P#23 Q1A: The Biggest Mistake a Travel Photographer is Likely to Make

Get Ready to Pay

Scott Stulberg: I'll break this into two parts. The first one is that people think it's less expensive than it really is to be a travel photographer. Travel photography is very expensive because it's not only buying the gear, which can be crazy. But it's also buying the travel.

Don't get me wrong, the gear is expensive. For example, the new Canon 5D is about to come out and I've already got two on order. It's going to be one of the most fascinating, incredible cameras in the history of photography. The Canon 5D Mark II is really going to set a milestone.

But it's not just the gear that you're buying, and I travel with a lot of gear including my laptop. You also have to factor in the travel prices. The cost of plane tickets has gone up incredibly high. My tickets to India, Burma, and China are about $3,000 each.

Audri Lanford: Yikes.

Scott Stulberg: I don't usually pay that much for a ticket. I don't travel first class. I don't even travel business. When you travel for long periods of time, it can be very, very expensive. Just the ticket alone is three grand and then you have hotels, taxi cabs, trains, inter-travel with planes, and there are boats and all your meals and your hotels -- it really adds up.

Most people don't realize just how much money they're going to spend on travel. And I don't go on package trips. You want to go on your own in order to get the best shot unless you're going somewhere like Africa or the Galapagos, where you have to be with your guide.

When you go by yourself, you can explore what you want. You can set your own itinerary and it can actually be cheaper. But even then, it still adds up tremendously.

The second mistake many a travel photographer has made is that they just grab their cameras and they point and shoot. I talk about this a lot when I teach. I tell my students that they call them point-and-shoot cameras for a reason, because people just point and they shoot. It doesn't matter what it is. It could be a bunch of flags up on a building. It can be a doorway in full sun in Greece. People just put their camera up and they shoot.

I teach how to not be a tourist because most people travel. They might have their camera but that doesn't mean they are a photographer. The point-and-shoot approach to photography is just something that needs to be worked on. People need to learn about photography and how and when to shoot, what not to shoot, what would make a great subject, and what would make that great subject even better.

Point-and-shoot photography is something that people need to stay away from.

In Closing

Don't want to repeat the mistakes of others who have gone before you? According to Scott Stulberg that means understanding that travel photography isn't cheap. It also means getting over one's tendency to just point and shoot the camera. If you can avoid these two common mistakes, you'll be well on your way to becoming a great travel photographer.