Mary Ann Melton, my wife, is a nature photographer. She does other things as well, but her heart is in nature shots. Lately, she’d been hunting about, seeking markets for her work. It’s a shotgun approach, as it is with my writing. Send a large variety of material out into the marketplace and hope something sticks.
She’s had a bit of success, winning awards in museums and getting a raft of POTD’s (Picture of the Day) at various websites. Her material has shown up in publications as well, but one of the prime targets she’s pursued, Texas Highways, has finally bought one of her photos. It’s in the current issue, September 2006 on page 21, illustrating a place in Lost Maples State Natural Area.
You can get the magazine in bookstores, at least locally here in Texas, or directly from the Texas Highways website, or from Amazon Texas Highways
It’s interesting that of all the spectacular photos she sent to the editor at the magazine, he chose a photo illustrating a scene you’re likely to see any time of the year, not the famous trees in the fall. This was the theme the editor was pushing, and since the limestone cliffs weren’t as glamorous as the leaves, Mary Ann almost didn’t include the shot that was actually bought. That’s a little bit of publishing wisdom I’ve learned over the years. Let editors be editors. Give them more than you think they might want. Let the editor reject it if it’s not wanted, don’t try to be a mind reader and reject your own submissions in advance.
Congrats to Mary Ann!