How does the assignment process work?
As mentioned above, I’ll either submit a story idea or have one suggested to me. The first step in getting a story approved is doing what’s referred to as a one-pager. It’s a single page straight-to-the-point write-up that (a) tells why a story is important, (b) explains what will make it unique, and (c) gives justification for National Geographic spending the resources to pursue the story at this point in time. Every pitch must meet those three criteria or it won’t even get out of the gate. The next step is to research the topic (see above) and come up with a general list of situations to photograph. On each story, I’m assigned a photo editor at the magazine. They help me come up with ideas and make sure they’re all worth going after. Once that’s done we’ll put together a budget, take care of the logistics and I’m off to shoot. Half-way through an assignment, I go in to the Geographic’s headquarters in DC to meet with my editor and the higher-ups at the magazine to assess progress on
