Mail Carrier Says She’s Ready for a More Creative Job Route

For 16 years, Cyndy Lawrence has been delivering mail for the U.S. Postal Service. She loves being outdoors. She enjoys greeting people on her route and chatting about her favorite subject: travel.

But recently, she’s yearned to express her creative side in a new vocation. Her carrier job has become monotonous, she says. Its physical demands and bureaucratic rigors are frustrating her.

“This job can really beat you up, especially the long hours,” she said.

Lawrence consulted Massachusetts-based career coach Cheryl Richardson about her concerns.

The coach cautioned Lawrence to look before she career-leaps. Finding a fulfilling vocation that also pays the bills will take time. Lawrence is already dealing with other major life changes. The 39-year-old just moved to Huntington Beach, and she is getting married in May to David Lugaro, who’s also postal worker.

Lawrence would be wise to postpone any important career decisions until after spring, Richardson said.

“Take as much time as you need, so you’ll be able to make smarter choices,” Richardson said. “This will prevent you from making impulsive decisions that you might later regret.”

Through a series of assignments over a 30-day period, Richardson helped Lawrence identify how to combine her interests in travel, photography and graphic design: work for travel magazine.

“It feels right,” Lawrence said. “Nothing else really did.”

Richardson encouraged Lawrence to select a “buddy” (a relative or a friend) who would provide moral support through her career transition. She also suggested that Lawrence record her progress and thoughts in a journal to help her reflect on her decisions.

Richardson and field experts offered these additional tips:

* Study graphic arts, then apprentice. To get employed in a travel magazine’s art department, Lawrence would need to take design courses and familiarize herself with computer programs QuarkXpress and Adobe PageMaker, said Bill Ryan, associate professor of visual communication and design at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

She’d be required to build a graphic arts portfolio. In it, she’d need to have “at least 12 dynamite samples,” said Tom Glass, an instructor at Arts Institutes International at San Francisco.

After completing her course work, Lawrence might wish to apply for an internship at a publication. This way she could gain experience laying out articles, Glass said. It could also result in a job offer, depending on other factors.

* Research travel publications and photography. Lawrence should study the magazines for which she’d like to work. Each has a distinct style. She also should read Folio Magazine, a trade publication for professionals in magazine production, Glass said. This would familiarize her with the industry.

If Lawrence wishes to focus more on travel magazine photography, she can study reference books on the subject. These include “2000 Photographer’s Market,” edited by Megan Lane (Writer’s Digest Books, 1999); “Travel Photography: A Complete Guide to How to Shoot and Sell,” by Susan McCartney (Allworth Press, 1999); and “Better Picture Guide to Travel Photography,” by Michael Busselle (Amphoto, 1998).

But Lawrence should realize that top publications such as National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, Conde Nast Traveler and Islands rarely take on novice photographers. These magazines tend to hire seasoned photographers on a freelance basis because photo shoots are costly. A several-months-long National Geographic shoot, for example, can cost the publication more than $200,000. A 10-day shoot for National Geographic Traveler can run $25,000, according to insiders. “It’s astounding the number of people who send us queries, who have no photo experience, who say they’re going on trips and will shoot for us,” said Keith Bellows, editor-in-chief of National Geographic Traveler in Washington.

* Build your professional photographic career. To showcase her ability as a travel photographer, Lawrence won’t have to go far. She can focus on colorful local sites, said Michael Ventura, a Silver Spring, Md.-based photographer, who has shot for National Geographic Traveler, Travel Holiday and Caribbean Travel & Life.

Lawrence, who already owns camera gear, could get a start in the field by working as a travel photographer’s assistant. She can sharpen her photography skills by attending photo workshops and by going on photo tours. Through these, she’ll learn new techniques, receive tutored instruction and evaluation of her work, and see skilled photographers in action.

National Geographic regularly sends staff employees to workshops to scout for talent, said Bill Allen, editor-in-chief of the Washington-based magazine, in Washington. Lawrence can also apply for affiliate membership in the American Society of Media Photographers (https://www.asmp.org).

* Develop a style. Photo editors make assignments based on a photographer’s unique presentation of subject material, Ryan said. They choose professionals “with specific visions, in different areas of expertise, like fashion, still life, portraiture or landscape,” who make destinations alluring through their photographic wizardry, said Kathleen Klech, photo director of Conde Nast Traveler in New York City.

Lawrence shouldn’t take “cliched shots” of frequently photographed landmarks, pros say. Instead, she must be creative.

Perhaps most important, Lawrence must learn to “think like a writer,” said Chris Caswell, a Los Alamitos-based contributing editor at the glossy Robb Report. Travel magazines want photo series that tell stories. For example, if Lawrence tours a French vineyard, she might take shots of people picking grapes, close-ups of grapes on the vine and other winemaking activities, Caswell said.

* Build experience, market yourself. If she succeeds in putting together an impressive photography portfolio, Lawrence might try to find employment as a newspaper photographer, said Bob Krist, one of the nation’s top travel photographers, whose work has appeared in National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler and Travel & Leisure. That’s how some of the best travel photographers have gotten their start, he said.

She also can try to land “on spec” assignments, said Joan Tapper, editor-in-chief of Islands Magazine in Santa Barbara. This way, editors can review her finished work before deciding whether to purchase it.

* Be aware of the challenges. Travel photography seems glamorous. But pros will tell you it’s anything but. Photographers may put in 16-18 hour days, and, in the case of National Geographic, take 35,000 to 40,000 photographs for a single assignment, Allen said. (Only 15 to 20 will be published.)

And it’s not steady work. Professional travel photographers may work for years before earning a good income--about $50,000 or so. Those who pull in annual fees of more than $100,000 tend to dabble in such higher-paying venues as advertising, fashion and corporate work-for-hire.

Nonetheless, for a certain kind of person, the lure of this work is irresistible. Lawrence, who feels ecstatic about the prospect of such a career, may very well be of that ilk.