Aug
29
What Does A Destination Photographer Really Mean?
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So you want to be a destination photographer?
You add the phrase to your website, “weddings anywhere in the U.S.” or “will travel anywhere for weddings and events”.
You sit back and wait for someone to contact you. And the years roll by. Why? Why hasn’t anyone selected you for traveling to their event outside of your home location?
The common misnomer 
with the phrase “destination photographer” is that by simply adding destination to your website and your brochure, you instantly become a destination photographer. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Let’s say your a photographer from Denver, Colorado, USA. All over your site you talk about weddings and portraits taken in the Denver area. On your contact us page you list your address - in Denver. Your keywords have Denver, Colorado, USA.
Guess what? You’ve just been pegged as a Denver, Colorado, USA photographer.
Being a destination photographer doesn’t mean you will promote your photography for everywhere on planet earth. It means you’re willing to travel. But where to?
We photographed in the Denver area. We also started specializing in weddings in Arizona (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona). So guess what we put on our website? Information about our weddings in those locations!
And when we photographed in San Francisco, yep, we created a whole bunch of information on that too.
You can’t attract clients to your destination photography unless you know where you want to go.
Choose your destinations, and start turning your dreams into reality.
Aug
14
As a destination wedding photographer, you have a lot to think about. If you’re photographing a wedding 5 miles from your home, you can always have a family member bring you something if you forget it. But what about if you’re 2000 miles from home?
For many years, we traveled extensively with our wedding photography business. The first was the most difficult - what do you bring? We gradually had it down to a science, and created our own checklist that we covered every time we packed.
First, you need to have a great carryon photography suitcase that will keep all of your camera equipment safe. We always used the Porter Case hardside, which kept everything safe while you’re moving around. What’s nice about Porter Cases is they are specially made for photographers, and they section off their suitcase to keep everything safe. If you have a piece in every section, you can see with just a quick glance if anything is missing.
In today’s world, you also need a laptop and plenty of flash memory cards. With any luck, at least two of you will be traveling together, allowing you to bring two suitcases on board.
When it comes to tripods, monopods, light stands, umbrellas, etc, we would always pack those in a 
special hard sided luggage, and tell the airlines what you are traveling with. It’s a good idea to bring your contract with you to show where you’re going and what you’re doing. We also traveled with brochures/business cards to hand over to prove we were in business - something that’s more important now with travel security the way it is.
If you’re traveling to a large city, you may look for rental places where you can rent some of your equipment - your tripods, monopods, maybe even a lens or two. We rented quite frequently, and always had great luck. If you’re paying for extra luggage, it may be more cost effective to rent on your destination end.
And finally, learn about your flight patterns. We did a wedding in Lake Placid, New York one year that required us to fly on a very small plane into the Adirondack Regional Airport. The plane held 14 passengers - and no overhead luggage. Thank goodness they worked with us, and allowed us to place our camera bag in the on flight area reserved for flight attendants. Sometimes just talking with people and telling them your situation will get you where you need to go - with camera bag in hand!
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