Editorial.
Editorial photography is photos made for a story someone else is telling: a feature, a cover, a guide. The writer has the words. My job is making sure the photo holds up its end.
What editorial work is.
A cover: one photo that has to carry a title and sell the issue from a mailbox or a rack. A portrait: the person in the story, photographed where the story happens, with room for the layout. A feature: a restaurant, a shop, a museum, a kitchen, shot so the reader can see the place the writer is describing. An event: the magazine’s own, or a community event they want to run.
Editorial is different from business photography in three ways. The writer’s story decides the photo, not a shot list. The layout decides the shape: vertical with headroom for a cover, wide for a spread. And the deadline is the deadline, because the press date doesn’t move.
Neighbors of North Naperville.
Each month I photograph the family on the cover, for a magazine mailed to more than a thousand homes in North Naperville. The September and October 2026 covers are mine, and I shot some earlier ones too, June 2026 among them.
Naperville Magazine.
Portraits of the people in their stories, photos for features on local places, food, and businesses, and their events, including Best of Naperville. When I’ve shot a community event they need, they run those too.
The Chamber’s Business & Community Resource Guide.
Every year I photograph the Chamber’s teams, committees, board, and staff for its guide, and my photos from the year’s events run all through it. The 2025 cover started as an idea we worked out together: giant translucent letters, held up one at a time on the Riverwalk’s covered bridge, then composited into a single photo of the bridge spelling out NACC. The 2026 cover is a montage of thirty to forty of my photos.
How it goes.
The assignment. Send me the story, the subject, the deadline, and anything the layout needs: a vertical with room for the masthead, a wide photo for the opener, a set of smaller ones for the sidebar. I can reach out to the subject and set the time, or you can.
The shoot. At the subject’s place, as a rule: the restaurant, the shop, the home, the office. I bring the light. A cover family gets an outdoor session timed for the light; a business feature gets photographed in the space, around their day.
Delivery. Files sized for print, sent to the editor by the deadline, licensed for the uses we agree on in the quote: the issue, the website, the magazine’s social.
Where I work.
The magazines I shoot for cover Naperville and the towns around it, so most assignments are close to home: North Naperville for the Neighbors covers, Naperville and the surrounding suburbs for Naperville Magazine, and wherever the Chamber’s events are.
Questions people ask before they book.
Do you shoot for other publications?
Yes. The three regulars are above. If you edit a magazine, a newsletter, or a guide that needs a photo made to a story, send the story and the deadline.
Do you write as well?
No. I shoot. The writer’s story is what the photo serves.
Can a business hire you to photograph a feature about them?
Yes. If a magazine is running a story on your business and wants you to supply the photo, or the piece is sponsored and the photos are yours to arrange, send me the story, the deadline, and the name of the magazine, so the photo fits their page.
Do you photograph covers?
Yes. The Neighbors of North Naperville cover family each month, and the Chamber’s guide cover two years running.
Who owns editorial photos?
The publication gets a license for the uses in the quote: the issue, their website, their social. I keep the copyright, which is standard. If the person in the story wants the photos for themselves, ask. It’s a separate license, and I’ll tell you what’s possible.
How much notice do you need?
Tell me the deadline when you send the assignment and I’ll tell you yes or no. I’d rather say no than miss a press date.
Do you shoot video for the magazine too?
Yes. A short clip of the subject for the magazine’s social, or a few seconds of the room, shot in the same visit as the stills and quoted with them.
Can the subject of a story buy prints or files?
Ask me. The publication holds the license for the issue and its channels; the subject can usually get a print or a web-sized file for their own use under a separate, simple license. I’ll tell you what’s possible once I know who’s asking and what for.