What are words worth ?sx Gordon Wells gets out his typewriter to explain how an article will help sell your photographs .sx You're a good photographer .sx You enjoy seeing your pictures in print , but you don't have much success at selling them .sx You hanker after selling more .sx Let me show you how .sx .. Look at all those general ( ie not photography magazines on the newsagents' shelves .sx They contain a lot of pictures - illustrating general-interest articles .sx Many of those shots are sold to the magazine as part of a 'package' of words and pictures .sx You'll sell more of your photographs if they are submitted with a feature article .sx Maybe you don't feel confident about writing articles .sx You haven't written much - apart from letters - since you left school .sx Don't worry .sx Editors don't want school compositions or essays .sx All you need do is tell it like it is , write as though you were talking to your neighbour over the garden fence .sx The more simply you write , the better it is .sx It just requires application ( and perseverance ) , something to write about , some good photographs .sx .. and luck !sx .sx We'll come back to how you write later , but let's think about the photographs first .sx What photographs are you trying to sell ?sx Initially , you will find it easier to sell black and white photographs than colour .sx Go back , look again at those magazines in the newsagents :sx those which concern your other-than-photography hobby such as gardening , fishing , motoring , etc. Look at the women's magazines too .sx Forget the lead features - look at the articles further back in the magazines .sx Most have black and white illustrations .sx While you're looking at these magazines , watch out too for the 'Letters to the Editor' page .sx You will often find the letters accompanied by photographs - also black and white - and they are often paid for .sx Notice particularly Country Life and Field .sx Both pay for any photographs accompanying the letters - about pounds12 per picture used - and a 7x5in print is big enough .sx All you need is a photograph of something interesting ( and relevant to that magazine ) and you can write something like this :sx 'Your readers will be interested in the enclosed photograph of .sx .. an unusual inn-sign which I noticed while on holiday in Antarctica .sx I wonder whether Lord Lucan knows this hostelry is named after him ?sx ' All you have to write is about 100 words and .sx .. you've got a picture published and paid for .sx But let's progress beyond letters to the editor .sx You will probably find it easiest to sell a short article with a set of linked photographs .sx Say you have half a dozen pictures of items in your antique collection , or of different types of church weather vanes , or lych-gates , or whatever .sx The fact that you have a set of pictures makes it easier for you to write an article around them .sx Just explain their provenance .sx Or tell a little of the history of weather vanes , or whatever .sx The most important requirement for a writer-photographer is the idea for the article .sx You need to think how you can make your subject interesting to the casual reader .sx It's seldom any good merely writing about weather vanes ; you've got to have a slant to make the topic interesting .sx You can sometimes get ideas from looking at other people's articles and often you can lift both idea and subject matter from a defunct , jumble-sale magazine - and update it .sx When all else fails , maybe you can get an idea for a general-interest article by picking some photogenic object at random - street lights , coins , sundials - and asking yourself the usual Who ?sx What ?sx Why ?sx Where ?sx When ?sx and How ?sx questions about them .sx Seek out the answers , take some photographs , and write your article .sx You also need to know which magazine to write these articles for .sx You cannot write first and then think about the market afterwards .sx The standard publications ( The Writers' &Artists' Yearbook or The Writers' Handbook ) will help as will my own , detailed study of 70 - odd relevant magazines in Photography for Article-writers , published by Allison &Busby .sx But irrespective of reference books , you need to study the target magazines yourself .sx Try to picture the average reader - the advertisements and the letters page will help in this exercise .sx That is who your illustrated article has to interest ; there's no such thing as a captive readership .sx Check the length of the illustrated articles in your target magazine .sx It's pointless writing a 2500-word article for a magazine that never uses anything longer than 800 words - and vice-versa .sx Check also the type of feature the magazine uses :sx The Lady wouldn't use a feature on 'Victorian sex-aids' - Cosmopolitan might .sx Now the actual writing .sx The basic rule is to write concisely and simply .sx Don't waste words ; don't use a long word when a short one will do and don't try to be 'literary .sx ' Write the way you talk .sx Use varied , but fairly short , sentence-lengths :sx and keep the paragraphs short - maybe 50-60 words , three or four sentences only .sx Grab your reader's attention quickly .sx Make your opening paragraph short and snappy .sx If your opening paragraph bores the reader , he'll never reach the second one .sx Your last paragraph should also be strong .sx It helps too , if you can round off the article neatly - by coming back to a point that was mentioned in the first paragraph .sx And because your objective is to get your photographs into print too , mention them in the article .sx Take care though :sx don't let your words commit an editor to using a specific picture , which he may not like .sx When your article is finished , reading it aloud helps you notice the uncomfortable phrases , the pomposities , the waffle and the repetitions .sx Delete them all .sx Tighten up your writing ; it can only be better .sx Finally , type your article and the associated captions sheet , double-spaced ( type a line , miss a line ) on white A4 paper , leaving wide margins ( say 1 1/2 in) .sx Type your name and address on the last page .sx Ensure your name and address - and a key word linking the pictures to the article - is on the back of each photograph .sx Provide a cover sheet for your article ; on it , give the title , the length and how many pictures accompany it - and repeat your name and address .sx Provide a card to protect the pictures , and a stamped addressed envelope big enough for the return of the photographs ( and the manuscript if rejected) .sx Post it off - and forget it .sx You may not hear anything for a month , even longer with some editors .sx Don't worry .sx Get on with the next feature .sx You may not sell your first illustrated article , but don't let it put you off .sx If you work at it , you will sell something soon .sx You'll have got your pictures into print , and you'll get paid for the words too .sx That's how I got started !sx .sx Small is BEAUTIFUL .sx Minolta has launched two tiny AF SLRs which pack a huge array of features into their diminutive bodies .sx When Minolta grabbed the flagging SLR market by the scruff of the neck , shook it around a bit and launched the 7000 , the company clearly established a lead .sx Only Canon followed it with any vigour , and its low-priced EOS 1000F looked as if it were likely to steal the whole lower sector of the market .sx Minolta's response to this threat comes in two forms :sx the Dynax 3xi and SPxi .sx The price of the two cameras leaves no-one in any doubt that in addition to simply replacing the 5000i in terms of specification , the two cameras can match the 3000i for both size and price .sx Twins While SPxi and 3xi are not identical twins , there are more similarities than differences , so unless otherwise indicated , any mention of the 3xi refers also to the SPxi .sx Both cameras , as their suffixes suggest , are based around Minolta's new expert intelligence concept and have improved focusing and metering ( compared to the previous generation of Dynaxes ) , as well as the eye-start facility first seen on an SLR with the 7xi .sx Eye-start sets the camera functions in motion when the camera is brought to the eye .sx Two contacts in the handgrip activate the infrared emitter and receiver which calculate whether the camera is being held next to the eye .sx In theory , the eye-start system gives the photographer a far better chance of obtaining a correctly focused and exposed grab - shot , activating the focusing , the exposure , and with some lenses , of which more later , the auto-standby zoom .sx There are four exposure modes available to the user , with the usual combination of manual , aperture priority , shutter priority and expert program .sx The distinguishing feature of this expert program is its use of a program area rather than a program line .sx Instead of simply being an exposure equation that is weighted to either small apertures for depth of field or fast shutter speeds to reduce image blur , the expert program uses an area ( rather than a line ) , which gives the camera a bit more flexibility in its choice of exposure parameters .sx Metering is achieved with a trimmed down version of the honeycomb system seen on the 7xi ; with eight segments rather than 14 .sx The honeycomb system , like other matrix-based systems , uses the different readings to determine where the main subject lies , and to thus calculate the correct exposure by weighting different segments of the honeycomb appropriately .sx If the prevailing lighting conditions change , the system recalculates the exposure concentrating on the segment where the subject is to be found , even if it is not in the centre of the frame .sx For shots with the built-in flash ( 3xi only ) , or with a dedicated flash , there is a second silicon photocell in the camera to give off the film TTL flash metering .sx Expert focusing .sx Using a larger area than the 5000i and 3000i , the 3xi goes directly into continuous focusing mode when the camera is brought to the eye .sx If the subject in the focus frame is moving , the camera stays in continuous mode and calculates the degree of subject movement that will take place between the shutter release being depressed fully and the time of exposure , and adjust the lens accordingly to give a perfectly focused shot .sx The sensitivity of the AF system is such that it can ( with sufficient contrast ) focus on subjects in light levels as low as EV-1 ( which would require a four second exposure at f/1 .sx 4 ) , and ( in the case of the 3xi ) the built-in flash gives a series of low power pulses to illuminate the subject in low - light or low contrast situations .sx In fact the camera's metering system is not as sensitive to low light as the AF system , with the honeycomb matrix going down to EV1 and the spotmetering ( SPxi only ) down to EV4 , but it can cope with brighter lights up to EV20 , as opposed to the AF's EV18 .sx The power zoom xi lenses launched with the 7xi and the latest power zoom 35-80mm f/4-5 .sx 6 , like the previous Dynax lenses , bear no aperture ring or markings .sx Aperture and shutter speeds are controlled by two sliding switches ; one by the lens throat , the other just ahead of the shutter release on the top - plate of the camera .sx Given that the expert exposure and focus system preclude the need for many of the creative expansion cards used with previous range of Dynax cameras , there is no expansion port .sx The camera is otherwise little disturbed by buttons :sx with one on the back of the 3xi to raise the flash manually ( it pops up automatically in program mode whenever it is required ) or , on the SPxi , to bring the spotmetering into operation .sx Fuzzy logic .sx While the phrase 'fuzzy logic' is getting to be as overworked by camera manufacturers' marketing departments as 'ergonomic styling' was a couple of years ago , it is still a reasonably accurate description of the method that the 3xi and SPxi use to determine the correct exposure .sx Getting to the right place in the program area using such criteria as focal length of the lens in use , the distance of subject and , if any , the motion of the subject , the camera gets what it considers the ideal exposure for the subject .sx