To many people the idea of being paid to take photographs ofexotic places is the ideal job. It may takes years of effort tobe paid by magazines such as the National Geographic, but arethere better ways to become a travel photographer. As mostpeople have more leisure time, more holiday time, and moredisposable income, the demand for travel photographs hasincreased dramatically. Not only are they in demand for travelbrochures, but they also are used extensively in otheradvertising copy. Images necessary for sale and publicationrequire rather more skill than those applied to standard holidaysnaps. "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking newlandscapes but in having new eyes." Was a quote by the Frenchnovelist Marcel Proust, and it appears to be of particular useto the travel photographer. Investigate the possibilities ofbecoming 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 theirwebsite. They are a subsidiary of what used to known as theLonely Planet Guide, and currently have 400 photographers oncontract. You can also increase your chances of breaking intothe very lucrative travel market, by entering competitions suchas the Travel photographer of the Year . There closing date forsubmissions is September 5th 2005. A camera is merely a box,that captures light, and in a studio, it is very easy tomanipulate light. The reality of location photography is that itis generally expensive; you have the expenses of air tickets,hotels and meals on top of normal expenses. At the end of theday you are at the mercy of "weather", no one wants to see theirideal location subject to rain clouds. When we talk of light interms of travel photography we are talking about intensity, asmost travel shots are taken outdoors, In general there is harshdirect sunlight and diffuse soft light. Harsh light is when thesun is directional, and it is great for capturing deep contrastsbetween light and shadows. With this type of shot, it isdifficult to judge the exposure. If you direct your exposuretowards the light, that will leave your shadows without anydepth or definition. Conversely if you use the correct exposurefor shadow, then the light areas will be without detail, givinga vaguely sinister result to the image. Unfortunately yourdrawback here is film, the human eye is capable of registeringcontrast to a ratio of 800:1, slide film is capable of only30:1, which is slightly improved, by going digital at a ratio of40:1. Professional photographs have all passionate views ontheir favourite brand name of film in this situation, but theyare all in accord that you need a slower speed films, as theyrecord better contrast and grain. ISO/ASA rating of a hundred isabout the fastest film to use. It is important that you use agood photovoltaic cell (either a separate light meter or oneinbuilt into the camera. Once the light meter has registered thelight, the camera is capable of indicating the aperture openingrequired, and the shutter speed. The speed of the film is alsotaken into this equation. You need to measure the darkest andthe lightest areas. Your immediate decision is whether tocorrectly expose the dark and emphasize the shadow and leave thelight areas washed out or to correctly expose the light andleave the shadows without definition. Using light correctlygreatly enhances your colors, the diffused lighting just afterand dawn and just before sunset is helpful here. The technicalreasons for this are simple when the sun is nearest to thehorizon; the light has a greater distance to travel throughpollution, ozone, water vapour and dust. This means thatwavelengths at the violet end of the spectrum are morescattered, than the colours at the red end. This allows theblues to absorb more colour than at the red end, so the sunlightappears more golden. To study the more technical aspects oflighting 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 emphasisethe blue of the sky, whilst minimalizing glare. This will allowyou to capture the colors you want to make a saleablephotograph. More importantly it reduces the contrast in aphotograph 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.