Who doesn’t love to travel, and who doesn’t love to capture every moment of that journey? We all do, right? And when we come back, we spread those snaps like wildfire – through all the available channels of social media platforms, looking for appreciation from friends and family in the form of likes and loves. For most of us that’s enough motivation for the next travel, and so the cycle continues. Now if you wish to take it one step further, get a bit more organized, you’d be surprised to know that your travel can open up a whole wide window of opportunity, and you might end up as a professional travel photographer with travel being your full-time job! Follow these simple steps, for a start, the next time you travel, and you’ll invariably reap the benefits going forward:
First, even if you’re traveling on a tight leash with pre-fixed location points to cover, you can still come back with a pretty interesting bunch of shots which you can post on your social media pages and micro blogging sites to attract clients & agencies who are in the business of travel. Always remember the ‘PPC’ of travel: People, Place, & Culture. Even if you are taking a selfie, make it a group one, with the local community people, engaging with them in some fun activity or local community development work, or something along those lines. That way, you cover the all-important ‘People’ aspect of your travel, and at the same build bonds at the local level which always comes in handy the next time you happen to hit that place. Remember, travel photography is all about building bonds & connections at the very local level – that is how you gain invaluable experience and grow.
Second, comes the ‘Place’. Every place on the face of our globe is unique and has its own story, but there’s one thing in common: the sun rises and sets at a certain time everywhere, without fail. In photography, we call this time the ‘magic hour’. No matter where you go for travel – the hills, the plains, the sea side – that place is bound to light up in all its glory during the magic hour. So, find some time out during sunrise and also during sunset to get some shots highlighting the beauty and enigma of the place you are on travel. When you come back, you’ll not only get those appreciations you crave for, but also find more practical ways of making money out of those shots.
Finally, we come to the ‘Culture’ part of travel photography. Now, one would say this is definitely going to take a lot of time; I mean, how can one capture moments covering the cultural aspect of a particular place, with authenticity, in time-bound travel of about 3-4 days? Right? – And yet, the answer is yes, it can be done even on a time-bound travel. The key is to locate and document that one aspect or thing a place can be identified with, and recognized by people, generally across a broader spectrum. That ‘one aspect or thing’ could be a place of worship, could be a common ritual or practice, or it could be a simple game for kids! Once you engage with the locals, you can easily find out what is that ‘one thing’ which is unique to your travel location. And trust me, it is the locals who will guide you and encourage you to shoot along those lines once they’re convinced that your sole intention is to highlight their place in a positive way, and showcase it on a recognized platform. If you don’t fail them, they won’t fail you. Trust me, that is the beauty and at the same time your most cherished reward from travel…
… In the next section, we’ll move deeper into each of the subjective aspects of PPC: People, Place, and Culture, inherent to travel photography. At the same time we will also take on the marketing & PR aspects of professional travel photography. Watch out for this space, and take care!