Photojournalism as a hobby or career?

[spenkew]

Hi all!

I have this burning question that has been in me for the longest time and have not been able to find an answer...

I see that there are a lot of travel photographers in the Photo Galleries "Land/City-scapes and Travel" section and was wondering, do they take the traveling photography as a hobby or a career?

And lets say you went for a trip and came back with insane and awesome pictures... where to from here? Start an exhibition? Send your portfolio to photo agency? Send your pictures to Nat Geo? How does all these work if you want to take photography as a career?

The thing is, I'm sure there's many of you guys out there with amazing pictures stored up in your hard disk or framed up at home. What do you do if you want to take a further step? Or maybe it's like a hobby for most?

Cheers!

 

[f1to128]

You could first identify the medium, media outlets where you think your pics may be in demand. I think the travel industry is going to get bigger in the future, though the travel writing / photography market appears to saturated. I have heard of people selling travel pics directly to printing companies too. Let people know you have a great set of pictures for a start to get the opps rolling.

 

[waileong]

I doubt most people here want to take photography as a career, although many fantasise.

Hi all!

I have this burning question that has been in me for the longest time and have not been able to find an answer...

I see that there are a lot of travel photographers in the Photo Galleries "Land/City-scapes and Travel" section and was wondering, do they take the traveling photography as a hobby or a career?

And lets say you went for a trip and came back with insane and awesome pictures... where to from here? Start an exhibition? Send your portfolio to photo agency? Send your pictures to Nat Geo? How does all these work if you want to take photography as a career?

The thing is, I'm sure there's many of you guys out there with amazing pictures stored up in your hard disk or framed up at home. What do you do if you want to take a further step? Or maybe it's like a hobby for most?

Cheers!

 

[Big Kahuna]

I'll do that if I touch tomorrow $3m Toto 1st price :thumbsup:

 

[catchlights]

take it as a hobby you will be merrier.

if you sick, can rest at home, don't have to go out to shoot.

if you bad mood today, can go out for drink, don't have to go out to shoot.

if you unable to bring any photo back, never mind, free can go and shoot again.

if you cash is low, you don't have to go out and shoot.

if your girl friend give you hard time, you can spend more time with her, don't have to go out and shoot.

the best thing is you can shoot as and when as you like.

nobody will bark at you for more photos, you don't have to rush to process all the photos.

 

[catchlights]

btw, you also don't have to worry about people say your photos are sucks, or don't like your photos..

 

[enivre]

take it as a hobby you will be merrier.

Very much agreed

 

[billycadiz]

HObby:

btw, you also don't have to worry about people say your photos are sucks, or don't like your photos..

haha! 2nd this! :bsmilie:

Photographer: even if you have the most expensive camera/superb skills and your client complains how terrible he/she looks at the picture(you've done your best:devil? come down to your senses, you cannot change their face...:bsmilie:

 

[spenkew]

Agreed...

What if you are not hired to shoot but sell your prints after your shoot. Then only those who like them will pay for them and those that don't, you won't even hear about it from them because no one hired you...

What I'm trying to say is.... What is the next step after you come back from a successful expedition?

Exhibition? Store your pictures and show them to friends when they come over? Print them and hang them at home? Or approach agencies?

 

[catchlights]

Agreed...

What if you are not hired to shoot but sell your prints after your shoot. Then only those who like them will pay for them and those that don't, you won't even hear about it from them because no one hired you...

What I'm trying to say is.... What is the next step after you come back from a successful expedition?

Exhibition? Store your pictures and show them to friends when they come over? Print them and hang them at home? Or approach agencies?

squatting in the toilet, washing tripod legs

 

[changster]

Hi all!

I have this burning question that has been in me for the longest time and have not been able to find an answer...

I see that there are a lot of travel photographers in the Photo Galleries "Land/City-scapes and Travel" section and was wondering, do they take the traveling photography as a hobby or a career?

And lets say you went for a trip and came back with insane and awesome pictures... where to from here? Start an exhibition? Send your portfolio to photo agency? Send your pictures to Nat Geo? How does all these work if you want to take photography as a career?

The thing is, I'm sure there's many of you guys out there with amazing pictures stored up in your hard disk or framed up at home. What do you do if you want to take a further step? Or maybe it's like a hobby for most?

Cheers!

hi spenkew,

i think that most of the works you see in the "Land/City-scapes and Travel" sub-forum are meant by the photographers who took them as a form of keepsake, as well to share with others here.

if you are thinking of selling your pics, target stock agencies or magazines that specifically pertain to the subject matter that your photos feature.

but bear in mind that the competition is insane is this day and age. it is really not about being able to shoot pretty pictures and expect them to be snapped up, especially given that what you perceive as an award-winning, jaw-dropping shot would most likely be already taken by x number of other photographers, who probably spent years documenting a particular place.

i recently attended a talk by a alumnus of my school who is a full-time travel/documentary photographer. she gave us the low-down of what it takes to make a decent living out of doing this kind of work as a career. put it simply, it's not easy because:

1. you got to constantly generate ideas of niche subjects that haven't already been covered,

2. you got to constantly pitch to magazines you think might be interested and be prepared to face a lot of rejection,

3. you got to establish your name in the field and expose others to your work,

4. you got to be consistent and of course, consistently good.

best of all, she writes and shoots so there is the extra value added.

i think that other than being a fantastic photographer, establishing your name is probably the next most important thing, because that will open a lot of doors for you in that editors and buyers would actually pay attention when you got something to show or say.

hope this helps answer the bit about making travel photography a career.

 

[stor]

Agree with what Changster mentioned those pointers. To act in a few important pointers. In order to succeed in this venture, you need to find your godfather or godmother to help you along the way and you need to be a social animal to get your networking build. As the saying goes, it is not what you know but who you know to make your way to success. If is a very tough job.

 

[2100]

Short answer : Its not that easy even getting past the entry requirements stage. Forget it if you wanna earn good bucks here, as you are taking on the whole world.

 

[loveyunki]

btw, you also don't have to worry about people say your photos are sucks, or don't like your photos..

yeah true, coz diff ppl got diff opinions.

 

[kandinsky]

For photographers who shoot for their own pleasure and joy, another option is to compile your travel shots into a photojournal, give that out to relatives and friends during christmas.. etc. Make calendars even... I wouldn't bother taking them commercial unless...

1) A good number of professionals tell me my photos are 'good' enough
2) I decide that I'm not longer satisfied by what I'm doing with my photos and I will only be happy if I take them to a larger audience.

 

[spenkew]

Hey Changster,

Brilliant read from you! When it comes to ideas for shoot, I guess it's not as simple to just point and shoot, and then think of a story to go with it later. Its sort of like the film industry with all the hustle. It's very competitive out there.

When you go to photo exhibitions there's not much of a story-line that goes with the pictures right? What you see will probably be some brief write up at the beginning, and the place where you took the pictures. Is that considered as photojournalism?

 

[changster]

I think that there usually is a pretty strong theme or concept running through an exhibition, unless it's like a retrospective of the best works of a photographer. Even so, you should be able to see what makes the photographer tick.

For those with really brief write-ups that don't seem to do the works justice, it could be that the artist wants you to interpret his/her work in your own way. Some artists just don't like to tell others what to think. Maybe that's the beauty of art, it's open to so many interpretations.

As for photojournalism, I'd say it is a genre of photography that captures the essence of an event/place/phenomenon with the photographer as an observer, and not influence the proceedings in any way.

Hope this helps.