Becoming a Travel Photographer and Making Money out of it.

The global travel and tourism industry is huge, contributing almost $10 trillion to the world economy in 2015. Then there is commercial travel photography that provides imagery for this trillion-dollar market, which can be an amazing way to enable you to travel all around the world without worrying about the finances! Of course, don't forget about coupons for such places as hotels.com that can be easily found, and help you enjoy even more of your journey with the same budget. Travel photographers have unlimited opportunities in photographing a wide variety of different settings such as sceneries or local events just to name a few, so, you will need to employ skills and expertise across all disciplines in the field of photography. However, you can be sure all of that hassle is worth it! 

So, how do I make money in travel photography? 

There are so many opportunities out there for making money in the field of travel photography that can actually sustain your lifestyle comfortably. They include: 

- Stock photography: License your travel photography work to sites like 500px.com, Stocksy.com and Demotix.com and make cash out of it. Good thing about this? It’s fairly residual and passive, meaning you can still get some good income flow even when not actively working at it. 

- Direct client sales: You can get directly contracted by a magazine/newspaper for photography work, or sell your photos, images and prints to companies that, for instance, want to use them for social media marketing. 

- Make money on social media: In today’s world, being able to market yourself as a travel photographer is a huge thing that can bring good bucks. For example, being a big Instagrammer can earn you a living by leveraging your following to big brands, tourism boards or hotel chains. 

- YouTube: We’ve separated YouTube from social media because it’s one thing that is currently growing incredibly fast and becoming a huge source of income for many. You would be surprised at how much you can earn by showing the world your travels and escapades via your YouTube channel!

- Blogging & freelance travel writing: By having your own photography blog or leading your blog’s visitors to affiliate links, you can make money through advertising and leveraging your audience. Also, other people come to get your opinion on photography matters through your blog reviews contributing to your popularity.

- Earn by saving: When you’re out there on one of your many travel escapades, it may happen that you will be able to save some money by exchanging your photography work with free hotel rooms or free tour company rides; a win-win situation for both parties involved!

- Teaching: Lots of travel photographers are supplementing their incomes by selling books, video tutorials and hosting photography workshops. Trust me, there are so many tips and lessons that people can learn from you on how to succeed in this field when you have the necessary skills!

Some 3 more crucial tips... 

- Be flexible: Before embarking on a long and bumpy travel photography career, consider your lifestyle and the amount of time you've to spend away from home. Other times you’ll need to be available for traveling at a moment's notice. You need a lot of flexibility here. 

- Remain tolerant & resilient: Amidst the occasional travel delays and jet-lag, traffic and crowds, language and cultural barriers, you can easily lose your head. That is why you need to remain resilient and sane to make it here. 

- Quality is key: With millions of photographers from all over the world, how do you make yourself stand out? Out of the thousands of near-perfect shots of the Eiffel Tower or Taj Mahal out there, what makes yours stand out? Be original. Find a speciality. Remain committed!


About the Author: Christine's biggest dream has always been to travel the world, and that's exactly what she has been doing for the past couple of years. She loves visiting new places, discovering new cultures, meeting new people and sharing those experiences. She has also taken an interest in photography some time ago and hopes it will help her connect with others even better.