So you want to be a travel/adventure/outdoor photographer?
September 6, 2008 | 2 Comments
People tell me all the time, “I want to travel the world taking pictures, where do I start?”. I’m not going to tell you how to make great moving or still imagery in this post, but I will give you some tips on the business end of things. Taking photos is the easy part, getting someone to pay you for that requires a significant amount of dedication and hard work.
Here is my shortlist of resources for aspiring shooters.
Get yourself a copy of the American Society of Media Photographers, ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography, book. If you want to get paid for your work you better learn the language.
The Travel and Outdoor Photographers Alliance is an organization of working photographers discussing the business issues of the profession. Their site has an abundance of info.
Nick Nichols is a long time National Geographic photographer and he has some thoughtful things to say on his site about making it in this business. He poses the question, “Do you want to be a traveling adventurer, or do you want to be a photographer? They’re not the same thing.” in his post on becoming an adventure photographer.
Thinking of submitting your images to a stock photo agency? Photoshelter put out a nice summary of what they are looking for in a travel image and in my opinion their advice applies pretty well across the board to other agencies as well.
Check the Editorial Photographers (EP) site for in depth advice on starting out, the EP Estimator tool with pricing tips for the publishing industry, and a FAQ section that should answer most of your questions. EP is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and profitability of editorial photography.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Saved by a CD
September 14, 2006 | Leave a Comment
We’ve all been there… working on a document, computer crashes, document gone. No backup. Not so bad if it was just a ½-page, but really bad if it was your 300-page graduate thesis. What about loosing 10-years of family photographs?? Now that would really, really suck. Being a professional digital photographer these days means having a skill set that goes way beyond creating a great image. Of course there is the business side of photography, but what I’m talking about is the technical computer side that is now wrapped into the photo business. There is probably some ratio of how much time I spend on my digital workflow compared to each image I make, but I’ll just say it’s a lot. And it’s a bit tiresome; I mean I’d rather be shooting than doing daily backups. I’ve been shooting digital since 1998 and my backup methods have changed with technology.
Popularity: 15% [?]
A New Portfolio Method
August 1, 2006 | Leave a Comment
How many times have I met a potential client and done the usual; trade business cards and then follow-up when I get a chance; directing them to my website or even FedEx’ing them my expensive leather bound portfolio. I’ve always wished there was a way I could show them something right then and there, not only to gauge their interest level but also get them excited about my work. My latest portfolio technique comes close to accomplishing this. I’ve been a devoted Treo user for a number of years now, but it wasn’t until I got a 1-gig Lexar SD card that I realized the portfolio possibilities. Beyond just throwing a bunch of images on there I put behind the scenes videos of my more extreme shoots. It’s been a total hit and when I follow up with a potential client they always remember me as the guy with the cell phone video of himself dangling from a helicopter over the Alps. Oh yeah, and with some extra 1 and 2-gig SD cards I loaded up a bunch of music on them and voila, I have an mp3 player as well.
Popularity: 11% [?]