How to Set up Photo Safaris in Your Community

Washington Photo Safari Establishing a photo Safari program in your own community is an excellent way for skilled photographers to earn some sideline income, teaching amateur photographers how to use their cameras to improve their travel and portraiture work.

There is a significant demand in most major communities for hands-on photography instruction, especially among people about to embark on a trip who want to learn how to use their camera to best advantage BEFORE they go. For example, Washington Photo Safari began in 1999 with one instructor, and one itinerary and hosted about 6 clients a month that first year.

By 2001 we had grown to 46 clients a month, by 2005 to 169, and now in 2009, 10 years later, we are hosting over 260 clients a month, offering 100 diverse itineraries given by 9 professional photographers in such diverse specialities as travel, architecture, portraits, flash, macro, nature, nighttime and pet photography, and at locations as far-flung as Yellowstone, Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, New York City and Buenos Aires. We are now ranked No. 1 in Google and other search engines as one of the largest photography training programs in the country. Over 16,500 people have participated in our Safaris since 1999, 4,500 of them as repeat clients..

While the demand is out there, at the present time there are still very few communities in North America that offer regularly scheduled (i.e. 2-3 times every week, all year long) photo training excursions guided by professional photographer-instructors.

A compendium of all the photo workshops available worldwide is available at www.ShawGuides.com. While it shows many workshops periodically scheduled in cities across the country, there are very few permanent, local, regularly scheduled programs that operate in the field, not in a classroom. In addition to Washington DC, at (www.washingtonPhotoSafari.com) , there is the Baltimore Photo Safari (www.BaltimorePhotoSafari.com) and in Ottawa, Canada (www.OttawaPhotoSafari.com) and in Boston, (www.photowalks.com) . More recent additions developed with the help of Washington Photo Safari are the Chicago Photo Safari (www.chicagophotosafaris.com), the San Francisco Photo Safari (www.SFPhotoSafari.com) , the Central Pennsylvania Photo Safari (www.HarrisburgPhotoSafari.com) , and the Midwest Photo Safari (www.MidwestPhotoSafari.com).

A successful photo Safari operation requires that its director be a person who 1) is highly skilled in photography; 2) has good verbal and written communication skills, especially as a teacher or instructor, and 3) has a thorough knowledge of where all the best photo opportunities are in his/her community. A familiarity with several brands and types of cameras (SLR's AND point and shoots) is a definite plus as well. While it takes a few years for a safari operation to become established and known in a community, it can eventually yield a tidy six-figure income for its director.

Drawing upon our experience over the past 10 years, Washington Photo Safari director E. David Luria has developed a manual for establishing and running a local photo Safari program. It contains useful tips on organization, site selection, communications, marketing, pricing and teaching. It also has an extensive appendix of sample instruction tips and pre-Safari emails given to clients, and record-keeping worksheets. It is available for $79 and will be shipped to your mailing address.

For more information, contact Mr. Luria personally at info@washingtonphotoSafari.com.