P#23 Q1B: What Can You Expect When Traveling Internationally?

The Grass is Always Greener

Scott Stulberg: People think that traveling internationally for professional photography is just all glamorous, cool, and fun without realizing how much hard work and aggravation there is. When you're carrying your camera gear, it's a lot of weight to tote around.

I carry a backpack, which I think any good pro does. In the old days, we had camera bags on our side or whatever, but the camera stuff goes over one shoulder and it really is taxing after awhile so I have a lot of camera gear in my backpack.

Carrying all your gear gets to be physically taxing and it's such a drag checking in at the airlines and pulling it off your back and waiting while they go through it.

When I was in Cuba, they ripped apart my gear and kept going, "Journalist, journalist," because they see this camera bag and I have long hair. I look like I'm a troublemaker or something.

I've been hassled in Japan too. They're just looking for something to bust you on, but that's not the only hassle. It's all the inner travel and taxis that takes a lot of glamour out of photography.

One of my students is going with me for five of the six weeks I'm going to be gone. He will be with me in India and in Burma. He is going to see firsthand what it's really like because a lot of people think, "Oh, I'm going to go to Italy. I'm going over here. I'm going over there."

They don't realize how hard it is to get up early in the morning and get to a location, or go scout out a location the night before to see what's the best time to shoot in the morning and where the light's going to come from. I'm sweating so much running down to capture a sunrise at Angkor Wat before the sun even comes over the top.

Or say I'm running to catch a plane and getting all my gear and then being hassled, and pulling all your heavy luggage from this place to that place, dealing with all of the hassle of people saying, "No, no tripod, no tripod. You have to leave the museum," or, "You have to leave this courtyard."

A lot of the glamour is not really there. Being a travel photographer and traveling internationally is not a dream job. It's a great job, but it's a lot of work.

In Summary

Think professional travel photographers have it made? After all, they get paid to see new and exciting places. It's like a dream come true, right? According to Scott Stulberg, traveling internationally for professional photography purposes is a lot harder than it looks, and a wise photographer will be prepared for it.