How I Support A Travel Photography Lifestyle
People are often curious to know how I support myself, and the travelling I do, financially. It is, after all, an expensive job.
My biggest and main source of income comes from my Post-Processing courses. I feel extremely fortunate to be at a point now where I have a profitable business. It supports my travel, lifestyle, and will help us buy an apartment in the UK mortgage-free next year. I don’t teach live workshops, or online workshops yet, but I have considered it for the future.
My business hasn’t always been profitable. My tax forms tell me my first year in business I made a significant loss (woohoo! no income tax to pay that year!); the second year I made a small profit; the third year things improved a lot.
That’s how I support my lifestyle!
Looking deeper, it’s important to examine what lead to this lifestyle, and how the business started making money.
Firstly, before we left the UK, 5 years ago, we paid off all of our debts. It required hard work, and an immense amount of discipline to undo a lifetime of bad spending habits. Nevertheless, we managed it. We also saved money.
We moved to Korea to work as teachers for two years. We maintained disciplined spending, but made sure we also enjoyed our time there. We saved a comfortable amount of money – enough to live on for four or five years. This safety blanket would provide the base on which my business would be built.
When I decided to make photography my livelihood, I did so with both feet in, committed to the task 100%. Knowing I had savings meant that I could plan long-term, with the knowledge that if I was consistent in my work, I could eventually develop a profitable business.
I quickly became aware of what I was bad at (more or less everything non-photography). Things pertinent to the business, like marketing, I taught myself through books and courses. I realised that the best way to develop my business was to stop thinking of it as a business, and more like a community of Digital Blenders, of which I was fortunate enough to be a part.
From this point of view I started to contribute as much as possible to this community, through free tutorials and articles. I found this to be a great experience (it’s always nice to give), and also very beneficial for me. My newsletter grew to almost 45,000 subscribers, and I love sending out tutorials to them each week.
From then on my site and business grew. Our spending has become less disciplined, but we still maintain a very minimalist lifestyle.
We currently live in Korea. My wife is enjoying teaching again, and we have a cozy apartment that we just moved into (it looks a bit bare at the moment). That’s it in the image above (image created from 5 exposures using luminosity masks).
And that’s the story of how I support my lifestyle. I’m afraid it doesn’t sound terribly exciting – there aren’t any get rich quick schemes, or secrets to share. Just old fashioned planning and persistence.
Share this:
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2015 at 7:36 pm
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Thanks for sharing that bit of personal experience. As a photographer in what you would call the “first-year” financial place (no profit), it’s nice to hear that with hard work there is at least a chance of making a living with photography.
😉 Giving always comes back to you like a boomerang! Well deserved. I learned a lot from your courses!
Just out of curiosity, do you sell your photographs also? If so, what have you found to be the best way to do so?
Hi there, I don’t really sell my photos. I put a couple of images on Getty and some other sites years ago, but that’s it really. The money from that isn’t anything special.
Is it safe there? North commies are not far away looking to spread Red Ideas…Great view, when you are with the one you love any place will do.
It’s super safe in Korea. Lived there for three years and life was brilliant.
I safely assume that is NOT North Korea Chris!!
Kudos to you for being honest and transparent about your financial journey in photography. I find that this is something many people are looking for, and for the most part they don’t get a clear answer. Maybe it’s natural for people to be more guarded with their finances. I guess this post resonates with me on two levels… by profession I’m a financial advisor and photography is a passion and side-job. Thanks for sharing, Jimmy! I’m sure this post will be helpful to many!
Thanks for sharing, very interesting to read your history! Motivational! Regards from Arica, Chile!!
Hi JImmy, I’ve been on your list for a while and want to say thanks. Your newsletter is a great source of video tutorials and inspiration. Great to know how you’re staying on the road. My wife and I are long term travellers too and I would absolutely agree that getting out of debt and sensible spending are the way to freedom. Those of us that manage it appear to have insane lives full of magic and awe. It seems like an intelligent trade.
Thanks a lot Michael. It’s great to hear from someone who is enjoying the newsletters 😀
Hi Jimmy Superb article on your strife for a great profession. I have ofton wondered how guys like you, Trey Ratcliffe, Elia Locardi etc all make your financial way. I always assumed there wasn’t enough income in selling images via the web or in print unless you were a Christan Fletcher or Peter Lik with their galleries and good luck with his record sale last year. I’m an engineer with a desire to be a photographer and thought i would never sell any images but sales to stock libraries increase every month, payment is pity fully low on average but recently I have had some big number sales and I cant complain considering its a pass time. Love all your work and articles. Gordon
Thanks Gordon. Good to hear the sales are increasing. You can make money from selling photos, as some of my friends are doing successfully. It’s just a lot more work than it used to be. Best of luck in your photography!
That’s an interesting narrative. I appreciate it, Jimmy! Regards from Brazil!
Thanks for sharing these details that nobody tells!
I’m at a point in life where I want to try to do this, but here in Italy it’s quite difficult (high taxes and no people paying for photography); that’s why i’m considering moving somewhere else to start this dream…too bad the US is so strict about visa, and all this stuff 🙁
Yes, I am scared of an unknown future. But I prefer being scared that having regrets for all my life.
Bye! 🙂
Nicely said Alessandro!
Hi Jimmy, Thanks for a straight forward description of your photographic path. I fully appreciate your comment about being a member of a Digital Blenders community. Your emails make me feel like a valued member of that community and not just an “open wallet” for an internet seller. Thanks!
It’s refreshing to have a writer post personal info so thanks for that Jimmy. As for doing live workshops, I’ve been doing them for a couple of years now and I’ll tell you this. It’s not hugely profitable but it’s a LOT of fun if you are any good at public speaking. The reason its fun is because the type of people that sign up for workshops are super keeners. When you’re surrounded by a group of 8 eager photographers who soak it all up like sponges it can be very addictive – especially when you’re at a world class location. You don’t get any time to shoot for yourself so it’s always good to arrive 5 days earlier to get your own shots – hence not profitable. That doesn’t even include the cost of going there the year before to get your own shots for the purposes of promoting the workshop. At best, doing workshops will cover the cost of your trip and that’s about it but you do build long lasting relationships with clients, some of whom turn into excellent photographers and that can be VERY rewarding.
Sounds like you’re having an awesome, and having the trip paid for you as a lovely bonus. Thanks for the info 😀
Thanks a lot for the advice, great and realistic; question: The laptop in the photo, Is that the only equipment you use for editing?, no big external color calibrated monitors? wow, your photos are awesome and I thought you had a big color calibrated monitor for such edits
Hey Andrea, having no fixed home for any period of time, I use a laptop for convenience. But as soon as we set up a home, I’ll be investing in something more appropriate.
Hi, Thanks for your free tutorials they help me to improve my photography. Wish you all luck for the futurer and to your new apartment.
Like many others have already stated, this is not common that a
photographer shares his business experience and recipes, this is hightly
appreciated and I’m proud to be another photographer telling you this.
May I ask you why did you chose Korea to settle? I’m alway curious about
people life experiences expecially since, as a French, I moved to USA two years ago.
I follow you on 500px and I was wondering what is you opinion about it and if it brings you any value in your business?
In any case, bravo!
good of you to share personal details jimmy ,i recently perchased a post processing course and it is one of the best things i have bought in a long while
Go Jimmy~~!! 🙂
Jimmy – love your tutorials (have all of them) and also your newsletter. What a refreshing and personal article. Really happy that things are working out well – you do excellent work and deserve all the success. Cheers
Why don’t you try other more profitable forms of photography, like real estate, commercial, autos, resorts? One commercial gig could be tens of thousands of dollars. Also, why do some landscape photographers, like Peter Lik (I think you are just as good!), make millions??? Thanks!