Travel photography. How I make money from travel photography Travel photography

It will be of interest to everyone who wants to make money from photography. In the article, Brendan talks about where and how much he earns, and also gives some tips for newbies.

Long gone are the days when the work of a travel photographer consisted only in providing photographic material for various kinds of travel publications. Things are no longer so simple, and the level of competition among photographers today is higher than ever.

But still, it seems to me that there have never been so many travel photographers in the world. When in doubt, just check your Instagram feed.

So if travel photography is no longer suitable as a traditional career, how do all these people manage to make a living? I wish I could answer this question, but I cannot. Today everyone has their own way of earning money. All I can do is tell about myself and how I manage not to turn into a homeless person (albeit with difficulty).

First, a little about yourself

I am 30 years old and I am a travel journalist from Canada. For the past five years, I have been working around the world as a so-called “digital nomad”. During this time, I managed to visit about 80 countries on 6 continents.

I started by writing articles, but soon moved on to photography as an additional way of earning money, until I realized that I liked creating visual images more than writing. Photography became my drug, and I chased every opportunity to get it.

At the beginning of my career, I used the Canon T2i along with the 18-55mm kit lens. Today I have a Canon 6D, 16-35mm f / 4, 70-200mm f / 2.8 IS, 50mm f / 1.4 and assorted other equipment like Cactus flashes, 3 Legged Thing tripod and GoPro 3+.

Where and how do I earn

Before getting into the how, let me talk about how much. Traveling the world, I spend an average of $ 2000 per month on my life. This includes accommodation, transportation, meals, etc.

I don't have a home, so that $ 2,000 is actually all my expenses. Thus, in order not to slip into begging, I need to earn a certain amount every month ...

But a little more is desirable. And before you ask - no, I have no savings, a trust fund, and a rich "mommy" (although I might not mind that).

In general, I take this approach to money, which I call "octopus." After two years of trying to survive in traditional journalism, I realized that in order to make a decent living as a freelancer, you need to try as much as possible. different options activities.

That is, if I have 8 different sources of income, bringing in $ 250 per month each, I will earn my $ 2,000.

And even if I lose one of them, it will not be the end of the world. Many others will remain.

# 1: Working for a magazine / newspaper

To be honest, for me this source of income became the most modest in 2015. To date, this simply does not exist. great demand... Yes, some of my works have been published in major media. For example, my article on Iceland was printed in the centerfold The guardian... But traditional journalism is not what I would like to strive for.

Too much repetitive work. 95% of the time is spent in front of a computer screen and only 5% in the field. Today I only do traditional journalism if the publication itself contacts me. In 2015, I made about $ 150 a month from traditional journalism.

No. 2: Photostocks

# 3: direct sales

This is my largest source of income at the moment. For a year now I have been a permanent employee of a company that pays me $ 1000 a month. They get the opportunity to select a couple of photos each month for use in social media and marketing projects.

These photos need to have a certain style that they want, so I spend most of my time creating them.

Besides my biggest client, I have a number of others who are in direct contact with me. However, so far, in 2015, there weren't many of them, so let's just say that I made $ 1000 a month from this method, although there were some other small sales.

# 4: Using Social Media

For better or worse, at the moment the world's richest travel photographers are not the ones who work best, but those who have promoted themselves better than the rest.

Brands, travel communities, restaurants and hotel chains are constantly vying with each other for famous photographers, giving them the opportunity to take advantage of their product: visit specific places, taste food and stay in hotels.

Of course, this is very beneficial for the most famous photographers... In fact, some of the most active Instagram users can in principle only make money from their followers. Believe me, I have personally seen the daily rates of some of these stars, and they certainly do not live under the bridge.

For people like me, with a fairly modest number of social media followers (44k on Facebook, 53k on Twitter, and 22k on Instagram), I would not recommend relying on this method. Nevertheless, from time to time orders come from there too.

In 2014, I worked with a major car brand, a car rental company and a couple of travel communities. This year I haven’t worked with anyone yet, although mostly simply because I’m busy with someone else. You need to find a balance between where you want to be and where you get paid. Unfortunately for my wallet, I always do only what I'm interested in, and take on certain projects only if they suit me.

# 5: Blogs

Until 2014, blogging was my main source of income. I made money on my blog through advertisements and orders. However, in 2014, this revenue stream for the most part ceased to exist for me, despite the significant increase in traffic.

But while the blog doesn't make the same amount of money anymore, thanks to the audience (the blog attracts about 1,400 unique visitors daily), it directs readers to other sources of income.

For example, a product review I did in December 2014 brought visitors to Amazon via an affiliate link. This product sold very well and other things were bought along with it. On this affiliate link, and I earned myself a pretty penny. Of course, this option is not very reliable.

In January and February, I made $ 300 and $ 400 on affiliate sales, respectively. In March - only $ 50.

I also still make about $ 200 a month from advertising. So let's say only $ 300 per month.

# 6: YouTube

I have been using YouTube as a source of income for quite some time. I started over two years ago in Africa when I embarked on my epic scooter ride from Bamako to Cape Town. However, I quickly realized that YouTube visitors are interested in learning about something new, and not just watching some dude on a $ 600 scooter across the Congo.

Less than a year ago I founded on YouTube channel with tips, tutorials, reviews and videos made in different countries... It has become much more popular and currently has more than 5,000 subscribers, 375,000 views and gives about $ 125 per month.

# 7: Learning

It seems to me that most people in the world would like to learn how to take pictures on their own, and not buy photos. And for this reason, training has become the main source of income for a large number of photographers. In fact, it happens that the highest paid photographers in the world are not always the most talented, but they are often very effective in teaching.

Many of the photographers sell books, video tutorials, and conduct seminars as additional income.

I started doing the same. I can boast that places for my travel photography workshop in Peru next month are already sold out. The second workshop will take place over two weeks in July throughout Peru and Bolivia (still bookable!).

However, in 2015, I have not yet earned anything from teaching; although, as I said, this can be a worthy source of income for travel photographers who know how and who love to educate their audience.

# 8: Freelance Journalism

My work as a journalist remains a backup source of income, and I really only do it when I feel that money is not enough. Well, that is, yes, usually every month. Most of the clients of this type of activity are Internet publications, and it is no longer paid as it used to be. However, writing helps me deal with some bills.

On average, I get about $ 400 a month from this.

# 9: Savings

When you travel, saving money is earning money too. Quite often, exchanging a couple of photos for a free hotel room or tour fully justifies itself. For example, I did this a lot when I was in South Africa. Safaris are expensive, so I took some photos to local businesses for marketing purposes in exchange for free safaris. And everyone benefited from this.

So how much do you make?

Simple math tells me that in 2015 I earned about $ 2,325 a month as a travel photographer, although I think that most likely the amount is close to $ 2,600.

Yes, I know it's not that much. Especially if you spend $ 2,000. But how many people can afford to travel every day? Of course, I would like to earn more, but I am not complaining. Every day I see and do what another person saves his whole life for. At this stage, I would not like to do anything else.

Finally

The truth about travel photography in 2015 is that the quality of the photos themselves is often less important than the person who took them. It can be said (and many claim so) that the world of travel photography has become corrupt. Many of the world's most famous travel photographers no longer explore or seek new and interesting places for pictures, but tend to where the money is spinning.

Thus, many of them turned into “corporate / marketing photographers”.

But can you really blame them for anything? The world of photography has changed significantly over the past 5-10 years. The stock is currently filled with images from every corner of the planet, from where magazines and newspapers can get them. Travel photographers in their traditional form are becoming consumables.

Despite this previous statement, I believe that the travel photography community is stronger than ever. Yes, traditional sources of income are dying, but the developing world presents thousands of different opportunities for those who are willing to take risks and try themselves in this industry.

And, yes, the competition is very high there, but, in general, business is booming, and the amount of camaraderie among fellow photographers, instead of envy and jealousy, pleasantly amazes me almost every day.

So, if there is a conclusion to this article, then I would like to make it encouraging. No, you don't have to be the best photographer in the world to be successful in this field in 2015: you just have to be brave and diligent. Anyone who is willing to take risks and work hard can make good money as a travel photographer.

I left my home in 2009 with $ 500 in my pocket, a soap box and the desire to spend the rest of my life studying the planet. Looking back, I understand that it was naive. However, without this naivety, I would never have taken the first step towards my dream. Today I am struggling to survive. All my sources of income can dry up in one second.

But I don't worry about it anymore, I just work on and enjoy every moment.

Until the masterpiece button has been invented, it is important to remember and follow the main rules of travel photography. Then there will be something to show to grandchildren or remember yourself. As an example for each rule, I will take some of my travel photos that roughly fit these rules.

1) OBSERVE THE RULE OF THIRD

The oldest rule of photography, which all photographers know about and "in principle" are ignored by amateurs. That is why, instead of happy themselves against the background of the sea, more than half of the lovers take off their heads against the background of the sky from which trees grow.

Divide your future shot into three parts vertically and horizontally by the same amount, place your subject at the intersection of imaginary lines or on the lines themselves, and you are guaranteed to get a compositionally balanced shot.

2. BREACH THE RULE OF THIRD

Don't be a slave to the rules. They exist in order to sometimes break them. You can always place the subject in the center or introduce some kind of imbalance in the frame, the main thing is not to get carried away at first.

3. USE NATURAL GUIDES IN FRAME

Roads, bridges, wires, a river or skyscraper lines - use them to create depth in your footage or as a guide line that leads the viewer to your main subject.

4. MAKE PANORAMAS

Sometimes it is panoramas that will help you understand your emotions that you experienced during your trip. Landscapes in the mountains, high-altitude views of the city at night or just a beautiful historical site can often be conveyed much better with the help of panoramas.

Panoramas are easy to make, often without the need for an expensive tripod and panoramic head. Just shoot continuously over one third of the area. Any popular panorama stitching program will do the job.

5. ALWAYS PROCESS PHOTOS

Any photo can be improved with the help of a photo editor, only pseudo-photographers can be proud that “there is no photoshop here, everything is natural”. We are not talking about changing pictures or photo collages, but it is absolutely necessary to extract details from the shadows, add contrast or saturate the color of the sky. Often, even a simple cropping will turn a boring shot into a masterpiece.

Long exposure will add a creative component to the picture, create the illusion of movement in the photo, be it blurry figures of people or jets of a waterfall. Try shooting at a shutter speed of one second, experiment with aperture and sensitivity. The result will appear on the third try.

7.LOOK FOR AN UNUSUAL PERSPECTIVE OR ANGLE

Reflection in the water, an unusual angle from below or from above will help create something unlike the pictures of your travel companions. Here you can experiment without restrictions and forget about all the rules for a while.

Especially when they are unusually dressed or in a funny situation. It really brings the standard travel albums to life. As for me, this is the most difficult rule, but without it travel photography is impossible.

9. PAY ATTENTION TO GEOMETRY AND COLOR

Combine with color, geometry and position of objects, look for interesting little things. A front door, an element of an old façade, or clothes on a rope in the photo often look better than in real life. Pay special attention to unusual color and geometry combinations.

10. BE PATIENT

Often cool photo happens when you wait patiently. This applies to both the correct light and scenes with animals or people, or, conversely, the absence of people. Any object can be filmed without tourists, if you do not want to see them in the frame - for this you just need to wait. Very rarely, successful shots are obtained offhand.

Any location at night looks completely different, artificial or moonlight adds drama and mystery to the picture, hides imperfections that are visible during the day, for example, debris or dirt. The same bridge in Budapest looks completely different at night.

For shooting in the evening, you will need a lightweight, inexpensive tripod. The shutter speed can be made longer, from 5 to 30 seconds, the aperture should be clamped to values ​​of 11-22. The result in the photo will help you see your journey from a completely different side and cause white envy among the audience.

12. DON'T FORGET ABOUT LOCAL WILD NATURE

Take pictures of pigeons or cats at your grandmother's in the village, squirrels in city parks, and when traveling in Thailand or Indonesia, do not forget that local monkeys have long been waiting for the release of your camera shutter.
10 things to do to ruin your vacation

Last modified Thursday, 24 September 2015

Now anyone can take good travel photos with their smartphones. This is amazing! But for professional photographer this is more of a challenge - his staff should really stand out among the amateur, so you should always strive to expand the horizons of your knowledge and skills. Tips from Joel Santos, Canon Ambassador, professional travel photographer and naturalist

Be rational

Prepare your gear wisely before your trip. How long will you have to walk today? How comfortable is your backpack? Will the equipment survive in shooting conditions?

It seems obvious, but at the beginning of my career, I put together an oversized backpack countless times. Excess equipment only burdened, not really helping the creative process.

I believe the trip was a success if I managed to find and capture a unique story. And it is not so important who or what exactly I photograph - a landscape, a group of people or one person. But such pictures are not easy to come by. There is a lot to learn to create truly interesting photo stories. Sometimes in order to find a plot, you have to walk for a long time on abandoned paths, so I must be sure that I can physically carry all my equipment.

Total weight is the most important factor when choosing equipment for a project. The EOS 5DS R paired with a lens like the new EF 70-200mm f / 4L IS II USM is a very compact kit I can do with high quality photos and still enjoy the process.

In addition to light equipment that will not pull you to the ground, it is important to get a comfortable backpack - it should not be heavy, it should have a lot of pads and a belt on the belt so that the weight is evenly distributed.

be ready

A travel photographer should not dwell on an expedition plan: not all trips can be carefully thought out in advance. My most successful trips were adventures - almost everything was unpredictable, only the flight was planned.

But if I don't know where it will take me, who I will meet in this place and where I can sleep after landing, I always try to properly prepare. For example, if I go to a country whose language is unfamiliar to me, I find an interpreter who will help me to establish contact with local residents, potential heroes of my stories. This is exactly what I did when I went to the western part of Mongolia to photograph hunters with eagles. I wanted to catch the whole family in the lens, but I did not know where to find those willing, so I went to explore the area.

In addition, I always try to learn as much as possible about the country and the area itself, about the current customs and about the customs of the inhabitants - this is the only way I can bring home truly sincere photographs, and consider the trip a successful one.

Shooting in different parts of the world, I learned another important lesson: not all people saw a professional camera! Agree, a large lens aimed at the face can be somewhat confusing. Therefore, you need to consider in advance which lenses are best suited for such conditions.

For example, when going to Ethiopia to shoot the Omo Valley tribes, I decided to start with a more inconspicuous and compact model (EF 50mm f / 1.8 STM). When I found a common language with the locals, I switched to a larger and universal model... You can, for example, switch to the EF 70-200mm f / 4L IS II USM when people feel more comfortable in front of the camera. This is an excellent, relatively compact lens that delivers uncompromising image quality.

be patient

Patience is the main weapon of a travel photographer. And do not think that the decisive shot will come to you almost after the landing gear of the plane touches the asphalt. Be patient, it can take a long time to fully immerse yourself in the local environment. Make contact with residents and ask them around - good way understand the culture, but never forget to be patient when communicating with the hero of your future photo story. Prepare for a while before people feel comfortable in the company of a stranger and his camera.

In many cases, I needed to earn trust so that others could relax. Otherwise, it would not have been possible to take a beautiful and natural picture.

For example, I had to walk 35 kilometers along the steppes of western Mongolia with a family of nomad Kazakhs, carrying my equipment. Only after that did they start to take me and my project seriously. They made sure that I was really interested in their life and I came to them with good intentions. A similar adventure awaited me in the snowy northern Mongolia with the Tsaatan reindeer herders.

Ultimately, my patience paid off tremendously. I was able to capture a series of beautiful images, each reflecting a unique and difficult life in one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth. These photos have been featured in publications such as The Guardian, Huffington Post and New York Post.

You can spend as long as you want to gain people's trust or to get, climb or swim to the ideal shooting location. The main thing is not to lose patience, because the result is always (or almost always) worth it.

Be unique

I get the impression that now many photographers overwrite the same "instagram" places to the holes and take the same type of pictures.

The essence of photography is not only about beautiful picture- the plot is important here, and best of all is the new one. It is not enough to repeat one to one real picture to be considered a travel photographer. Success in this craft comes only to those who shoot unique shots that reveal something unknown - a locality, a group of people or history.

In addition, to improve my skills, I constantly experiment with lenses and shoot from new angles, under different lighting, etc. With the right technique, I can improve my artistic skills and photograph in my signature style.

I am a travel photographer and spend a lot of time on trips that I pay for out of pocket. Sometimes you have to travel thousands of kilometers for one shot, which is why I appreciate really reliable lenses.

Travel photography is a very competitive field, so it is important to be creative and find your own style of work. One of mine business cards- large expressive backgrounds that add another color dimension to the subject of the photo. My favorite trick. The EF 70-200mm f / 4L IS II USM telephoto lens lets you play with the scale of the background while keeping your subject in sharp focus. With him, I can freely work in my own style, creating unique photos.

I am confident that I will be able to take high-quality pictures in any conditions, be it the scorching sun in the desert or tropical showers. It is a durable lens with unrivaled optical performance. It should certainly be in the arsenal of every travel photographer. Now I'm nowhere without him.

About the author. Joel was born in Lisbon and has been dedicated to science for a long time, but for the last 15 years his passion has been travel photography. He has shot for Microsoft, IKEA and National Geographic. In 2016, Joel won the Best Travel Photographer of the Year competition. His work is widely represented in exhibitions, he leads photo expeditions to the Arctic and other places, and is also the author of nine books. In addition, Joel is actively exploring new shooting technologies. Over the past few years, he has been experimenting with drones, producing amazing documentaries and photographs.

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Greetings, dear friends! The long-awaited summer has come to us, and with it the vacation season. So it's time to talk about such a fascinating direction as travel photography. The article you are reading is the first swallow that will be included in the series of articles on the topic of photography tourism that I will write this season.

At the very beginning, I propose to define the terminology. "Travel photography", or as it is also called, "tourist photography" is one of the directions dedicated to the impressions of a tourist. This is a kind of photo-sketches that the traveler makes while exploring new places.

(cc) Yuri Krivenko

What interests a travel photographer most often? It is interesting for him to see locals in the frame with their own unique flavor, especially in natural conditions, which are often no less impressive. The photo-tourist is also interested in the peculiarities of culture and life, architecture, historical monuments, the specific relief of the area (all kinds of landscapes) and even local cuisine :)

Where does travel photography begin? And it begins, of course, with preparation: collecting information about the country of interest to you and drawing up your own, if possible, unique route.

Let's say you've already decided where to travel. Now is the time to do some preliminary exploration and route planning. Various reviews and photo reports of those happy people who have already been there will help you make the best plan for visiting local attractions. By the way, try to read not only laudatory odes, pay attention to criticism and various "pitfalls". There are nuances that can complicate your event always and everywhere, the main thing is to try to minimize them, and also take into account the factor of subjectivity of the author who wrote a review about the trip.

In the process of collecting information, it is best to be guided by the principle: the more information, the better. By the way, if photos and reviews about a city or area drive you into melancholy - perhaps the best option will save time and refuse to visit this place. But again, do not forget about subjectivity and the level of training - where a beginner photographer can show several "gray" and nondescript frames, a pro can gush large-scale series pictures of delightful, breathtaking.

(cc) Yuri Krivenko

Why is uniqueness so important when planning a route? The more non-standard it is, the less often your photos will compete with hundreds and thousands of similar ones taken before you. Of course, this is not a reason to go on a hike in the Amazon jungle, where no human has ever set foot :)

It is enough to be not trivial during photo-sketches, avoiding completely hackneyed subjects like “I and the Eiffel Tower, I'm on the left” and, of course, follow the advice of an experienced photographer, that is, mine.

When planning your arrival time at specific locations, consider the possible position of the sun on the horizon and the quality of light. After all, any photograph is created by light, it depends on what kind of picture you get in the end.

For example, the best time for a walk around the city is morning or evening, but it is better to refrain from the midday promenade in clear sunny weather - shadows during this period of time have a very non-photogenic effect not only on shots with people, but also on architectural photographs.

(cc) Yuri Krivenko

I would like to devote the following materials from the travel photography cycle to the issue of choosing a camera, namely: which one is best for you - large and expensive reflex camera or a small and light digital compact? Maybe a mobile phone camera will be enough? Look for answers to these and other questions in the latest articles on the portal site

Yuri Krivenko, specially for the site

Travel photography has its own peculiarities. Per long history of its existence, travel photographers have developed special approaches and skills.

One of the peculiarities of travel photography is a special approach to the choice of photographic equipment (you can't take all your studio arsenal with you!). Accordingly, the choice of equipment and accessories should be especially careful and to some extent versatile.

The ability to immerse yourself in the environment while staying in one area for a long time is another feature of the travel photographer. Such mimicry allows you to see and film the natural behavior of the local population without a touch of stiffness and posing; thus obtaining a high degree of documentary images. The same applies to the animal kingdom. When the photographer gives time for himself and the world around him to get used to each other, natural behavior and the resulting unique shots will pay off the time spent many times over.

Travel photography tells us about places that we may never be able to visit. But it is possible that after seeing some pictures, we will strive for these trips.

In the section "Travel-photography" see photo reports, read interviews and stories about fascinating travel photography. Your attention is presented to the amazing corners of our planet through the lens of travel photographers.