There’s a new trend in photography that’s been growing rapidly; the vacation photographer is a fast growing career option these days. The reason is probably because of social media and the need for the current generation to upload everything on it, especially holiday photographs. They want social media worthy photographs and that’s the reason for the growing breed of vacation photographers.
Arjun Kartha who is the Indian representative for a company called flytographer, says: “Vacation photography could fulfil a gap where couples visit foreign countries especially couples from the west, wanting to experience eastern culture. They make large investments for these travels and instead of just taking selfies or poorly taken photos of each other , they want professional standard photographs to document their travels, holidays, in line with the imagery in their own country. Photos that are rooted in the cultures of the places they are visiting so what they do is set aside some amount of the vacation spend on the photographs.”
In turn what they give the client is a brief of the local country, city and a representative who doubles up as a photographer and also a guide of sorts, someone who is familiar with the places they want to visit and can recommend suitable, picturesque backdrops for the photographs. “I like to go for these photo shoots myself because I like meeting people from different cultures. I love my country and it’s great to give them first hand information about your country. It’s also a great way to build my network all across the world,” says Arjun.
“India is a huge vacation hub and this is going to be a trend to look out for in the coming years.It’s a great way for young photographers to polish their networking skills with clients,” informs Arjun. Financially it is not as lucrative as other forms of photography but Arjun says it’s a great way to make that extra pocket money.
Arjun tells us that there are different kinds of sessions, the basics start with a 90 minute session for local hotspots. “Like if I am Delhi based, and a client wants a photo shoot at a certain hotspot in Delhi, then the basic session starts with 90 minutes. If it’s going to another city or town then the contract can go up to a week or more,” he says. To get in touch with Arjun you can visit his website: arjunkarthaphotography.com
Besides flytographer, localgrapher, shootmytravel are other top companies that specialises in vacation photography. While some photographers like Amit Ashar, wasn’t aware about such a trend but thinks it’s interesting, wedding photographer Raj Lalwani says that though he hasn’t done such an assignment ever before, it is a growing trend now. “It’s growing since some people want to take it beyond the selfie. Though it does sound a little creepy, it is the signs of time.” He says that he is ready to welcome it because he is curious to know what it would be like travelling with the person, couple or even a family for a holiday and capturing them.
Vacation photography sure is good news for budding photographers but how many of you would want to share your personal space on a holiday with them? Do write to us with your views.
