Great Escape Radio Episode 64: How I Balance Travel Writing with My Full-time Job
“Plan your work and work your plan!” – Amy Piper Great Escape Radio host, Jody Maberry, and Director, Lori Allen, introduce us to Amy Piper—a new travel writing success story. “Everybody has a different approach to travel writing,” says Lori. “We have the creative types who like to throw a bunch of paint at the wall…
How Far Should You Go: Processing Portrait Photos In Lightroom
I love taking headshots, because I think people are fascinating and beautiful. Everyone is beautiful in the right light. But when a client pays you hundreds of dollars for a shot, they want to see an image of their best self – without any blemishes, wrinkles, yellow teeth or stray hairs getting in the way.…
Transform Your Photos With Easy Processing In Lightroom
Who will buy this photo? No one, that’s who! It’s rare to see the Peruvian Andes (where I took this) on such a clear day… but the photo itself is dark, gray, dull, and boring. But how about this one: This is the exact same photo after a few minutes of processing in Lightroom –…
Five Tricks To Get Sharp Photos
Last week we talked about focus, and the importance of submitting sharp photos to your stock agencies. If you missed it, you can catch up here. But if you’re getting blurry photos and you’re not sure why, try these five tips for getting tack-sharp shots: Check your shutter speed. A big cause of blur is…
Great Escape Radio Episode 63: Skill vs Equipment
“Investment in your skill brings confidence and confidence brings opportunities.” – Lori Allen Great Escape Radio Host, Jody Maberry and Director, Lori Allen discuss the basics of getting started in photography: what equipment you need and which investment is more important—the investment in your skill or investment in equipment. At our recent Photography Workshop in…
Do’s And Don’ts: Sharing Published Stories On Social Media
The feeling you get when you see your first travel story published in a magazine is incredible. You pitched it to an editor. You got the email back—the one that says the editor wants your story. You’re proud as punch that someone else valued what you wrote. And on top of it all, you’re…
The Trick To Earning A Steady Income In Travel Writing
I spend much of my time traveling the world, meeting new people, exploring new places, hearing new languages, and trying new foods. And I haven’t had a job in years. I’m far from independently wealthy, and while the majority of the travel I do is for work purposes, I also foot the bill for plenty…
Transitioning From A Day Job To Full-Time Travel Writing
The build-up to the New Orleans Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop in September of 2016 was exciting and motivating. Before the workshop, via the closed Facebook group that’s available to everyone who is registered, we all made plans for bourbon tastings and dinners at restaurants with James Beard award-winning chefs. We had forged virtual friendships. And…
How To Protect Your Equipment When Traveling Under New TSA Rules
Laptops or tablets are a necessary tool for travel photographers. We need them for editing, processing, and storing our still photos and video clips. As if it wasn’t enough of a burden to carry on our computers, new security rules restricting the electronics we can bring aboard in our hand luggage make things even more…
Avoid The Biggest Reason For Stock Photo Rejections
If there’s one deal breaker in stock photography, here it is: missing focus. Submitting a photo to your stock agency that isn’t sharp is a sure way to get your image rejected. Luckily, there’s an easy way to avoid this – zoom in to 100% to check. When you view a small version of your…