Too many people have the idea that being paid to takephotographs of exotic places is the ideal job. It may take yearsof effort to be paid by magazines such as the NationalGeographic, but are there better ways to become a travelphotographer. As most people have more leisure time, moreholiday time, and more disposable income, the demand for travelphotographs has increased dramatically. Not only are they indemand for travel brochures, but they're also used extensivelyin other advertising copy. Images necessary for sale and publication require rather moreskill than those applied to standard holiday snaps. "The realvoyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes butin having new eyes." Was a quote by the French novelist MarcelProust, and it appears to be of particular use to the travelphotographer. Investigate the possibilities of becoming a contractedphotographer at Lonely Planet Images. Lonely Planet Images is adigital library of travel photography. They have submissionguidelines available for download at their website. They are asubsidiary of what used to known as the Lonely Planet Guide, andcurrently have 400 photographers on contract. You can alsoincrease your chances of breaking into the very lucrative travelmarket, by entering competitions such as the Travel photographerof the Year . There closing date for submissions is September5th 2005. A camera is merely a box, that captures light, and in a studio,it is very easy to manipulate light. The reality of locationphotography is that it is generally expensive; you have theexpenses of air tickets, hotels and meals on top of normalexpenses. At the end of the day you are at the mercy of"weather", no one wants to see their ideal location subject torain clouds. When we talk of light in terms of travel photography we aretalking about intensity, as most travel shots are takenoutdoors, In general there is harsh direct sunlight and diffusedsoft light. Harsh light is when the sun is directional, and itis 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 leaveyour shadows without any depth or definition. Conversely if youuse the correct exposure for shadow, then the light areas willbe without detail, giving a vaguely sinister result to theimage. Unfortunately your drawback here is film, the human eyeis capable of registering contrast to a ratio of 800:1, slidefilm is capable of only 30:1, which is slightly improved, bygoing digital at a ratio of 40:1. Professional photographs haveall passionate views on their favourite brand name of film inthis situation, but they are all in accord that you need aslower speed films, as they record better contrast and grain.ISO/ASA rating of a hundred is about the fastest film to use. Itis important that you use a good photovoltaic cell (either aseparate light meter or one inbuilt into the camera). Once thelight meter has registered the light, the camera is capable ofindicating the aperture opening required, and the shutter speed.The speed of the film is also taken into this equation. You needto measure the darkest and the lightest areas. Your immediate decision is whether to correctly expose the darkand emphasize the shadow and leave the light areas washed out orto correctly expose the light and leave the shadows withoutdefinition. Using light correctly greatly enhances your colors,the diffused lighting just after and dawn and just before sunsetis helpful here. The technical reasons for this are simple whenthe sun is nearest to the horizon; the light has a greaterdistance to travel through pollution, ozone, water vapour anddust. This means that wavelengths at the violet end of thespectrum 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 technicalaspect of lighting, you may like to take an online course. An inexpensive, but invaluable tool for the outdoor photographeris a polarizer, as they improve the ambient lighting. They willalways emphasise the blue of the sky, whilst minimalizing glare.This will allow you to capture the colors you want to make asaleable photograph. More importantly it reduces the contrast ina photograph by creating a more even tone, it restricts the verymuch lighter and darker tones, in the image. Mike Johnston givesan excellent technical explanation of this in his excellentonline course. He has also written an excellent tutorial oncolor theory, which explains the use of color to improve thequality of your outdoor images. Photographers who use digitalimaging will also find this article tremendously helpful inenplaning how to improve the final image with regard to colour. Research is a great tool for the travel photographer, and theInternet is a great help, but don't forget to use localknowledge, ask local taxi drivers, as well as the tourist boardsfor inside information on a location. City photography is alsoincluded in the aspect of travel photography and here taxidrivers' knowledge can be invaluable. You can also try andcoincide a trip with local festivals. If you can oversee avantage point you can use a zoom lens to great effect withoutthe embarrassment of having to foist a camera into someone'sface. Also local festivals give opportunities to capture a partof the local culture.