I have specialised in travel photography and spent years travelling the world in search of the perfect shot. With years of experience shooting travel images for tourism boards, magazines and companies here are my top tips on all things travel photography.
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Travel photography
Travel photography has become ever more competitive over the years due to factors such as social media. While some may see this as a negative I don’t believe it’s all doom and gloom.
If you are always looking for those great shots and can get yourself out there, then you can still earn money from travel photos. There are a few quick-fire things I do in order to try and remain on top of my game…
Evolve your travel photography
I am constantly looking to improve my photography be it through researching interesting topics and locations for editorial pieces, keeping up on industry professionals, their work and post-processing techniques for inspiration or even completely evolving my approach.
For example, I had gaps in my portfolio a while back where I wasn’t including people in landscapes or situations or enough street photography in general. This was harming my chances when pitching for editorial work as pictures buyers preferences had changed. I made a conscious effort to resolve this in my future work and as a result, has massively improved my earning potential.
I am currently trying to improve my wildlife photography. I don’t intend to get to the level of some of the top guys such as David Yarrow but I hope to improve enough to help attract those few extra clients a year.
A great way to improve a certain skill is to attend a photography workshop in the area you are looking to improve. Aside from the technical aspects of the workshop, you will also get to meet like-minded photographers with a similar interest to you to bat ideas off in the future.
Hustle
As I have already mentioned travel photography is a highly competitive market so you need to make yourself stand out. My first travel photography tip to any budding or professional travel photographers who ask is always to hustle. This could be reaching out to new clients as well as keeping up a connection with past clients either via email, calls or the ever more popular social media.
Or maybe you could set up a fine art print shop to sell your images. This is a really simple thing to do but you need to hustle to make it work. Run promotions and share your work around the holidays, produce a calendar or zine but whatever you do, make sure you let people know what you are offering through at least one or all of the many free outlets available in today’s modern world.
Attend events
For years I never attended any industry events thinking it was a waste of my time but this was very naive of me. Once I started attending events I got to meet and in some cases become friends with my colleagues. This has led to not only the improvement of my photography but also jobs from some of the contacts I have met at these events.
Research
Last but by no means least is research. In fact it may even be the most important factor of taking great travel photography. It is imperative to know what you want to shoot and when you want to shoot it. Check the season is correct for the spots and make sure you know where the sun will rise and set in order to determine the best times to shoot.
Make notes of how you want the shot to look. Will it be a long exposure that requires a filter or maybe you want to include a natural star bust as the sun reaches a certain point?
Have a route planned with precisely marked shooting locations and timings that makes the most of your time on location. The last thing you want to be doing is driving when that perfect light hits those mountains.
So there you have it, some important travel photography tips and advice. Hopefully, you found this travel photography tips and advice post helpful.
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Even though we may not be able to travel right now, we are already planning our trips for 2021. Check out our workshops or photography holidays to see where you may want to visit with us in the future.
Jordan Banks is a travel photographer with almost 20 years of experience shooting assignments and campaigns for some of the worlds leading brands and companies.
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