Common Mishaps Publicists Make When Sending Photos to Freelance Writers

It used to be that publications had photo editors who would reach out to PR to coordinate imagery for stories. That’s rarely the case these days, however. Now, freelance writers are largely expected to collect photography to submit along with their articles. I get a lot of questions around how, exactly, freelance writers want publicists to share imagery. The truth is, the process of sending images should be a seamless one—but most of the time, it’s more difficult than it has to be. Take note of how you’re sharing photos with freelance writers: Are you making any of these mistakes?

Mishap #1: Sharing links that expire.

We understand each PR firm uses different systems to manage their files. However, sending links that expire within a few days—like WeTransfer, the notorious culprit—is cumbersome. Often, we’re sharing these links with our editors, who probably don’t open them right away. Then, days or weeks later when they’re ready to publish the story, it forces an entirely new chain of emails of them asking us, and then us asking you, to resend. Save us all time by using links that do not expire, such as Dropbox or Google Drive (don’t forget to grant us access!).

Mishap #2: Attaching large files to emails.

Don’t do it—ever. We don’t have room in our inboxes (RIP my Gmail storage), they make email chains load extremely slow and they’re prone to get lost in the mix. Depending on how you’re attaching them, they can also distort the photo and/or the text of the email.

Mishap #3: Sending photos with strange file names.

If you send a freelance writer a folder of photos with labels such as “Image3948278,” they’re either going to have to go through each one and ask you for individual captions or descriptions or wait for their editor to come back and ask them the exact same thing. Save everyone time in this scenario by simply naming the files what they are (for example, “Hyatt San Diego hotel lobby”). This is especially important for photos with people, as well—include their names, from left to right, so there’s no mistaking who is pictured.

Mishap #4: Forgetting to add photo credits.

When photographer credits are crucial to images, add the credit to the file name so there’s no mistaking what needs to be attributed. My worst nightmare is when a publicist responds to my question about photo credits saying each photo is different, and to have the editor let them know which photo they are using and they’ll share the credit. We are all busy; this scenario isn’t realistic (sorry!). Please include photo credit in file name from the get-go.

Mishap #5: Taking vertical photos.

Look, if you send a lot of vertical photos, we’re going to deduce there’s a good chance they were shot on someone’s phone. Even if they weren’t, publications are likely not going to be able to use them. Check out any digital article and you’ll notice that for most sites, the preview and main image are horizontal. Please keep this in mind when sharing photos for consideration with a story.

Mishap #6: Sending too few options.

When requesting photos, I often get asked “how many do you need”? The question here isn’t how many, it’s about the quality. We want as many options as possible to share with our editors, and it’s up to the editorial team to choose the ones they like. Please don’t send us your take on what would work best; instead, share all the options you have and let us take it from there.

Mishap #7: Not responding in a timely manner.

Sometimes we are working on stories that don’t require much input from PR, knowledge-wise, but do need images. It can be frustrating to reach out to a publicist requesting images due the next day and have them respond saying they can’t deliver by that deadline. Unless it’s an unusual photo request that would require a new shoot, you should keep client photos on-hand to be able to share with journalists quickly. We very much appreciate it!

Did any of these mishaps surprise you? What service do you use to manage photos you send to freelance writers, and does it serve you well? Please share below in the comments!