Start Up a Travel Photography Business

Author: Roy Barker

Source: articleage.com



Too many people have the idea that being paid to take

photographs of exotic places is the ideal job. It may take years

of effort to be paid by magazines such as the National

Geographic, but are there better ways to become a travel

photographer. As most people have more leisure time, more

holiday time, and more disposable income, the demand for travel

photographs has increased dramatically. Not only are they in

demand for travel brochures, but they're also used extensively

in other advertising copy.



Images necessary for sale and publication require rather more

skill than those applied to standard holiday snaps. "The real

voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but

in having new eyes." Was a quote by the French novelist Marcel

Proust, and it appears to be of particular use to the travel

photographer.



Investigate the possibilities of becoming a contracted

photographer at Lonely Planet Images. Lonely Planet Images is a

digital library of travel photography. They have submission

guidelines available for download at their website. They are a

subsidiary of what used to known as the Lonely Planet Guide, and

currently have 400 photographers on contract. You can also

increase your chances of breaking into the very lucrative travel

market, by entering competitions such as the Travel photographer

of the Year . There closing date for submissions is September

5th 2005.



A camera is merely a box, that captures light, and in a studio,

it is very easy to manipulate light. The reality of location

photography is that it is generally expensive; you have the

expenses of air tickets, hotels and meals on top of normal

expenses. At the end of the day you are at the mercy of

"weather", no one wants to see their ideal location subject to

rain clouds.



When we talk of light in terms of travel photography we are

talking about intensity, as most travel shots are taken

outdoors, In general there is harsh direct sunlight and diffused

soft light. Harsh light is when the sun is directional, and it

is great for capturing deep contrasts between light and shadows.

With this type of shot, it is difficult to judge the exposure.

If you direct your exposure towards the light, that will leave

your shadows without any depth or definition. Conversely if you

use the correct exposure for shadow, then the light areas will

be without detail, giving a vaguely sinister result to the

image. Unfortunately your drawback here is film, the human eye

is capable of registering contrast to a ratio of 800:1, slide

film is capable of only 30:1, which is slightly improved, by

going digital at a ratio of 40:1. Professional photographs have

all passionate views on their favourite brand name of film in

this situation, but they are all in accord that you need a

slower speed films, as they record better contrast and grain.

ISO/ASA rating of a hundred is about the fastest film to use. It

is important that you use a good photovoltaic cell (either a

separate light meter or one inbuilt into the camera). Once the

light meter has registered the light, the camera is capable of

indicating the aperture opening required, and the shutter speed.

The speed of the film is also taken into this equation. You need

to measure the darkest and the lightest areas.



Your immediate decision is whether to correctly expose the dark

and emphasize the shadow and leave the light areas washed out or

to correctly expose the light and leave the shadows without

definition. Using light correctly greatly enhances your colors,

the diffused lighting just after and dawn and just before sunset

is helpful here. The technical reasons for this are simple when

the sun is nearest to the horizon; the light has a greater

distance to travel through pollution, ozone, water vapour and

dust. This means that wavelengths at the violet end of the

spectrum are more scattered, than the colours at the red end.

This allows the blues to absorb more colour than at the red end,

so the sunlight appears more golden. To study the more technical

aspect of lighting, you may like to take an online course.



An inexpensive, but invaluable tool for the outdoor photographer

is a polarizer, as they improve the ambient lighting. They will

always emphasise the blue of the sky, whilst minimalizing glare.

This will allow you to capture the colors you want to make a

saleable photograph. More importantly it reduces the contrast in

a photograph by creating a more even tone, it restricts the very

much lighter and darker tones, in the image. Mike Johnston gives

an excellent technical explanation of this in his excellent

online course. He has also written an excellent tutorial on

color theory, which explains the use of color to improve the

quality of your outdoor images. Photographers who use digital

imaging will also find this article tremendously helpful in

enplaning how to improve the final image with regard to colour.



Research is a great tool for the travel photographer, and the

Internet is a great help, but don't forget to use local

knowledge, ask local taxi drivers, as well as the tourist boards

for inside information on a location. City photography is also

included in the aspect of travel photography and here taxi

drivers' knowledge can be invaluable. You can also try and

coincide a trip with local festivals. If you can oversee a

vantage point you can use a zoom lens to great effect without

the embarrassment of having to foist a camera into someone's

face. Also local festivals give opportunities to capture a part

of the local culture.