What does it take to become a professional travel photographer?

If you’re one of those people who ask themselves this question, you come into the right place as we will discuss everything you need to know to become a professional travel photographer and vlogger.

In starting a career in travel photography, you first have to ask yourself this question: “Am I physically, socially and financially ready to become a travel photographer?”

• Physically because traveling involves a lot of stressful bodywork such as getting up early to get to the airport on time, stand for hours in long lines, traffics, jet lags and so on.
• Socially because during your travels, you will encounter different types of people speaking languages you may not be familiar with.
• Financially because when you start a career as a travel photographer, you will not get paid for your work at first. So, you have to shoulder all the expenses. Things like underwater housings for cameras if you are an underwater photographer for instance can get quite expensive. Be sure you are willing and ready to foot the bill.

If the answer to the question is an enthusiastic yes! Here are 5 things you should have to start your career in travel photography.

Here’s What It Takes to Become a Professional Travel Photographer

1.    Create content in the travel/photography industry

In starting your career as a travel photographer, you need to inform everyone on the World Wide Web that you exist. The best way to do this is by creating valuable content related to travel or photography industry.

A travel blog is a great way to showcase your work. Make sure to buy the best camera for blogging.

Remember in writing content, quality is way much important than quantity. So, before you post your content on your site or blog, you have to ensure its 100% free from errors and plagiarism.

2.    Build a professional portfolio

Next on the list is building your very own professional portfolio.

The portfolio is a collection of your best work. This is important in starting a career as a travel photographer because it is the only proof you can show to your potential clients that you possess all the right skills.

One of the best ways is to build your credibility and reputation on social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

If it is created professionally and appealing, it can turn into an access pass to gain more clients.

3.    Create a niche style

Fact: You’re not the only travel photographer in the world. So, after you inform your audience about your existence; your next job is to stand out from the rest.

For you to stand out, you have to be unique. This can be done by creating your own style and consistently produce photographs or content about it. The style can either be your shooting technique or your photography interest.

That doesn’t mean that once you settle in one niche you are stuck with it. Your niche style can change over time. It will always depend on your passion.

Remember, the more you put your mind and soul to your craft, the more appealing the results will be.

4.    Offer your photography services

Once you’re done creating your portfolio, content and niche style – you’re officially ready to offer your services to your audience!

Opportunity-wise, there’s plenty  of it all over the world. All you need to do is decide what country you’re going to offer your services – local or international. After deciding this, you can now target different travel businesses in that location and offer your services.

Make sure to always put your best in every project as this will open more work for you in years to come.

5.    Provide photography tours and location-specific workshops

Just like how L. Frank Baum said it, “No thief, however skillful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire.”

That is exactly one of the advantages of being a professional travel photographer, the ability to learn everything about the place you’ve visited. Once you acquired that knowledge, you can add tours and on location-specific workshops to your services and make a good profit out of it.

Author Bio: Hi, I’m George. I have been a camera enthusiast from 2008. Cameraseals is my personal blog where I share most of my interests and experiences from using cameras.