How to take your first steps towards a travel photography career
Thinking of combining your love for travel with your passion for photography? Turning this ambition into a reality involves more than just snapping pictures on your next vacation. A successful career in travel photography usually requires careful planning, skill development, and strategic steps to build a strong foundation. Luckily, this article can help you with that.
Read further to discover travel photography types, specifics, and the first steps of your creative journey.
Travel photography types
As the following Depositphotos blog article states, there are at least 40 photography genres existing. However, most of them aren’t exclusive to one particular photography niche; you can easily apply them to your field of interest.
This is quite similar to the travel photography types. Here, you can find the types common to other niches, with only one specific difference—they are directly related to travel. These include the following:
Street photography
Street photography is all about capturing the daily life of a city. It’s both lively and spontaneous, and you can use whatever natural light is available. Try to snap photos of people going about their day to truly experience and showcase the vibe of a new place.
Architecture photography
Architecture photography is about capturing the details of buildings and structures. You can show off how things like weather and time of day affect them or try different angles to get unique shots. This type grants you a chance to explore both common features and special details of human-made places.
Landscape photography
The world has many beautiful places to see. So, when you want to capture the beauty of a scene, try landscape photography. Plan ahead, pick the right time of day for your shots, and don’t forget to bring gear to protect yourself from the weather.
City photography
City photography is about capturing everything from big skylines to daily street scenes. Cities offer great chances to experiment with angles, textures, light, and color. Try different viewpoints, such as from tall buildings or street level, to get interesting and unique shots.
Travel portrait photography
Travel portrait photography focuses on capturing the people you meet during your journeys and your travel photographer career. This type allows you to show their personalities, emotions, and daily lives in a meaningful way—for instance, by taking pictures of someone in their traditional dress, at work, or in a candid moment. Engage with your subjects, and try to capture moments that tell a story about who they are and where they come from.
What’s the difference between pictures of your travels and travel photography?
It’s not enough to snap pictures with your smartphone on vacation to become a travel photographer. While you can still view it as a freelance or a part-time job and make money selling photos in your free time, it generally requires different skills and equipment compared to amateur picture-taking.
In travel photography, you rarely control the setting (weather, light, or crowds), you have to find the best timing (for instance, when a place isn’t packed with tourists), and choose your gear carefully so it won’t be too heavy, especially when you’re traveling to remote places.
How to make photography your profession if you are a traveler (or want to become one)
If you already travel a lot, becoming a travel photographer can become your new profession or a profitable side hustle: an average hourly rate in the US is $20.36. But even if you didn’t explore the world much, you can still build such a career. The following tips can help you with that.
1. Define your goals
It all starts with planning and goal definition. Often, new photographers jump in without a clear idea of what they want. This, however, can become a costly mistake, especially in a field that is so competitive.
Decide if you want to make travel photography a full-time career or if you just want to occasionally earn some money selling photos of your travels. Think about whether you prefer a nomadic lifestyle or a stable base for your work.
2. Learn photography terminology and other basics
Success in travel photography goes beyond taking quality pictures. You need to start with mastering the basics first.
For instance, learning photography terminology helps you effectively communicate with other photographers, interpret technical advice, and make informed decisions about your gear and settings. What’s more, to compete with magazines and stock image sites, you need to be proficient with a DSLR camera, like a Canon EOS R5 Mark II, which is one of the most popular items of this brand, and a good set of lenses. While smartphone cameras are surely getting better, they still can’t match the quality of a professional DSLR.
Learning from other photographers can also help. Take courses, watch YouTube videos, and read articles from experienced pros to improve your skills.
3. Build a brand and a portfolio
You need to have a unique and distinct brand in today’s competitive market. Start with creating a memorable name and logo for your brand and define your niche.
Then, build a portfolio to showcase your best work. Your portfolio should tell stories about your travels and highlight your skills. Make sure it has a clean design, easy navigation, and only includes your top photos. Update it regularly to keep it fresh and relevant.
To sum up
Travel photography is a rich and varied field that requires a unique set of skills and considerations. To kickstart this career, you need to set clear goals, figure out the travel photography types and other basics, and build a strong personal brand and portfolio. Hopefully, the tips listed in this article will help you turn your passion for travel and photography into a rewarding career or side hustle.
