How to Become a Travel Photographer
Living out a portion of your life as a travel photographer sounds like a total dream and because you probably won’t find a match for your search of a travel photographer’s job, many people think it’s just a pipe dream that just doesn’t exist. That only serves to demonstrate to you just how you have your work cut out for you if you do indeed harbour ambitions of being a travel photographer, but the good news is that it’s definitely possible. The onus is just on you to make it happen though because as mentioned, you probably won’t find a vacancy for “travel photographer.”
Build Your Portfolio
There are some formal qualifications one can get in order to become a recognised photographer with any chance of landing a gig or a contract as a travel photographer, but the most important thing is to be able to demonstrate your skills through some work you can reference. You can make use of blogging platforms or DIY website builders to build a stunning portfolio website through which to showcase your work, which you can later use as a reference to apply for travel photography gigs or permanent employment of that sort.
Investing in a good camera and all the equipment to go with is somewhat inevitable because otherwise anyone can take their smartphone along, snap some holiday pics and then masquerade as a travel photographer. It’ll cost you nothing to take your camera along on your existing travels to capture those magical moments you can add to your online portfolio so that you get a good start in your career as a travel photographer. So don’t expect to start making money right from the very beginning, but hone your skills and keep records nonetheless.
Design Your Travel Photographer Position
This merely entails writing to potential employers and essentially applying for a position they didn’t advertise, if you do indeed want to be employed as a travel photographer. You’ll definitely have to demonstrate your skill if not also having to prove how much experience you have, hence the suggestion to build your portfolio, particularly through a website or other digital platform so that your work and talent speak for themselves. Ideas for potential employers to write to could include travel agencies, airlines, modelling agencies or even specialised niches like wildlife television channels and the likes. You could also perhaps write to newspapers or magazines if their focus is on global features and stories which could have you deployed all over the show.
Just Become a Travel Photographer
Just take your camera along with you and start shooting travel photos. The easiest way to fast track your career as a travel photographer is to contribute your photos to online stock photography platforms, with each download of your photos earning you quite a bit of money. Imagine if just one of your pics is downloaded a thousand times at a royalty rate of up to $25 or more per download!
Another way to fast-track your career as a travel photographer is to enter photography competitions, many of which have an entry fee, but also a hefty prize money and you really never know who’s watching such spaces.