• Ability to enrich myself in new cultures and learn more about the environments which craft those.
• Allow for travel from place to place, allowing for a lot of travel whilst having enough freedom to allow for I wish to do.
• Allows for the use of both Photography and Videography.
• Gives the ability for not only myself to travel, but for me to also stay in contact with my partner, whether via traveling with or staying contacted via internet access.

So after outlining the job itself & ways you can get into the job with alternative routes, as well as their pays & how to bring in an income with those routes, now the number one question that I personally have is how to get into the role itself? Well, multiple sources state that the easiest way to get into the industry is to build a large portfolio in travel photography & then approach an image library, (A large organisation which holds millions of different images from photographers around the world for publications can sort and filter through for use) the only thing about image libraries is that a lot of them already have a lot travel shots but some big online libraries might be looking for some fresh new photographer to bring some flare in with them, that's why a niche & large library is definitely needed when heading into this sort of business. So having a niche and good selection for the library wants but is different from their current selection which allows for publications to see the difference in your work to others. Must image libraries which work with books, magazines, newspapers, calenders, cards and other websites will typically make a cut for your photographs, with the cut typically going along the lines of 50%. A good resource for this, especially within the UK/England would be the [BAPLA] which is the The British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies, this lists all agencies in the UK and to put simply is the trade association of UK based photographic image suppliers, commercial picture libraries and agencies.

So from my research I came across a name, this man's name was Paul Harris & he will appear later as he will be part of my case studies, but back onto how to get more into the industry, a bit topic was definitely education & college involving media/photography. This was not needed but was recommended to be picked up by reputable image libraries if that was the route which would be taken and was recommended and mentioned by Paul Harris himself.

As well as college/education, a lot of the recommended skills for the jobs also included but was not limited to the following:

• Perfect Planning

• Digital Marketing

• Settle in Quickly

• Master of all Trades

• Quick Reflexes

• Strong Visual Analysis

• Strong Social Skills

• Be Comfortable in Your Own Company

• Be Committed

So after researching quite in depth into travel photographer/videographer. I then decided to go down a similar side job which connects quite heavily to the before research details, those being BAPLA, Image galleries & third party stock websites such as Alarmy. But before getting to bogged down in the details of each, I believe it is a good time to do an overview of what the job role itself and what it entails as a whole. One of the best parts of the job itself is the fact that over the course of your photography/videography career you will have taken some beautiful and breathtaking shots to showcase your work but not been paid to do so, that's where this job comes in to play, where all the work that you have done previously can be put up for other people to buy and use for their projects. So starting with the photographs/videos themselves, you should always be conscious of what it most likely is going to get used for by the individuals themselves, such as if it is most likely going to get used as a magazine cover than you should most likely want to prioritise a portrait version of your piece, whilst if it is most likely going to be used as a background landscape for an AD then you will need to leave space for the editor to composite the other materials into shot. Though at first this may seem a bit daunting it will come with time and if you feel unsure if your piece really does not fit into either or, you can always upload mulitple versions of your piece to the publication.

As for any rules and regulations surrounding the making of stock photography & videography, the most important regulation would have to be the use of individuals within stock images. Every individual who has been recorded/shot within a scene must released image rights of there person on paper with a signature, meaning the company/site must have seen this form to have the image be released. Though the main issue is with people, brands, logos and other non public properties must also have released their image rights publicly or privately with yourself before the image will be allowed to be sold. Even photographs with a non focus on the individual's can be quite hard to get around as other features such as recognisable tattoos can also make it easily recognisable for someone and then you would have to get a release form for them also.

As for getting in contact with a good agency and who to go with, it may come across as daunting at first, once you really start doing research into it you will start understanding a lot of the little nitty gritty of it. One of the most important things to keep in mind is the difference between a microstock agency & a premium stock agency:

Microstock Agency - Microstock by definition is a combination of the words Micopayment & Stock Photographer, micropayments being a small transaction that is typically made online, whilst stock photographer is the profession name given to the individuals. These micro stock agencies are more open to new-comers and very lenient with that they accept, typically are aimed more for web use and lower budget professionals. Microstock is typically very similar to how image libraries work but for the broader audiences of the internet, with how they host photographers high quality work on their websites, requiring the same legal action to be taken per post but unlike your typical premium stock website, they pay a much lower price than traditional stock agencies, hence the name microstock (micropayments).

A few examples of Microstock Agencies are:

iStock - A Canadian hosted but world widely acclaimed microstock provider established in May 2000, which offers photos, videos & audio. It is said to add over half a million new stock media each month from users, this in return allows for it's many users to earn thousands from royalties. Whilst have a $100 payout minimum threshold & exclusivity for 25% per download. (Increasing to 45% depending on contributor status. As a side note, in 2006 Getty Images (a Premium Stock Agency) acquired iStock for $50 Million USD & is still owned by them today, making Getty Images both the owners of a Premium and Microstock Agency.

Dreamstime - An American based microstock provider, established in year 2000 and now in the year 2022, is said to have near and or over 195 million stock images & boasting one of the largest user bases out of all stock communities with 45 million users. Hosting everything from stock photos, videos, audio, illustrations and editorial images, it's extremely varied with what is hosted on the website, but is mostly known for it's photography. With a 25% to 60% commission, resulting with a £0.31 to £10.80 range for a royalty free download & upward margin of £35.99 with an extended license. One of the most interesting facts about DreamsTime is that you earn per uploaded image, earning roughly £0.18 per image.

Adobe Stock - Adobe stock is an Adobe product which was originally integrated into Adobe Bridge & is available through the subscription package with creative cloud. Paying 33% commissions for photos, vectors & illustrations and paying 35% for videos. These values roughly equate to £0.29 - £23.29 for images and £2.47 - £61.75 per video, with these values considered, you will available to get a payout once you've reach a minimum of £22.05 on your account but only if you have a validated tax form on your file account.

Shutterstock - An American based stock photography hoster's founded in 2003, it is one of the few stock which most people will know of outside of the Media industry. Having a large library of around 200 million royalty-free stock photos & around 10 million video clips & music tracks available. With a commission rate of up to 40%, with your earning rate increasing depending on how much of your content is licensed.

Premium Agency - Premium agencies on the other hand demand even higher grade products, meaning that the ease of entry for a beginner stock photographer is much harder, however the payout is typically much greater than microstock websites. These websites are much tailored to the professional side of the business with a more of a focus on the use by bigger budget production companies. A massive difference between the two and are typically a deal breaker for most is the fact that majority of premium Agencies don't allow for you to post the images to any other stock image gallery once it is on their website, think of it similar to that of signing a control to a company and signing an NDA.

Examples of Premium Agencies in the market as of 2022:

Getty Images - An American based Premium Stock gallery with over 477 million assets for it's professional consumer base, with their main targets being advertising, publications & corporate. Boasting 2.3 billion searches annually on the site, with around 20% for royalty-free still images and 25% for royalty-free video clips.

Alamy - A British stock imaging supplier, which boarders the line heavily between Microstock & Premium, founded in September 1999. Alamy has been the focus on quite a bit of backlash and slander, to counter act this they seemingly have one of the reasons it has one of the biggest commission rates out of any stock agency I have researched. With a commission rate of 60%-40%, depending on model that the user has.

Microstock agencies don’t actually offer many options, but if you choose to sell on a premium stock platform there’s two types of licences you need to know about: Royalty Free and Royalty Managed. The agency will choose the type of license for each image based on its uniqueness.

Royalty Free - Royalty Free comes with unlimited use and the price is determined by the size of the file. Because of this, you should always upload the highest resolution possible.

Royalty Managed - Royalty Managed are single-use licenses and the price depends on the usage of the stock image.

Whilst researching, I believe looking at what makes a good stock photographer is very similar to what makes a good photographer/videographer in general and I will be talking about though skills in large in a later segment, so for this part of the skills & qualities, I will be listing the ideal things to keep in mind to make the perfect stock photo:

• Technical perfection

• Believablity

• Digital marketing

• Story or theme

• Broad appeal

• Unique

Wildlife photographer is the layman term for a person who spends their time photographing wildlife in their natural habitats, it is a very creative industry and allows for the photographer to experience a very aesthetic, rapidly changing environment of which the animals live. Though a lot of the people who do wildlife photographer are people who have trained years within the industry to get where they are, some wildlife photographers are young amateurs who have just up left their day to day life with a leap year, with just a camera in their pocket and a drive to experience the beauty and diversity within the world. A lot of wildlife photographers tend to have a niche for which they photograph, ranging from but not limited to: Mammals, birds, insect, plants, reptiles, sea life and other creatures & wildlife, but also the ability to experience and explore diverse environments, from rain forest to deserts, from mountain peak to grass lands and savannas.

The main goal of a wildlife photographer is to capture the natural beauty of the world, so it is very ideal for the people who have a keen eye for details in the little things in life and those of us who are natural born explorers. Typically with Wildlife photographers, they will be doing it for companies to promote wildlife conservation, raising awareness or just documenting the wildlife itself, often focusing on endangered animal species or focusing on sensitive biological areas & habits of the animals.

Their are many different types of Wildlife Photography, with specialisations in niche areas, as stated before, but they require to have a lot of experience in that sector and knowledge of what it is like to work in that environments. This is because if you throw someone usual works with aquatic life and knows how to perfectly work the lighting of the different water ecosystems and get the perfect shot, into an environment similar to that of a rain forest, they will struggle, not due to just the environmental differences but also the fact that it's completely different weather patterns and niche then what they are used to. Some of the most common types of Wildlife Photographers are:

Environmental Photography - Environmental photography is a generalised term for the focus on changes within the environment and the impact different ecosystems have when stimulated by a different catalyst, for example, how the relationship between humans & the environment effects each other in different cultural environments. Environmental photographers will tend to highlight more in the direction of global climate change & the demonstrate the interactions humanity & the wildlife can have on an environment, pros and cons. Often working alongside environmental researchers & scientific experts within the field to help research related issues being faced within the ecosystem.

Behavior Photography - Behaviour photographers are known for their focus of computing the behaviours of animals in a way which adds to the understanding of the animals a species, allowing for research to be expanded upon what was already conceived of their knowledge. Photographers in this field aim to illustrate beautifully vivid pictures of an animals behaviours, attempting to capture physical confrontations, dramatic behaviours, playful activities or nurturing moments.

Photojournalism - This sector are more intertwined with journalism and is more focused on trying to find the next big, revelatory, provocative and newsworthy images that help examine the nature between humanity and nature. Images which help illustrate the impact which humanity has on beauty of nature, displaying the consequences to the actions and showcasing the risks which come with our every day, such as the animals who are affected by our human conflicts or environmental damages we do as a species. Showcasing the pros and cons to our life affects on the world, whilst working closely with journalist to help get the next news worthy scoop.

Conservation Photography - Conservation photography is known most for their work alongside environmentalists or government officials, to help promote the protection of endangered wildlife within the world & allow for more research to reach the public ear through the medium of photography. The most common use for conservation photography is to be able to document & illustrate the positives and beautiful within protecting the rare ecosystems of earth and helping visualise why the protection of species who are struggling to stay alive in the age of man.

Documentary Photography - Just as the name suggests the Documentary Photographer focuses on documenting key events, issues or locations which should be focused on primarily. Such as working on documenting the negative impact of commercial hunting/poaching of endangered species, documenting the changes which can be done to prevent such atrocities from happening and helping from the word to help combat these issues. Also they work alongside media companies to help capture images/videos of animals in a more natural environment, rehabilitation or studied in a nature reserve.

Landscape Photography - As a landscape photographer, your main job in the industry will be to capture the beauty of both natural & man made landscapes, from the wanderlust vistas stretching to the horizons, to the degradation of humans old & forgotten, you will be capturing it all. The main idea for shots are the landscapes, which main contain animals and other wildlife, but they are not needed for the composite as the main takeaway will be the surrounding landscape & beauty.

Macro Photography - Macro Photography is the act of photographing things which tend to be too small for the human eye to really get a good grasp on, such as the small veins on a leaf or the eyes of a butterfly, it's a job which allows for scientists to study to finer details of animals in nature, at a level not seen with natural human eye sight. For Macro photography, it will require the use of a macro lens and a lot of patience for the perfect shot to line up but in the end they will be able to create such a mesmerising shot which emphasises the intricate patterns and textures rather than content or narrative of a picture.

Nature Photography - Where as the rest of the jobs on this list take on more a role of capturing photos of animals in captivity, assistance of traps or any human assistance, nature photographers tend to be the ones who go all the way to remote locations to capture the natural world at it's finest. These remote locations, are to be able to find the very purest form of nature, with minimal to no human intervention. Though sometimes these photographers will be using Macro lenses, it will be generally used on bigger animals, such as mammals or birds.

Commercial Photography - Within the bounds of wildlife photography, the commercial photographers job would be the create appealing and marketable images for the commercial use of companies and individuals, which may be (but no limited to) stock libraries for sale or use for websites/media for specific companies. This position is very similar to, if not a side step for a stock photographer, allowing for them to pretty much do everything they do but under a brand/company. The initial goal of a commercial photographer is to provide content and images that appeal to the masses & for to customers, rather than to promote any conversational acts/awareness, but they may work under companies who wish to have this as their primary goal.

Underwater Photography - When working under this role, your primary location of recording will be found within underwater environments, and the tasks you will be given will include to following: Photography of plants/animals, bring awareness to reefs and or conversation acts, promote safety towards ecosystem life & usage of specialised equipment. This is a very niche job as you are required to learn and use very unique equipment to capture the shots you will be capturing, but this will also carve a very small opportunity for growth in the future, such as waterproof cameras & equipment.

While there are many avenues for a wildlife photographer to go, and you may feel like there is no particular downside, there are quite a few challenges you will face and things you may want to keep in mind. With a lot of wildlife photography jobs require for the employee to venture into remote and isolated areas, often in harsh/extreme weather conditions and they must be adapted/equipped to handle such conditions. Also finding themselves either working solo or in very small teams, needing for them to also capture the shots of elusive animals that might not even show up for weeks on end, as animal behaviour can be erratic and unpredictable, meaning that even professionals within the field might struggle to get more than only a few seconds to observe and photograph their subjects.

As well as finding elusive animals, you may need to face environmental factors such as poor weather conditions, extreme environmental elements and inclement weather which can make the safety of the photographer uncertain by making it near impossible for the photographer to work effectively within the situation. Trekking deep within the rain forest, battling scorching heat, braving torrential rain and other harsh conditions to find the animals that live in dangerous, remote and challenging terrain, which still might not even appear is just one of the small challenges you may face.

On top of uncertain terrain issues to the photographer might face, and if they can even find the wildlife itself, they may find getting the actual shot of the subject might be harder than just taking a few pictures and then just leaving. Wildlife in remote areas/wilderness wont likely have much or any interaction with humans on a regular basis, thus they will be highly sensitive to disturbances/changes within their environments. Thus, photographers must plan their shots carefully to not scary or spook their targets preemptively. With it being a misconception that specialised equipment, such as a telescopic lens, can make up for the physical distance from a potential subject and the photographer, making it even more of a patient job in order for the photographer to get very close to their subject.

But as well as the photographer, they ecosystem they may be shooting in needs to be taking into consideration also, as their impact on endangered or sensitive species may disrupt certain animal behaviours. Being able to maintain an professional whilst also taking into consideration of the impact you may have the animals that live their is a must for this job, this also tangents into being aware of dangerous wildlife around you. Wild animal subject may be unpredictable and quick to act if they see you trespassing on their "land", if fearing their habitat is threatened, certain predators may act quick to protect their homes and young from potential "threats".

Hopefully that helps you understand the challenges that may be faced whilst working as a wildlife photographer, for the salaries of the average Wildlife Photographer, you would be looking for around, you would be looking for around £35.952 a year average with approximately £17.30 a hour. - [ZipRecruiter] This is very similar to the average annual salary of a general photographer, but just falling under the average for a multi media creator. though it is only the average of jobs within the sector, it seems as if the pay rate varies heavily depending on skill level, experience and accessibility to the location itself, with employee's living in area which are looking avidly for the role are seeing higher pay than those with limited roles wanted.

Skills and qualities most asked for on hiring new employee's:

• Proficiency in using camera equipment

• Digital marketing knowledge

• Ability to professionally edit photos

• Experience in varying photography styles

• Willingness to travel

• Outdoor survival skills

• Knowledge of environmental regulations and animal safety

• Researching skills

• Ability to work independently

After extensive research of each job individually with alternative job route, salaries and pros & cons, I believe these three were my personal highlights and takeaways from this. Going forward from this I will be moving on to doing a few case studies upon people within the industries I've just looked at & afterward I'll research into further education on the next segment. This will cover a brief review and analysis of what options there is after college and what I could go into, per say University or if there is any other options which I could could take. It will also include a personal skills audit to help outline my current skills set, which compared with the career research which I have done here I can easily figure out what my skills are which I still need to acquire for my ideal position.

This is all for my research into careers, for a list of other pages and research, please visit: Table of Contents