Many of our best articles come from the ranks of working residential contractors and other construction professionals like you. We welcome you to submit ideas whether or not you have writing experience. Our editors and illustrators will work closely with you to help you produce a completed article.

To discuss a story idea, write to us at JLC-Edit, 186 Allen Brook Lane, Williston, VT 05495, or send an email to JLC jlcedit@hanleywood.com.

Please include a brief description of your story idea. Also include photos or rough drawings if any are available. While we will make every effort to return your original materials in the condition they are received, we urge you to make duplicate copies of any materials which are important to you.

Once your idea has been accepted by our editorial staff, please refer to the Writers Guidelines and Photography Guidelines below to help guide you through the process of producing an article. Be sure to talk to an editor before you start writing because you don’t want to go to the trouble to write something and then find out that someone else was already working on the same topic.

WRITER'S GUIDELINES

The Journal of Light Construction is written by and for residential and light commercial contractors; its mission is to use real-world, nuts-and-bolts experience to educate builders about the products, tools, and techniques they need to be successful.

General Style. All of the editors at The Journal of Light Construction were builder-authors before we joined the staff, so we remember how difficult it was to find the time and energy to write an article. We also remember agonizing about grammar, spelling, and the "voice" of the articles we wrote while we were still builders.

Well, you don't have to worry about how your article "sounds." We don't expect a work of art — what we're interested in is your information. Whatever the topic, we're asking you to write because as a builder, you know what's important and what's not. If you spend a lot of time trying to get the wording just so, it will take you much longer to finish your writing - and it will probably come out too stiff and formal anyway. The best thing to do is write it the way you would speak it if you were telling your story to another tradesperson or contractor.

Focus on Content. So don't worry about the language. Concentrate instead on the details of what you want to say. If you have trouble getting started, imagine that you are going away for a week and have to explain to one of your employees or a fellow carpenter how to frame a roof or hang a door or sand a floor. Try to think of everything that's important without adding too many extraneous details.

Be Specific. If you prefer to use this tool instead of that tool, say so. If your experience tells you that the work must proceed in specific stages, explain what they are and why the order is so important. Use examples to make your point.

Who Are You Writing For? Your audience is other builders. Some will already know all about your topic, some will know next to nothing about it, and still others will know just enough to be dangerous. All of them will find something of interest, even if it's simply a new wrinkle on a technique they've used for years. If you're at a loss for what to say next, put yourself in their position. What did you want to know about your topic the first time you came up against it? If you can save someone the trouble of reinventing the wheel, you've done your job.

Ask Your Editor. It's your editor's job to make you sound good. Usually, your editor will have had some experience with your topic, and will be able to help you organize your thinking about it. As editors, we talk with lots of builders and read dozens of articles each year, so we have a fairly good idea of which direction your article should take to be most useful to readers.

Graphics. Be sure to provide photographs and drawings because without them there is no story. Think about it- when you’re on site and need to explain something you don’t write instructions, you sketch a detail or give someone a drawing. Our readers come from the same world as you, and like you, they want to see drawings or better yet, photos of the work as it’s being done.

JLC PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDELINES

Photographs are one of the most important parts of a magazine article. Our readers are very busy so they tend to skim the photos first to see if the story is worth reading. We want them to be able to figure out what the story is about just by looking at photos and reading captions. If the photos don’t grab them they may not bother to read the text.

If you have ever seen a fashion shoot on TV or in a movie then you have noticed how professional photographers shoot many rolls of film (or now- digital shots) in the hope that two or three photos will be good enough to publish. We’re not as picky as a fashion magazine, but it does help to take a lot of photos because stories turn out better when there are many shots to choose from. It’s not at all unreasonable to take 150 shots or more for a story. If you are shooting film, don’t worry about the cost of film and processing- we’ll reimburse you for it if it’s for an article.

Composition
It’s hard to know in advance which shots will best illustrate a story. So the thing to do is to shoot from various distances and angles. Close-ups are good for showing details. But you should also put the details in context by taking other shots from farther away. For example, a close-up of a bolted structural connection should show more than just the bolt. Ideally, the shot would include the bolt and enough of the surrounding structure for the reader to figure out what’s holding up what.

Vertical shots are best. Most cameras shoot rectangular pictures. So depending on how you hold the camera, you can get photos that are tall and narrow (vertical) or short and wide (horizontal). The first rule is to orient the camera so that the shot includes everything you want to show. But if you can take the picture either way- it’s best to shoot vertical because tall thin photos fit better in tall skinny magazine columns.

Be sure to include people. In general, photos are more interesting to look at when there are people in them. That doesn’t mean you should have the crew line up for a company photo, but if you’re describing how to tie rebar, try to include the guy who’s tying it. Finished shots are fine, but action shots are better. Avoid posing action shots. Posed shots might look real to a magazine editor but they won’t fool a professional tradesman. Whenever possible, shoot the real thing while it’s actually happening on the job.

Digital Images
Digital images are made from pixels- the more pixels there are- the better the photo will be. A digital photo that looks good on your computer or on the viewing screen of your camera may not have enough resolution to be printed in a magazine.

Digital Cameras. When we first started using digital images we told authors that the camera needed to be rated for at least 3 megapixels. That’s still true, but digital cameras have dropped so much in price that there’s no reason not to use something better. I’m writing this in late 2009 and at this time you can get a good 8 megapixel 4X zoom point and shoot camera for less than $200.

A digital SLR would be better – mostly because they have better lenses than most point and shoots and because they can be equipped with powerful auxiliary flash units. That said - it’s not necessary to spend the $700+ it costs to buy a digital SLR. It’s much better to have an inexpensive camera that you are not afraid to take on site than to have an expensive one that you’re afraid to get dirty. Whatever kind of camera you use be sure to buy a large enough memory card – 1 Gigabyte is a good place to start.

Use finest quality setting. Every digital camera is different, but they all have various quality settings. If you want your photos to be good enough for a magazine, then always shoot on the highest or finest quality setting. Digital cameras can produce a variety of image formats. One way to know if the images have enough resolution to publish is to look at the size of the digital file. If your camera produces Jpegs, the files should be a minimum of 500kb and preferably, over 1 megabyte. As a rule of thumb – if you have high speed internet access and can email more than two photos at a time – then the photos are probably too small.

Film Cameras
While it’s best to shoot digital, you may have photos that were taken on print or slide film. If you show these photos to an editor he/she can tell you whether or not they are good enough to print.

Lighting
It’s hard to have too much light when you’re taking photos. Try to shoot in daylight even when you’re shooting indoors. And whenever possible, use the flash, even when you’re shooting outdoors. If this doesn’t make sense, ask a JLC editor about using fill flash. Built-in flash units are fine for snap-shots, but they aren’t very powerful. If you have an SLR camera, try to use an add-on flash unit. You may want to supplement the ambient lighting with clamp lights or portable halogen units.

Reflections. Be careful when you photograph windows or other reflective surfaces. If you shoot these things from straight on, the flash will bounce straight back into the lense and show up on the photo as a big shiny ball on the glass. The best way to avoid this is to avoid photographing shiny surfaces. But if that’s not possible, shoot from an angle instead of from straight on.

Try different angles. Lighting photographs is like shooting pool. If you shoot the cue ball straight into the cushion it will bounce straight back. But if you angle the shot you can make the ball go any direction you choose. You can do the same thing with a camera flash or with stationary lights. You can supplement the ambient light in the room by aiming clamp lights or a portable light stand at your subject. To avoid reflections, position the lights at an angle to the subject. If the subject is at 12 o’clock and you are at 6 o’clock, position the lights somewhere around 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock. You can also bounce light off the ceiling provided it’s light in color and less than 10’ high. You can do this with lamps or by angling an adjustable flash unit towards the ceiling.

Exposure and Color
There are two things to know about using flash and auxiliary lights. Bouncing light diminishes its intensity. So avoid bouncing in low-light conditions unless you have a lot of lights or a very powerful flash. Unless you’re a professional photographer, you’re going to be using daylight film. Daylight film works fine outdoors and is good for shooting indoors with a flash. But other types of light will make the photos come out a funny color. Halogen light is not that bad. Incandescent bulbs are a distant second. And fluorescent is the absolute worst.

Fill flash. Most cameras automatically adjust to the amount of available light. But things like lights and windows can fool cameras. If you aim the camera at a strong source of light, it will think the room is brighter than it really is. If the shot includes a window, the glass will be properly exposed but everything else in the room will be too dark to see. When shooting indoors, set the camera to flash (fill flash) whether it wants to or not.