Ismail Sirdah Discusses Everything You Need To Know About Being A Travel Photographer

Like any other profession, you will need to be patient, plan, work hard and then hope for success as a professional travel photographer. Most successful travel photographers have similar characters like that of a traveler, and this includes a passion for seeing and capturing the world. Thinking that having a camera and a ticket will you help you succeed in this career is only true in theory, but practically, you will need more than that to be on top of the competition. However, all is not lost because the information below is all you need to know to be a professional travel photographer.

Clear Understanding Of Travel Photography

Commercial travel photography has been enhancing the growth of the economy through the tourism sector. It includes taking photos of tourist attraction sceneries, destination resorts and hotels, outdoor adventures, and capturing cultures and local events. These images can be used in different ways such as advertising, print sales and merchandising. Travel photographers, therefore, require to be rich in skills from different photographic disciplines such as wildlife, portraiture, landscape, reportage, architectural and event photography.

Ismail Sirdah, a successful photographer and founder of Ismail Sirdah Photography in Georgia says that he became successful by being unique in photography work. He says that they capitalize in taking images and then add a trendy touch to them so that they can a give a story of the events being captured. It means that photography can provide you with your dream lifestyle if you are willing to work extra hard and diversify your talent and skills.

Is Travel Photography Your Right Career?

Don’t be excited about traveling to take photos before you know whether this is your right career because all you will do is just travel and take photos that won’t pay you back. Consider if you possess the following qualities:

• The first one is resilience which means you must be tough enough to handle the challenges that come with traveling and working at the same time. Travel photography can be stressing from landing in exotic airports, facing language barriers and unanticipated flight changes among other things. Are you resilient enough?
• The second aspect is your flexibility because as a travel photographer you might be called to work in a short notice. You must be willing to make compromises and take risks to be on top of the competition. The more you are okay with short notices, the more opportunities you can grab.
• Thirdly, you need to be open minded and ready to interact with people from different cultures, religions, customs and other background differences.
• Finally, and the most important part is your willingness to continue learning because the world is changing, and technology keep on advancing. You must be prepared to keep developing your career by attending events related to photography such as seminars, conferences, art exhibitions, and photography classes if need be.

How To Sell Your Travel Photography Work?

• Now that you are sure you want to become a successful entrepreneur as a travel photographer, you can start your career by licensing your photography work. Work with a reputable agency that will help you in licensing your work.
• Start selling your services to people in the tourism or travel industry in the destination you have chosen. Talk to people and businesses and ask them if you can take a few photos of them and their events when they are traveling. You can even approach the tourism board in your destination area, and you will be surprised how your word of mouth can open opportunities for you.
• Prepare a portfolio of prints you have made about certain people, places or events and then expose them online. Share your work with different artists’ galleries from different places because someone might notice your creativity and want to work with you in a different location. Always share your work for exposure.
• Be tactical by offering destination photography tours and workshops especially when you know a place very well. When you help tourists and other photographers discover some secret locations through photos you had taken earlier, be sure to earn from the service.

If you succeed as a travel photographer, you should be willing to be creative and work extra harder to change every image taken into a piece of art that tells a story. Therefore, make sure you have the relevant skills and then put work out there to be seen.