Photography: Nic McPhee

In 2004, Steve Levine was about to show his photographs in public for the first time. Three New York galleries had invited him to exhibit his work in a series of back-to-back shows that would last a total of four weeks. As he prepared for the exhibitions, meeting the gallery owners and arranging the printing, he and his partner Iris consoled themselves with the thought that when the shows were over, they’d pack a truck and hit the road. They ended up spending sixteen months touring the United States, selling a few images along the way, paying for accommodation at small hotels with free commercial shoots, and pitching travel articles and images to magazines from the road. It wasn’t the most organized way of using photography to finance a trip, and there were times when the couple found themselves almost down to their last penny, but by the time they were back in New York, they’d amassed a collection of commercial images that allowed them to revamp their website and build a commercial photography business — and they’d built up a solid collection of memories too. Other photographers looking to use photography to finance their trips though might want to plan a little more carefully. It isn’t easy, but there are niches in which the plane tickets and hotel fares come included.

The most obvious place to look is the magazine industry, a field that always has a strong demand for pictures from far-off places. But it’s also likely to be the most unreliable. There are few publications around that treat photographers as well as National Geographic does, sending its freelancers off to interesting locations, giving them the time to research their stories and paying all the expenses. More usual is the approach taken by Travel+Leisure where editors like Whitney Lawson field pitches from photographers who have returned from a trip that they’ve already made on their own dime. When Whitney does look to commission photographers, she tends to search in the locations where the shoots will take place, an easy way to find a professional who knows the area and won’t need an expensive plane ticket.

For photographers then, travel magazines won’t usually be a way to land a free air fare, let alone a  per diem, but they might help to lay off the cost of a trip that’s already been completed. That will depend though on pitching images that tell a story rather than photographs that show the sites.

“I am not wowed by random images of exotic places so much as I am by a well-told story that has a strong sense of place,” Whitney said. “My job is to bring rich, beautiful, enticing photography to our readers and transport them to another place, to take them there.”

Shooting Buildings Can Put You on the Road

If the print industry looks like lean pickings for traveling photographers then, another option may be architectural photography. As always, clients will generally prefer to cut the costs by finding someone local but photographers with large reputations and small niches can win commissions, especially when the clients are big enough to foot a large bill. Barbara White, for example, specializes in interiors, shooting for designers, architects and developers. Most of her work takes place in California but one of her most memorable shoots took place at a casino in Las Vegas where she had to work from 12 pm to 6 am four nights in a row. Barbara built her architectural photography business through  a combination of cold calling and direct mail, with some online marketing thrown in too. These days, most of her work comes in through referrals, a benefit of being established.

Shoots like these aren’t something you can depend on but some photographers have been lucky enough to find themselves doing them with some regularity. Jeremy Mason McGraw has managed to specialize in shooting hotels, a job that’s sent him to Australia, Hawaii, Italy, Croatia and Malta among other exotic spots. It’s a career that started in 2002 when a friend, who would later become his business partner, helped him to win a contract to photograph the Kohala Coast Resort Association, a series of twelve luxury hotels in Hawaii. The contacts he made during that shoot — combined with other connections built during an earlier job with a production company on a cruise ship — have allowed him to continue shooting hotels around the world, and to stay in them too.

More Brides Are Choosing Destination Wedding Photography

It sounds like a dream job, and it does allow Jeremy the time to wander off and take his own travel images, but like any work, it has its downsides. Much of the photography includes producing virtual tours, 360 degree images of hotel rooms and reception areas that are more technical than creative.

“As a photographer, I dislike the format,” Jeremy said. “They require a lot of post work and because they  show you every view from a given location you are limited artistically on how you can present the space. You simply pick a place to stand.”

But architectural photography does allow the photographer to build even more contacts and to get used to the difficulties of traveling with professional equipment, obtaining insurance, working in high humidity, and dealing with the visas and paperwork necessary to work abroad. Heather Parker, a wedding photographer, started booking destination shoots shortly after taking architectural assignments in resort photography. She shoots 35 weddings a year and about a third are destination shoots in locations that range from Jamaica to Barcelona and Montreal. Clients cover the cost of the airfare, hotel, meals and other fees, in addition to the shooting cost, a significant addition to the price charged by a resort for their own photographer.

“The amount of images and time a destination wedding photographer can offer far exceeds what all-inclusive resort photographers do,” explains Heather. “The markup that a resort adds to their packaged photographer often goes directly to the hotel rather than paying for a high quality of photography so more brides than ever are choosing to hire a destination wedding photographer.”

Most of Heather’s work comes in through word of mouth and she has been shooting professionally since 1998. Getting paid to shoot and travel requires a bit of planning, a lot of patience and, of course, some great photography.

Photography: Jeremy Mason McGraw

Make a list of the most desirable jobs in photography and there’s a good chance that travel photography would come close to the top. Make a list of the toughest jobs to land in photography and flying around the world, staying in exclusive hotels and shooting beautiful locations would hold about the same position.

But for the last five years, it’s a job that Jeremy Mason McGraw, a photographer from Branson, Missouri has been able to call his.

Jeremy took up photography in high school in 1993 but his first jobs were in the entertainment industry where he designed theatrical scenery and lighting, skills that still influence his shoots. His move into travel photography came four years later, when he took a job with a production company on a cruise trip. Although he wasn’t hired as a photographer, Jeremy continued shooting for fun and used his trips to look for commercial outlets for his photography. With some careful marketing, he found them.

“I turned my seafaring life into an opportunity to sell my photos and was able to get prints of my work consigned to gift shops in the ports that the ship docked,” Jeremy explained. “I also sold them to the tour excursion companies that the ship used. Selling that work was my first experience as a travel photographer.”

Jeremy was still working in the entertainment industry but by this time, he was also hooked on a life of travel. After working for a while in Australia, he returned to Branson, and after eighteen months bought his first DSLR and some used strobes, and quit his production job to become a full-time photographer.

“I did a lot of publicity shots for the local shows in Branson at first. I was not making a lot of money so I set up a number of trades with local businesses for things that I needed to reduce my cost of living. I took every chance to get my work out into the world.”

Finding a Sales Partner Paid off
Contacts he’d made on the ship led to jobs in Vegas and Sydney, and at the end of 2002, a friend who would later become Jeremy’s business partner helped him to win a contract shooting photos for the Kohala Coast Resort Association, a chain of luxury hotels in Hawaii. That job in turn led to new contacts, and Jeremy’s partner acted as his sales person, targeting clients and selling them packages.

It was forming a partnership with a sales professional, Jeremy says, that really let his travel photography develop.

“Working with a business partner who solely did my sales helped my career
more than anything… Finding someone whose talent is in sales, marketing and business, who is equally as driven in their own talents [as I am in mine] is imperative for me because it allows me to spend more of my time doing what I am best at.”

That partnership has recently dissolved but Jeremy has now worked in Australia, Hawaii, Italy, Croatia and Malta, not including the 24 countries he visited while on the ship. Much of his work involves shooting hotels, commissions which, he says, pay him to stay in incredible destinations with all of his gear, and provide him with the freedom to explore his surroundings and obtain a feel for the place.

Photography: Jeremy Mason McGraw

Getting into Galleries
In addition to the commercial work though, Jeremy’s opportunity to travel also allows him to develop personal projects. Over the years, buyers have contacted him to order prints but being always on the move made it difficult to keep track of purchases and control quality, so print sales weren’t an option that Jeremy considered seriously. Galleries looked a better choice but without contacts, Jeremy knew they wouldn’t be easy to break into.

Because Branson lacks a good range of photo galleries, he emailed galleries further away and visited others while traveling, presenting his portfolio on his computer. But that wasn’t an approach that brought success either.

“What I found was that you really have to see a picture printed to get its full impact,” Jeremy explained.

Eventually, a friend agreed to host a show for him. They converted the ground floor of her house into a temporary gallery, added lights and using e-vites and photo cards. invited every one in Branson from the Mayor to the President of the Arts counsel. As a result, Jeremy has been invited to exhibit at a number of forthcoming art shows and two real galleries.

Clearly, every photographer has to find their own route to success in whichever niche they choose, but Jeremy’s experience does have lessons for everyone.

Finding someone to handle the marketing if that’s not your strong point, even if it’s only on a commission basis, can be a good way to build a client base and contacts.

And you don’t have to wear out your shoe leather to get your images in a gallery. Exhibit them yourself and promote your show well, and your success will depend only on you and the quality of your images.

[tags] travel photography, travel photographer [/tags]