My work was featured in a couple of publications last month. First up, we have PIK (Photographers in Korea). It’s a new magazine that, as the title states, features work by photographers based in Korea. There are numerous English-language publications that focus on events, culture, etc in Korea and it’s great to have a magazine that is for photographers by photographers. One of my street photos was Editor’s choice for the maiden issue of PIK.
For the meantime, PIK is only available online, but that should change in the coming months. Check out the whole issue here.
Next up, we have the October issue of Groove Magazine, one of the premier English-language magazines in Korea. I was given an 8-page feature in their “Capturing Korea” section. This one is close to my heart because I get to show off my home town of Tongyeong to the world. The interview was conducted by the talented Dylan Goldby and tackled the various things to do and places to see in Tongyeong. There’s also a bit of background information about me in there. 🙂
Groove magazine is available monthly in print and electronic format. Check out the whole October issue here.
Photographer’s Corner:
There’s always a lesson to be learned on our journey as photographers. Reflecting on this experience, here are some of my thoughts on how shoot, organize and get your photos noticed (and maybe even published).
1. Keep shooting. Not only will this help you improve your skills, but it will also build up your library of images. All of the photos that are featured in the magazines above were from personal/fun shoots, and I had no idea they would end up being published. It’s nice to have projects and specific end-goals to how your photos will be used, but that will not always be the case. Sometimes the photos happen first and the projects materialize later. Just keep shooting, improve your skills and build a library of quality images. Which takes us to the second point…
2. Keep your photos organized. Some of the featured photos go as far back as 2009. Keeping your archives organized will allow you to get to your photos easily for whatever purpose that may come up. I keep mine organized by year. Under each year folder, you will find folders labeled (for example: 2009-10-31 Tongyeong Island Landscapes). Not only will this allow you to easily find a shoot by date and/or description, it also gives you a nice overview of all your shoots for the year as you view the folders. I use Adobe Lightroom, so each sub folder also houses the Catalog file for that shoot, making a nice little package that is easily moved or copied. I learned this system (and many other essential Lightroom workflow pointers) from Jared Platt’s “Ultimate Lightroom Workflow” on Creative Live, and I highly recommend it.
3. Put your photos out there and make it easy to find them. By now we all know that social networks are a great way to discover and share photos. Both of these publications mentioned above saw my photos on Facebook and Google+ before contacting me. However, there’s an extra step that will allow you to target your audience better:
-Hash tagging is a great way for people to find your content, and all the major social networks support it. A lot of people don’t like hash tags and find them annoying, but that’s mostly because of misuse and overuse by many. #thisisnothowyouuseahashtag Proper hash tagging allows users to search for content relevant to that keyword. Useful tags such as location, genre or event (for example: #korea #seoul #landscape #Halloween) will make your photos searchable, thus potentially increasing views. Also, keep the tags at the bottom of the post, away from the main text to reduce clutter.
-Communities on Google+ let you share your photos with specific audience. The best thing about this is that people that see your photo are more likely to be interested in that particular photo or genre of photography. Sharing photos to communities such as Landscape Photography, Street Photographers, Korean Photography, or even camera brand communities will get your photos to more interested parties.
4. Don’t forget the story. It’s really easy to just post an image onto a social network and be done with it. However, taking the time to at least give the photo a title and description will make it more interesting. Tell the story behind the photo, where it was taken and give other information that will help the viewers understand your photo, vision or process more. I also like to tell the viewers where they can see more of my work at the end of the description.
Well, that’s my quick list. These are things that I do every day when I shoot and share my photos. I think it has helped me and I hope this information helps you. Cheers!
*Speaking of getting featured, I was also the news last month. Daily newspaper Hanryeo Today featured me in their culture section. It’s in Korean, but the headline basically reads “From the Philippines: Roy Cruz – Father, Teacher, Musician and Photographer”. It tells the story of how I came to Korea, my life here in general, and the artistic pursuits I’m currently involved in. Here’s a little shot of the paper as I read it with my morning coffee:
Okay, this tidbit isn’t exactly photo-related, but kind of fun nonetheless. 🙂 Thanks for reading and have a great day!
