A travel photographer is a professional or an amateur who is involved in the photographic documentation of an area’s landscape, people, cultures, customs and history. A travel photo is an image that expresses the feeling of a time and place, portrays a land, its people, or a culture in its natural state.
As a travel photographer, one can either work full-time with a travel magazine (like National Geographic or Outlook Traveler) or a web portal. Freelancers are paid according to the number of photographs they manage to get published. The career has its own set of challenges. At times one might have to shack up with the locals in small huts when there’s no hotel or lodge nearby,or has to stay awake at odd hours to capture that perfect glimpse.To get that desired picture one has to adjust all logistics on those lines.
Each destination has many facets and a good picture should truly reflect the destination’s essence.Picking out the novelty factor is another challenge. Whether it’s India or abroad, almost every major destination has been explored, written about and photographed. New and innovative perspectives to each place’s articles can change the perceptions of that place.
A regular employee in a magazine earns as much as a photojournalist. Initially, the photographers either have to work as assistants or interns. As a trainee one can start earning between Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per month. Freelancers can make more if they can manage to sell their work to global publications and websites.Certain skills that would help being a professional photographer can be the following points
- You need to have an eye for photography
- Have knowledge of the customs and culture of various places
- Communication skills if you have to get through to the locals and do great shoots
- Must be able to manage with limited resources if you land up in inhospitable terrain
- You have to have the ability to stay patient for a good shot to come your way
Some institutes offering courses in the field are
- India International Photographic Council, Delhi 011- 332 7762
- Triveni Kala Sangam, Delhi, 011- 65751099
- Sri Aurobindo institute of mass communication www.saimc.com
- Xavier Institute of Communication, Mumbai www.xaviercomm.org
- Photographic Association of Dum Dum, Kolkata (for short term courses)www.padonline.org.in