About 8 years ago I was chatting with a business mentor about my goals and mentioned that I wanted to travel for photography. She mentioned that the goal would be to charge around $2000 for that and I remember that number feeling so out there and unattainable at the time. Right now, I’m typing this from a plane where I am doing just that. And, this is the second trip this year I have been hired to travel and photograph just one family. Earlier this summer I had a trip where I photographed 6 families in 7 days (in a state other than where I live.) I will have photographed families in 4 different states this summer!

How did I get started traveling for photography? This is actually where being a former military spouse has benefited me. I started my business when we were stationed in Monterey, California and then 2 years later got moved to Washington state. The years following I would fly back with my kiddos for a late winter break from the rain and would offer mini sessions to my former clients and friends. My rates at the time were on the lower end so mini sessions were more realistic. About 3 years later I started booking full sessions for that location (Big Sur specifically) and I have a few in the works for next year. During that time in my career I was also booking sessions in Virginia (We were stationed there before Monterey so I had some contacts there). My main goal was to cover the costs of the trip for those first few years. As I grew in experience and attracted clients willing to pay more, I started to be able to make money on those trips. One location I have been working towards for years is Montana. My parents live there so we are back often. I’m going to list some of the strategies I have used to gain clients in locations that I don’t live in as well as the logisitics of it!

If you don’t have clients booking higher end prices, offer mini sessions! You can book many back to back to cover the cost of the trip (and then some). If you don’t have enough reach in that area, use a referral approach. Offer full galleries or even free sessions for anyone that can refer clients that book. I have done this by reaching out to an influencer or small business in the area that has a lot of local followers.

The logistics of a travel session include costs for hotel/flight/transportation/food mostly. Sometimes I’m able to forgo a car if I book a hotel near my location.

Weather is the biggest struggle for travel sessions. If possible, have some wiggle room on either day before or after just in case. Also make sure your clients know this session will happen rain or shine. I’ve had some rain issues, but was always able to dodge it. Remind them to be flexible that day just in case.

Another thing to remind them of is that this session is non refundable. I will sometimes allow someone to cancel but use it as a credit for another session if it’s a location I come to often and only if I can fill their spot.

A couple of things to keep in mind. You need an email list! Anytime I post a travel session on Instagram I make sure to post a story with a link to a mailing list for that spot. Or they can comment and I’ll message them for their email address. Make it easy!

If you need help fine tuning your business to make this a reality, I’d love to help! I offer one on one mentoring as well as a membership for those who need messaging support.