If you are thinking of becoming a travel photographer, you should know a few things before launching your career.

how-to-become-a-professional-travel-photographer

There's a lot more to becoming (or being) a travel photographer than a camera and travel. We've created this candid list to help anyone thinking of combining their love for photography and travel into a paycheck. Let us know what you think about our complete guide on how to become a professional travel photographer.

What is Travel Photography?

Travel photography can be defined as images related to the $1 trillion global travel industry that is diverse and complex. The images themselves can be hugely diverse and range in genre. They can include photographic disciplines such as landscape, architecture, portraiture, street, wildlife, and event photography.

Travel pictures are used by:

Travel print publications or websites,
Hotels or resorts,
Industry publications or organizations,
Tourist attractions,
Outdoor adventure companies,
Local events,
Cultural websites or organizations

Lastly, travel images can be used for various purposes, including merchandise, advertising/marketing, news reporting, story features, and print sales.

Is Travel Photography For You?

Travel photography isn't for every photographer. Being able to take phenomenal pictures isn't the only requisite for succeeding as a travel photographer. Of course, you need to love travel. You need to be flexible, adaptive to other cultures and circumstances (be ready for last-minute travel changes and chaoses). The most successful travel photographers tend to also have a keen business sense. Here are a few things you should consider:

You Must Be Adaptable and Flexible

Think of the challenges of shooting out in the field locally. Then, consider what it takes to replicate all of that in unfamiliar locations when you might be exhausted from jetlag and a 14-hour flight. As a travel photographer, you need to be able to adapt quickly to circumstances, which means being very flexible.

You'll likely face issues such as long flights, canceled flights, unfamiliar airports, potential language barriers, hotels, and hauling your gear safely. Imagine jumping on a flight to Australia, arriving 24 hours later after several stops, and battling severe jetlag while producing great work and a continually changing client schedule. It's not for everyone. Is it for you?

Culturally respectful

You need to be respectful of other people and cultures as a travel photographer. You can be selective with your assignments once you're well established. However, as a fledgling photographer, you might have to take foreign jobs in places with vastly different cultures. Being respectful of others is critically important while remaining sensitive.

Ready To Get Started?

If travel photography sounds like your dream career, join hundreds of travel photographers in the Fstoppers Travel Photography Group to discuss destinations, techniques, and stories from the field. We're here to help!

Want to keep up-to-date with my own travel photography and see shots from behind the scenes?

Steps to Becoming a Travel Photographer

If you think you're ready to give it a go, below is some advice to becoming a travel photographer. Of course, you should excel at photography and, specifically, at more than one genre to increase your chances. While it's possible to make a living in this field, your early years might be a bit lean as you build your reputation and portfolio.

Where to start: There are numerous roads to a successful travel photography career. Some photographers start locally by shooting events or images for local travel publications or websites. (Local tourism boards can be a good place to start.) Others manage to grab national or international contracts early on.

License Your Travel Photography: One of the biggest mistakes novice photographers make is not licensing their images. (You can learn more about licensing images here.) If you're just starting out, you might try working with an online site that allows you to offer your images for licensing. Also, check out the nonprofit Creative Commons for licensing help.

Develop a Portfolio: Like any other discipline, you'll need a body of work to show a prospective employer. You don't need to travel to exotic places to develop that portfolio. As we said earlier, you can start locally. Most travel photography involves people, architecture, and landscapes. You don't have to go far to capture these. Scout your region as if you were a tourist and identify destinations that would be of interest to a tourism board, hotel chain, travel magazine/website, etc. Potential employers want to see that you have excellent photography skills and a keen and creative eye.

Offer Your Work: This isn't pro-bono work. Look at it as a means to an end - the end being paid work. Offer your photography services to a business in the travel/tourism industry, whether at a holiday destination on your travels or locally, as you try to launch your career. Negotiate a fee for shooting a few photos. In some cases, a hotel might be willing to provide free or heavily discounted lodging in exchange for images. For example, if you're headed on holiday to Hawaii, reach out to hotels, resorts, and the local tourism board before your trip. (Often, smaller businesses are more likely to barter.) Combine business with pleasure, and you might end up with a paying gig.

Sell Prints: While you're building your travel portfolio, you can sell your prints or photobooks through your website or photography sites that allow sales. Another idea is to display your work through galleries. This can generate sales as well as raise your profile as a travel photographer.

Start a Travel Blog: You can raise your profile through a blog. Yes, there are countless blogs out there, but that shouldn't stop you from creating your own. It is a great place to showcase your work (connect access to your blog through your website) and write short blurbs about the images - either by destination, topic, or genre.

Apprentice: If at all possible, study or apprentice with an established travel photographer. At the very least, take a few classes with one. There are so many things you can learn from them besides photography. They've had experience traveling and capturing images, securing commercial contracts, managing overseas, and know what gear to haul around.

Develop a Style: It can help develop your own style of travel imagery - just as it is with other photography genres. Plenty of photographers are easily identifiable for their work type, and it's helped them establish a career. Our advice, however, is that until you're a well-established photographer, you want to be flexible in your work. Otherwise, you could be limiting your commercial options.

Be a Lifelong Learner: Lastly, never stop learning as a photographer and a traveler. You'll enrich not only your life but your creative awareness if you're opening to learning throughout your life. You will enhance your experiences as well as your work.

We hope you've found our advice useful as you consider travel photography. We offer several presets that you might find helpful for your post-processing workflow. Whatever genre you're shooting, enhancements are always needed.