for more specific advice?
The following are only rough guidelines:
- A science degree could be an advantage.
- Get some work experience on BBC Wildlife (see our work experience page) or a relevant publication to gain understanding of how publishing works and to decide whether it is the career for you.
- Be prepared to do anything to get a foot in the door. Competition for jobs in all wildlife- and environment-related fields is fierce. Enthusiasm and determination to succeed in your chosen field are essential attributes.
- Read as much as you can so that you learn to distinguish good journalism from bad.
- Build up your portfolio by writing for charity magazines and local publications (even for free), such as the Wildlife Trusts, local charities or websites.
- Read lots of magazines, work out what audience they are trying to reach and what their aims are, decide what sort of stories they might be interested in (or ask them), then identify stories that will fit the magazine, contact the relevant team member and pitch the story in a brief but persuasive manner. See our guidelines on sending in your story ideas to magazines.
- Finally, nine times out of ten you will not receive a response. Don’t be put off, keep trying.
Consider enrolling on a journalism or science communication course. There are lots of courses around, ranging from multimedia journalism to creative writing, including:
- City University, London, offers a postgraduate diploma in Magazine Journalism designed to prepare students for a first job in magazine journalism.
- The Department of Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire (Preston) offers a broad range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including broadcast and newspaper journalism.
- Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies runs a BA in Journalism, Film & Broadcasting.
- Falmouth College of Arts offers a BA Hons in Journalism, specialising in radio journalism.
- Imperial College London offers postgraduate courses in Science Communication, Science Media Production and Scientific, Technical and Medical Translation with Translation Technology.
- University of Bath runs a Masters course in Science, Culture and Communication and Diploma in Science Culture and Communication.
- The PTC offers a Professional Certificate in Journalism aimed at new journalists working on periodicals and electronic titles.
- London School of Journalism offer many journalism courses including home study, Postgraduate and NUJ recognised.
- National Union of Journalism offers many training courses for all stages of your career. Some is free and online.
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Professional Publishers Association (PPA) and ContentETC have united to launch two new journalism certificates, featuring e-learning, online tutors and expert assessment. Please click here for more information.
We hope that this helps you get started on this rewarding career path.
