The idea of traveling to exotic locations to shoot weddings, portraits or commercial work is what most photographers dream of. Where else can you get paid to see some amazing sites around the world?

But like everything, not only does it have its “ups”, it also has a few “downs” to consider.

Whether you’ve been traveling with your photography for years, or are just putting together your very first promotional campaign, keep these tips in mind.

1. Choose your locations carefully

While traveling around the globe is a relatively safe thing to do, keep in mind that some places are easier and safer to travel to than others. It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful place for a wedding than the beaches of the Caribbean. Yet choosing a place like Haiti or Dominican Republic can be more taxing than a place like St Croix. As you are making your plans, do your research first. Search the Internet for current stories, check with the State Department, and look at tourism sites for your chosen location. In just a few minutes you should be able to gain a pretty good feel for the area.

2. Research the area

Once your area has been selected, spend some time learning about the location and the time of year you’ll be visiting. Hawaii is beautiful – unless you get there during rainy season and you experience inches of rain every day. If you know the weather patterns ahead of time, you can quickly plan backups for the just in case.

3. Expect a change in climate

Will you and your camera equipment perform at the same level in your new location? Being here in Denver, we’re use to being a mile high above sea level, and very dry conditions. Heading to a tropical location means heading down to sea level, and experiencing up to 100 percent humidity. Prepare for that change ahead of time, and bring clothes and tools to help you stay efficient throughout the day.

4. Look for ways to incorporate the destination location into the photographs

What traditions are native to the destination you will be shooting in? What landmarks or special areas exist around where the shoot is taking place? This location was chosen for a reason. Use it to make your images more memorable.

5. Know the laws

Different countries have different laws when it comes to photography. Do your research early so you can be prepared for every situation. Do they require special permits? Do they have rules against tripods or heavy lighting equipment? In many countries, multiple packs of equipment can also make you stand out, and put you more at risk for theft. In those cases, it may be best to stick with one small bad, two camera bodies, and your favorite lenses.

6. Know the language

It can be difficult navigating a new country with different laws and policies. It can be almost impossible to do the same when you can’t speak the language. Depending on your shoot, it may be worth the extra price to hire an assistant that speaks the language. If they are from the local area, they can provide you with assistance on everything from choosing intimate settings, to navigating the legal requirements.

7. Get the proper insurance

Before you step outside of your local business area, find out if you are fully covered with your business and health insurance. Ending up in the hospital from a fall or car accident can add up quickly in a different country. Likewise if you are directing a shoot and someone falls and is injured, you could be liable for the expenses. Talk with your insurance companies before you leave, and get the assurance to make your whole trip easier.

At the beginning of the year, I ran across a website that made me say WOW. I’ve been a destination wedding photographer since the mid 90’s. And I’ve written and promoted ideas to help you understand destination a little bit more, and how you can apply it to your business AND make a healthy living at it to.

That’s why I loved it when I found someone who is actually doing it.

Meet Karma Hill

Karma runs Good Karma Photography Inc in Maui, Hawaii, and fills her days with portraits and weddings. But she doesn’t promote herself as a photographer to local clientele – look at her website and you’ll see she focuses on the tourists, and markets her business as a vacation photographer.

So if you are spending thousands of dollars to leave your snowy home in January, and head to Hawaii to take in some sun and fun, you probably have spending money in your pocket. Why not get a family portrait on the beach?

The more I researched, the more excited I became. Not only is Karma having such success with her portrait business, she started a sister site to cover the full spectrum of portrait clients. A client can come to her for a memorable beach vacation portrait and spend whatever is in their budget.

Not only is she having a ton of success with her photography business, she’s also started off into a new direction – helping photographers understand how to become destination photographers too. Her newest release is an ebook, Destination Photography Business: How To Tap In To The Multi-Billion Dollar Travel Industry.

Every state in the U.S. has millions of visitors annually, and has billions of dollars in spending. And this isn’t unique to the U.S. People love to travel; that isn’t going to change. So why not combine what you love – photography – with what people love to do – travel – and create a business that easily brings in Six Figures per year.

I’ve been chatting with Karma quite a bit since I found her site, and asked her a few questions.

Lori: I know you started your business in 2006. How long did it take you to have a full time income from this concept?

Karma: I quit my day job 6 months after I started my business.  I made around $30,000 the first year and the business has grown leaps and bounds each year in annual income.  In 2009, gross income grew into six figures!

Lori: With two different photography businesses, you must be pretty busy.  How many hours per week do you work at this?

Karma: I am very busy! It is hard to estimate as I work from home and I am always sneaking in 15 or 20 minutes here or there but I would say I work about 40-45 hours per week.  I try to keep my hours to a minimum so I can enjoy life more and more time with my Family! I usually have weekends off which is a perk of working with people on vacation, they can shoot anytime during the week!

Lori: Do you have employees at this point? How many and what do they do for you?

Karma: I don’t have “employees” but I do use subcontractors.  I find the paperwork much easier and it is more cost effective for me on taxes and insurance than having employees. I have one person who has their own business that I hire to do my photo editing, I have another business owner that I hire to do the shooting and editing for my second brand and I have my husband and business partner who picks up all my slack with the Marketing and Accounting.  So technically I have no employees, but I have lots of help!

Lori: What do your clients love most about your service?

Karma: Besides the images themselves, the number one thing my clients comment about is the ease of use of my website in the planning and booking process. They love the locations page so they can see where their portraits will be made even though they are thousands of miles away and they love that they could easily reserve their date and book their portrait session online.  They also love the fact that they get a proofing website and disc of digital images, in fact many of my clients have told me that the fact that I offer a disc is the reason why they chose me over other photographers in my area.

Lori: Anything else you would like to share?

Karma: Yes! This is a totally new type of destination photography.  I am marketing my destination for photography and my clients are coming to me! My business model is 100% targeted towards visitors to my area, it is not a traditional studio model that tries to get every kind of photography business out there.  I worked with 2 local families last year in the hundreds of shoots I completed. I only do portrait and wedding photography, no real estate, food or events and I stay busy enough to support my whole family.  This is because of the niche marketing I have done, when you go to my web site, you know exactly who I am targeting.  The other thing I would like to point out is that you do not need to live in a place like Hawaii for this business model to work, every state has a tourism draw that you can tap into.   The concept of getting your family portraits made while on vacation is relatively new, I was the first person in my market to really focus on this and now you can find lots of other photographers attempting to do this as well.  The more the word gets out about this the more this kind of photography will grow.  I see it as a whole new market segment that the photography industry has not even come close to realizing the full potential of.

Thanks Karma, and congrats on a very successful business model.

“I love the idea of traveling with my photography. I’ve done a few weddings, but I’m not excited about making them my specialty. Do I have to do weddings to be a destination photographer?”

The great thing about being in business for yourself is you create the rules. Anything is possible as long as you build to make it possible.

What is your idea of photography? How can you turn it into a business that allows you to travel?

Maybe you enjoy shooting in warm places in the heart of the winter. Why not become a fashion or product photographer? Catalogs are developed months in advance. They need someone to be shooting catalog spreads in places that show off their newest product line. So a company in Wisconsin may need swimsuit and spring fashion shoots on the beach in the Caribbean in January or February.

What about portraits? Thanks to the Internet, you can build up your client base anywhere in the world. Maybe your goal is to live three months on a warm, tropical beach. Plan for it months ahead, put together a website, and start selling photographs on the beach. Promote it to your existing clients, and they may just change their vacation plans to meet you on the beach.

Destination can be anything you want it to be. But it usually starts with an idea or two. Destination can mean anywhere in the world. So it’s up to you to decide where in the world that means.

Once you have your destination in mind, then you can put the business to work.

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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.