Author: Roy Barker
Source: articleage.com
To many people the idea of being paid to take photographs of
exotic places is the ideal job. It may takes 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 also are 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 diffuse 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 aspects 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.