Australian Travel Writing and Photography Opportunities

Image by Leanne Nelson

With the lovely gift of a new camera for my birthday and our frequent travels around this great country, some wheels have started turning inside my head.

What if I could learn to take great photos and write great pieces about the places we visit?  What if someone else (namely an editor) also thought these photos and stories were great published them?  What if I actually earned some money (even a little bit) by doing this?

I would be doing something I enjoyed and being paid for it.  How cool would that be?  We could travel more!

So I began investigating.  Overwhelmingly, I have come across three messages:

• Practice, practice, practice
• Read, read, read
• Getting published is very, very difficult

In my searches I also came across Redbubble, a community for artists and writers wishing to showcase and sell their work.  In particular, I found the Australian Travel Writing and Photography group, run by Darren Stones and a trusty band of helpers.  There are some seriously talented people in the group and I’m having a great time learning from them.  The group’s primary goals are to see its members works published and

showcase high quality Australian travel photography and writing to a worldwide audience

Darren has been working very hard at promoting the group via Twitter (@autravel) and over the web in general.  Just recently he revealed that he’s also been doing some seriously awesome behind the scenes liaison, announcing Greg Barton as patron of the Australian Travel Writing and Photography group. Greg is editor of one of my favourite magazines, Australian Traveller (their recent 100 Best Towns in Australia has become our new itinerary ).

The news has just kept getting more exciting for group members.  Remember how hard it is to get published?  This week a challenge was announced where the winners’ works would be published in Australian Traveller.  This is an awesome opportunity and something to be hugely grateful to Darren and Greg for organising.

As I’ve mentioned there is some great talent in the group. I encourage you to check out the beautiful photographs and read the travel stories there – Australia is an amazing country, no doubt.  And of course, if you’re interested in travel writing and photography consider joining the group.  It’s a very supportive community offering some great possibilities.

Tagged as: goals, photography, travel, writing