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Considering a Photography Job in the Cruise Ship Industry

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Are you tired of the same old grind day in and day out? Ever have an urge to travel the world and see something new? Do you have a good work ethic and wouldn’t mind going completely out of your comfort zone?

If you’ve answered yes to these questions, then you should definitely consider working on a cruise ship as a photographer. Let me tell you right off the bat, it’s not easy work and working on a cruise ship doesn’t mean you’re on vacation. You do however get many huge benefits.

The Cost of being a Cruise Ship Photographer

Let’s start off with what might be perceived as the negatives. These aren’t necessarily all negative aspects of the job, but they are things that you will definitely need to think about before you make a commitment to this life style.

You must be willing to be gone from your home for 8 months at a time. During this time you will be traveling to many different parts of the world without the opportunity to see friends and family. You will need to be comfortable with this or it’s going to be a very difficult job. At the end of your 8-month contracts you will have the opportunity to take about 2 months off for vacation.

Expect 8-hour workdays 7 days a week for the entire 8 months without a day off, ever. Not only will you be gone for 8 months, but you’re also going to work extremely hard every day of those 8 months. When I say you’ll never get a day off, I mean it. Not even one.

Strict rules while onboard. This may not be much different from what you currently experience if you work for a large company, but it might also be completely different from what you’re used to if you work for yourself. On the ship there are a lot of rules and regulations that you’ll have to live by. [Read more...]

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Market Your Photography Business So You Can Travel and Live Anywhere

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Many people dream of the day they can quit their jobs, throw a camera in a bag and travel the world. We love to travel and experience new things. Taking pictures is a way to remember each step of the way. And if you can get paid for doing it as well, why not start today.

If traveling the world with a camera in hand has always been on your bucket list, the only way to make your dreams come true is to do it.

Self Promotion

With many career paths, they can be time consuming and expensive. If you open up a retail store, you are pretty well locking yourself into a location.

But if you want to be a travel photographer, the only investment is camera equipment, a computer, and a website. Then you can create your images and load them up to your site for any type of promotion you choose.

Need some inspiration? Check out Stuck In Customs, one of the best travel photography sites online.

Build Your Portfolio

With WordPress, you can build a sophisticated web presence in no time. You can add to it anywhere in the world you have Internet access. And you can connect it up with many different sites to give you even more exposure – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, YouTube and SmugMug.

In years past, you had to connect with people on a personal or one to one level. Now everything can be done via online. If you are connected to editors through Twitter, you can communicate on your time. If they run across your Pinterest boards, they can evaluate you on their time. If you build a SmugMug portfolio and gain an incredible following, you’ll have more traffic than you can handle. And it will all be something you can build when you have the time – leaving you free to shoot on your time.

Dig Deeper: The 10 Advantages Of WordPress For Designing Your Photography Site [Read more...]

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Do You Have To Travel To Be A Travel Photographer?

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Ahh, the life of a travel photographer. Every morning you wake up in a new and exotic place. You can travel weeks at a time, or take a break and spend some time learning about one area in detail. You can go to amazing places half way around the world, and you can visit places where very few people have walked before.

Who wouldn’t want that lifestyle?

Statistics show travel is the number one item on most people’s wish lists. They dream about the day they can take off and enjoy experiencing new things. Yet for most people, that dream never becomes reality.

“I have kids and I can’t disrupt their schedules.”
“I want to travel but my spouse doesn’t.”
“I don’t have the money to travel.”

Yep, there are dozens of ways to justify not jumping at the chance to travel.

And for many people that dream of the day they will set out on their journeys, they also have another dream – to get paid while traveling too.

Imagine photographing every exotic port you pull into, and being able to quickly sell the best images from the trip. Not only could you travel where and when you want, but you’d get paid for it too. Life can’t get any better than that.

If your dreams have included something like I’ve just described, you’ve probably shelved them to the back of your mind, waiting for the day to come.

Why wait?

Instead, head out now and prove you have what it takes to be a travel photographer, right from the comfort of your own home.

No matter where you are, what community you live in, you probably have some level of tourism right in your own neighborhood.

Right here in Denver, we have the Rocky Mountains a 30 minute drive from the heart of town. Millions of people come here every year to ski, hike, ride, and enjoy the crisp air and gorgeous views.

And because of that, there are also many magazines, books and online resources that cater to people that live here, visit here, and love playing in the Rocky Mountains. [Read more...]

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How To Get Photos Published In Magazines

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This post is Day 17 of 30 Ways In 30 Days To Redesign Your Life With Photography. This series seeks to provide you with practical steps to get you from wherever you are today, to exactly where you want to be – this year! If your goal has always been to take your photography to a whole new level, hang on and start enjoying a new lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.

In Day 16, we worked through the concept of Niching your photography business, and why it’s so important to focus. The more you focus, the clearer your vision, and the more results you’ll have.

I decided to provide a post on why I thought niching was so important to your success first, and then follow it up with a series of posts that were specific to fields within the photography profession. A great majority of my emails and responses were from people that had specific questions on types of photography. Whether you currently have an interest in a particular field or not, read on. I’ll cover a variety of items that can be taken from field to field, and can help you when you look at growing your own photography business.

“I have a job, but like many people, and am constantly worried whether it will be here tomorrow. I love traveling and can see a time where I make this my primary business, especially after I retire (if there is such a thing). I would like to start getting some of my photos into magazines, but how do I go about that?” Greg

Ah, the lifestyle of a travel photographer. Search the Internet and you’ll find a ton of courses related to travel photography. And with travel being a huge business, its no wonder. Statistics for 2009 show:

  • $704 billion on travel expenditures generated by domestic and international visitors
  • 3 out of 4 domestic trips here in the U.S. are taken for leisure
  • 2.7 percent of the U.S. GDP is attributed to travel and tourism
  • 1 out of 9 jobs in the U.S. depend on travel and tourism

And while that’s just the U.S., I know the stats hold true in other places around the world. It’s a big world out there, why stay in one place? [Read more...]

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Photographs: The Way To Increase Sales Of Your Articles

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A Guest Article By Jeff Colburn

Photographs can add a whole new dimension to your writing. Magazine editors often prefer to have photographs to go along with an article, as they will attract readers that may otherwise not read that particular item. Having photographs available not only makes your writing more sellable, but editors will sometimes pay more for the photographs than the article. And by taking the photographs yourself, instead of the magazine’s staff photographer, you get to keep all the money for your article.

Your photographs should do one, or more, of the following.

  • Be attractive or interesting enough to make someone want to read your article.
  • Clarify something in your article that you didn’t have the room to fully explain, or that’s difficult to explain, in words.
  • Tell a story that is not mentioned in your article, much like a sidebar in an article.

When you have photographs, mention in your query or cover letter that photographs are available upon request. Also say if they are film or digital. Don’t send photographs until the editor asks to see them.

[Read more...]

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7 Resources For A Travel Photographer

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Travel Photographers Network

If you love travel, and are looking for ways to improve your travel photography skills, Travel Photographers Network is the place for you. Your membership includes a social site (bio, blog, gallery, etc) that allows you to share and learn with others in the community.

Travelers Notebook

Warning: this site is addictive. I’ll head over here every once in a while, and end up spending way too much time reading through their information. Travelers Notebook cover a wide variety of topics, from traveling abroad, to recommended resources for photographers.

How To Buy A Round the World Plane Ticket

Did you know you can buy a round the world plane ticket that allows you to travel to destinations all over the world – you choose – and you can use it over a one year time period? This article will open up your eyes to how you can easily set up a round the world plane ticket, and dream of all those exotic places you’ll visit.

[Read more...]

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How To Have An Amazing Lifestyle As A Travel Photographer

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As Andrew and I traveled from wedding to wedding every weekend, we heard the same comments again and again.

“You really make a good living flying all over and attending weddings?”

“You make money by partying every weekend?”

“They pay you to have this much fun?”

Yep, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Who wouldn’t love working 25 to 30 days of the year, travel anywhere our clients chose to fly us into, and yes, spend our working hours at some of the best parties in town?

To me, that’s one of the highlights of being a photographer. But you don’t get that way by simply charging a small fee, and snapping a few photos of your neighbors’ kids. You have to choose that type of lifestyle. The lifestyle others will always envy, yet you can make a reality.

While you can travel with more traditional types of photography – portraits, weddings, commercial – there is another area that guarantees it. Travel photography.

To me, travel photography means exactly that – you travel anywhere you choose to photograph, and find a way to sell the images that you create along the way. You can do that by:

  • Selling directly to magazines, publications, and publishers.
  • Selling to stock or microstock houses.
  • Become a fine art photographer, and selling your work to galleries.
  • Or something in between.

How about creating your own book? Or working directly with a franchise to furnish each of their storefronts’ artwork? Want your own television show – Art Wolf makes a living photographing and creating a show around his travels.

First step – decide what type of photographer you want to be. Look to names that are already out there doing it, and study their direction.

Second step – become the best photographer possible. Study and practice all the time.

Third step – do it. Book your plane ticket, make your first travel plans, and connect with someone in the industry. You have to take the first step to get things done.

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