Once upon a time, in a prehistoric era (say 2010), when it came to creating a story for a magazine, a writer filed copy and a picture editor found the images.
Now as newspapers and magazines streamline it more and more falls to the writer to source them.
This week I’ve found myself e-mailing for pictures of spas, products and people. It’s very, very helpful if PR’s can get access to these images quickly. (It also means they are more likely to be featured).
It’s equally helpful if they are high enough quality (our system needs jpgs and needs them to be around 4 MB).
Also – whereas once we used to shoot products so they looked beautiful, we are now reliant on PR shots to have beauty and creativity. Yes, it’s essential to have very simple uncluttered imagery of bottles and tubes, but it’s also good to have swooshes of mascara or puddles of highlighter. And when it comes to people and places – having editorial looking, rather than corporate shots, means they are more likely to get used.
If in doubt, when creating them, hire an art director/creative director to help you strike the right balance.