Flickr.com (meaduva)

I know one of the main reasons that an aspiring travel photographer submits their photographs is so that they can gain some reputation and clout within the industry. For example, while Steve McCurry did not submit his iconic “Afghan Girl” photograph into a contest – he quickly gained incredible fame once his photograph graced the cover of National Geographic. Amateur travel photographers can only hope to rise to a level close to Steve McCurry and sometimes the only avenues are through photograph contests, someone stumbling on an online portfolio or local galleries. It sometimes seems that you might have a better chance of winning the lottery and being struck by lightning on the same day before winning one of these contests. So is it fair that a well known media outlet should hold a contest to award a small prize but also collect the license to hundreds – if not thousands of breathtaking photographs?

The rules of the National Geographic’s 2009 International Photography Contest required an entry fee of $12.00 USD per photograph (a maximum of six photos per entrant) for photographs received before the deadline and $22.00 USD after the deadline. Assuming that at least 100,000 photographs (which is a gross understatement) are submitted prior to the deadline, we can estimate that they would have a profit of $1,200,000 USD. They are a business so I’m okay with them charging an entry fee to at least cover processing fees, judging, and increased server capacity to cover their website (http://www.ngphotocontest.com).

I can easily admit that I’m terrible when it comes to fine legal print but what mentally sane person consistently reviews terms and conditions when entering contests? We just want to win! I decided to take a look at the National Geographic’s International Photograph Contest rules and noted the following excerpt;

By entering the Contest, all entrants grant an irrevocable perpetual, nonexclusive license to Authorized Parties, to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit) in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known, including, but not limited to: display at a potential exhibition of winners; publication of a book featuring select entries in the Contest; publication in National Geographic magazine or online highlighting entries or winners of the Contest…Additionally, by entering, each entrant grants to Authorized Parties the unrestricted right to use all statements made in connection with the Contest, and pictures or likenesses of Contest entrants, or choose not to do so, at their sole discretion.

In addition, a release statement is required by the submitting photographer that states;

With respect to the attached photograph (hereinafter the “photograph”), I hereby represent that I am the copyright owner of the artwork that appears in the photograph. I hereby grant to the National Geographic Society (hereinafter the “Society”), its affiliates and licensees, and to the photographer of the photograph, the following worldwide, irrevocable rights:
(1) to copyright the photograph in the name of the Society or in the name of the photographer; and
(2) to use and re-use, publish and re-publish the photograph, in whole or in part, individually or in conjunction with printed matter, or in composite form, and in any medium, for editorial, commercial, promotional, and/or trade purposes. I hereby waive any right to inspect or approve any copy that is used in connection with the photograph and release and discharge the Society, its affiliates and licensees, and the photographer from any and all claims arising out of use by the Society, its affiliates and licensees, of the photograph for the purposes described above, including any claims for libel, invasion of privacy or breach of copyright.

The statements above – after removing the cryptic legal talk – basically states that any photograph that you submit can be used by National Geographic whenever they the magazine editors feel like it. Why some might be happy just to have a photograph placed anywhere in the magazine just remember that you had to pay for that photograph to be entered, you will never see any profit from it and National Geographic now owns the copyright to the photograph.

Do you think companies such as National Geographic are really trying to help travel photographers or is this just a disgusting method of grabbing licenses and copyrights? I’d like to hear the thoughts of people who’ve either entered this contest, entered similar contests or travel photographers who pursue different avenues to gain recognition in the industry. So please share your thoughts!

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9 Ways to Recognize Counterfeit Money
There are a few basic security features that all travelers should know about a foreign currency. This article written for Matador Travel lists nine ways to recognize a fake paper banknotes to help you become a bit more knowledgeable when a taxi driver gives you change back.

Eileen - “These tips are handy, so thanks!”

Learn How To Balance Keywords and Content
This article will greatly help any blogger (yes, that includes you travel bloggers too!) trying to reach a larger audience through balancing popular keywords for search engine optimization. I for one wish that travel blogging only required you to type out your travel stories without having to worry about search engines selecting your article for specific keywords.

Dave and Deb – “Thanks again for providing excellent advice and information…”

Jennifer – “Excellent article, Bryan. Thank you for the Wonder Wheel recommendation…”

Flickr.com (Photo taken by Rev TimMedia)

Travel and Write

Simple, right? The more you travel throughout the world, the more knowledge and interesting life experiences you will have to share with others. You don’t need to visit exotic locations such as the lush Amazon Rainforest or Great Pyramid of Giza to be a travel writer. When I went heli-skiing in British Columbia, I wrote a simple and helpful article on “10 Important Heli-Skiing Vacation Planning Tips” after realizing that there were no great sources of information for interested travelers. I highly recommend that you buy a small travel notebook to jot down meaningful experiences or descriptions that you might otherwise forget when you actually start an article. The well-known brand Moleskine has been a favorite of travelers to capture their thoughts, inspirations and ideas for years.

Start Your Own Personal Travel Blog

Having your own personal blog offers the opportunity to have interested readers stumble across the information you put on the Internet. Don’t be afraid of starting your own blog if you do not have the technical ability to write code. There are many well-known websites such as Blogger.com that offer free and easy to customize blog templates. I personally recommend that you buy your own domain (e.g., www.tourfolio.com) as this appears a bit more professional than using a free hosting service (e.g., www.tourfolio.freehosting.com).

Guest Post On Well Known Travel Magazines

If publishers don’t see your personal work accepted by other media outlets, why should they accept your work? This can be tough as it basically goes down the “what came first, the chicken or the egg?” path. You don’t need a job at a well established online travel blog or travel magazine to have your work published. There are many opportunities to submit your articles to these media outlets by either e-mailing editors or by submitting articles. The good news is that some travel media outlets, like Matador Travel, will offer small amounts of cash but more importantly they will provide a hyperlink to your personal travel blog. This hyperlink is beyond important as it will help generate traffic to your blog allowing more readers to see your travel writing. If you navigate to Tourfolio’s About Page, you will notice that we link articles produced by our authors on other travel magazines or websites.

Embrace Social Media

Twitter. Facebook. YouTube. These popular social media websites allow you to reach and communicate with a larger audience. Use these technologies by uploading well-edited travel videos that provide viewers with important information or by sending Twitter ‘tweets’ on interesting travel stories to your followers. The more you become involved in the ‘travel writing’ conversation through social media, the better you will have positioned yourself for more people to learn about your travel writing.

Improve Your Creative Writing

This is something everyone, including myself, can benefit from. Research a few local or online colleges that offer creative writing classes to help strengthen your ability to help describe your travel experience. There are other less expensive options if going back to college just isn’t up your alley. The online writing program MatadorU helps to train aspiring travel writers by offering guidance from seasoned Matador travel writers.

Network

Network, Network, Network. This is the basic mantra that we’ve heard for years when it comes to finding a job in the real world. Your network of people within the travel industry, whether it be fellow bloggers, friends from your travels or publication editors can help open doors full of opportunity. So remember to keep in contact with your connections within social media but also strive to build a network of people you are able to meet in person. If you have the availability, time and money, you should also attend travel related trade shows and conferences to meet other travel writers and publication editors.

Dare to be Different

Create a unique voice in your personal travel writings. What makes you different from all the other travel writers? What do you have to offer that they don’t? This is a pretty basic tip but invent your own writing style to convey your message to the audience.

Luck

A little bit of luck never hurts. Becoming a travel writer does not happen overnight even if you follow these tips. You never know when an editor of a well-known travel publication will reach out to you after they stumbled across articles about your time living with the partially nomadic Himba tribe in Africa for a few months or your writings on historic ruins in a nearby national park.

Now I want to open it up to you, the readers…What other tips have helped you work towards becoming a beginner or professional travel writer?

A screenshot taken of Twaller.com

If you are into traveling, check out Twaller when you get a chance and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The LangID website allows a user to use the following methods to find out what language a text is written in by;

• manually typing the text
• importing a file (.doc, .pdf, .xls, and .xlsx)
• providing a Twitter link

Best of all the service is free and does not require a user to sign up. On top of all that LangID can decipher about 85 languages from text you provide. Just remember that this site does not provide a translation, so you will need to check out another site for that or buy your own translation book.

LangID.net