ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Tips On Starting Your Own Travel OR Wedding Photography Business

Travel photography is a niche of photography that involves traveling and documenting in pictures landscapes, people, places, customs and cultures et al.

Travel photography is one aspect of photography business that is less competitive because photographers find it difficult to cope with the stress involved in shooting pictures under a condition where they may not be in control of the lighting or even the ambience. The fact that travel photographers sometimes spend hours or even weeks to capture just a shot, is part of what some photographer don’t want to be subjected to.

It is no doubt that becoming a successful travel photographer might be a difficult task, but that does not rule out the fact that it is indeed a money-making venture to go into. There are loads of clients that are willing to pay for the pictures of interesting places or events that can be covered. Aside from the income that you stand to generate from this as a travel photographer, you will also be exposed to different cultures and people all over the globe.

Now let us quickly consider 7 tips that will help you become a travel photographer:

1. Research on Travel Photography

If you are not sure whether becoming a travel photographer is the right career path to follow or not, then spending time to research about it is your best option. When you research about a subject, you build a broader knowledge and you will be able to make informed decisions.

When you research on travel photography or study the career life of any travel photographer, you will be able to know if it is indeed a lifestyle or career path that will suit the life you want to live. The truth is that travel photographers are subjected to the good, the bad and the ugly in the process of covering people and places in different parts of the world. 

2. Acquire the Required Skill

Even though you know how to take good shots, it is still very important to learn all that you need to learn if you want to become a travel photographer. Sure, you will be required to master the art of taking unique pictures of people and places and also in most cases you will be required to learn foreign languages if you truly want to become a successful travel photographer.

Although, you have the options of working with an interpreter, but it is more advantageous when you can communicate in the language of the people you are to relate with. Here’s a guide on how to become a professional photographer.

3. Join any Relevant Association or Team of Travel Photographer

If you go online to search for relevant association or team of travel photographers in your country or city, I am sure you will come across a good number. So, part of what you need to do if you want to become a travel photographer who truly wants to succeed in the profession, is that you need to join any available relevant travel photography association in your country or even a team of travel photographers who from time to time travel to places in groups to cover people, events and places.

4. Get the Necessary Traveling Document and Photography Kit

The fact that you are a travel photographer means that you are required to travel within your country and outside your country. So, what is expected of you to do is to ensure that you apply and obtain valid travel documents that will give you access to the countries and places you intend traveling to. You are also required to buy a complete photography kit.

5. Start Covering Tourist Sites in Your Country

The only way to learn how to swim is to jump into the swimming pool and start practicing; you can not learn how to swim outside the swimming pool. So, if you want to become a travel photographer, then you should start taking pictures of places, people, and events. You can start with tourist sites in your country. They say practice makes perfect and this just a typical example of it. You can only perfect your photography skills when you taking pictures.

6. Source for Clients to Sell Your Pictures / Collections to

Once you are able to gather good collections of pictures that can be used for post cards, artworks and designs ,et al, then your next step should be to source for clients to sell the pictures to. This is why we created a sample photography marketing plan template for you.

Being a travel photographer is not just for the fun alone, but for profit making. You can only make profits when you sell your collections to clients. You can market your collections to travel magazines, documentary companies, historians and other people that you know would need your picture collections.

7. Leverage on Any Opportunity to Exhibit Your Collections

One of the ways traveling photographer make money is by attending exhibitions to exhibit their collections. The truth is that some of your biggest clients as a travel photographer are those you will meet in exhibitions. So, ensure that you look out for any related expo around you to exhibit your picture collections. Although, you will meet other travel photographer during exhibitions, what you should do is to make sure you learn from them; there are a lot to learn from people around you and you must be humble enough to learn if you truly want to go far in your career.

Becoming a travel photographer is sure filled with adventures and excitement, but that does not rule out the fact that it is quite demanding and in most cases it will take you away from your family and friends for the better part of your career and you must brace up for that.

                                             

                         WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

It is important to state that there are several photographers out there who are jack of all trade and there are some who are specialized in covering only weddings. Do note that these are the people that you will be competing with when you start your own wedding photography business. In essence, you must be creative and innovative if indeed you want to be amongst the preferred wedding photographers in your city.

Starting a Wedding Photography Service – Sample Business Plan Template

1. Conduct Your Feasibility Studies

There are various options available to anyone who wants to start a career as a photographer and these options have their own unique mode of operations. Hence, if you want to start a wedding photography business, all you need to do to get started is to first take out time to conduct your own feasibility studies.

Although, during your feasibility studies, you may decide to study other forms of photography business, but your main focus should be on those who are into wedding photography business. With that, you will be able to get reliable info on how they source for their clients, the kind of camera lenses suitable for this type of photography business, the clauses that must not be missing in the contract and an estimate of the amount required to set up a wedding photography business et al.

2. Enroll in a Photography College and Acquire the Required Skills

There are several top notch photography schools available all around the world, all you need to do is to go online to search for the photography schools nearest to you, make enquiries and enroll for a diploma or degree course. In some of these photography colleges; there is also the option of specializing in wedding photography. 

3. Write Your Business Plan Without a shadow of doubt; if you want to start a new business, it is required that you have a good business plan in place before launching out if indeed you don’t want to run your business as a mediocre. Your business plan is actually what will give your business direction and focus irrespective of the challenges that you are likely going to face at the teething stage of the business and at every other growth stage of the business.

If you can draw up a business plan; then fine. Conversely, if this might be a challenge, then you may consider hiring a business plan writer to help you get things underway. 

4. Register Your Business

It is often said that if you don’t register your business (legalize your business); the best you can become is a local champion. If you want to build a wedding photography business that can grow beyond your location and compete at national level, then you should make it a point of duty to get a business name for the business and then get the business name registered. You can approach the secretary of your state or the corporate affairs commissions of your country and get your wedding photography business registered.

5. Acquire the Necessary Camera and Photography Kits

During your feasibility studies, you would have come across some of the best and suitable cameras and photography kits that are used for covering wedding events. The bottom line is that you should endeavor to purchase the necessary camera and photography kits ideal for covering wedding events. Some of these cameras and kits might be very expensive, but if they are well managed, you can be sure to use them for a very long time and still re-sell them at a good price if the need arises.

6. Rent a Facility for Your Studio

Even if most of your job will require that you go to event centers and churches, amongst others to cover wedding events, it is still very important to rent a facility for your studio. Aside from the fact that intended couples may visit your studio for their pre – wedding pictures, your studio will also serve as your office base. That means a place where clients can visit to make enquiries. Thus, ensure that you rent a facility that is easily accessible.

7. Network with Wedding Planners and Market Your Business

Although, you can employ the use of tested and trusted market techniques to source for clients for your wedding photography business, but one of the surest ways of ensuring that you get regular wedding photography jobs to cover is to network with wedding planners. 

If you are lucky to partner with a well established wedding planner in your city, you can rest assured knowing that you will get at least a wedding event to cover in a week from commencement of business. You can also leverage on other means to promote your wedding photography business. They are the; social media especially an account on instagram® will go a long way in helping you grow your wedding photography business.

If you follow all the steps highlighted above and you are determined and hardworking, it won’t be too long before you become a celebrity wedding photographer. Do also have at the back of your mind that creativity is also a major factor to be a success in this trade. -(Source: TopBusinessIdeas)