Pay For Your Travels By Producing Online Travel Video

Learn how to shoot and edit video to help fund your travels

If you have ever wanted to be a travel video producer to allow you to travel all over the place, now is a great time to realize your dreams. In this series you will learn what you need to get started and the different platforms from which you can earn money through travel video production, and how much you can make producing travel video for the web.

The web has a high demand not just for content, but for quality content. There are more than enough jackals making poor quality travel videos and earning money. You will see them all over YouTube with video that's shaky, poorly lit, off color and just plain boring.

To start you need to learn how to shoot and edit video that stands above the rest. Full Sail and New York Film Academy are a couple of the higher end film schools from which you can get a head start on becoming a professional. You can also get all of this info and training from a local communications school or a tech school. Unless you are making Hollywood films, gone are the days of needing the highest education to be a movie producer. Even with minimal knowledge these days, if you are good enough you can work your way up.

If you're a total newb and don't want to go to school, then buy a book on digital video production. You can find all sorts of references on how to do the basics of video production at Amazon or your local book store. The most important skills to know are properly framing shots, white balancing and story telling. If starting from scratch you have a long ways to go. The most important part will be practicing and for that you will need equipment.

You can easily buy equipment online or at any decent electronics store. Personally, I prefer buying video equipment from B & H Photo and Video out of New York City. They have reasonable prices and are very trustworthy as long as you don't need gear during Rosh Hashanah.

The cost of equipment to be able to shoot and edit video while traveling is cheaper than ever for the quality that's good enough for the web and TV. You really need to learn about the workflow that you want to have. This can only really be done by talking to others about how they edit while on the road or just buying yourself a kit and practicing. See what you like about it and what you don't, then upgrading or changing things as you learn.

Just shoot it!

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For equipment, buy the best camera you can afford that's within your budget. Many people fret over SD or HD, Sony or JVC, VDSLR or video camera. They troll the message boards wanting easy answers to which is better. In the end, just make a decision. In the lower price range of camera's(<$5000) quality is negligible if your outputting for the web. Just find a camera that will suit your workflow. If you find it isn't good enough then sell it and upgrade later.

You will also need a tripod, mics, small on-camera light and a computer with an editing program plus an external hard drive for all that video storage. And finally, get a high quality camera bag. This is often overlooked because a decent bag can cost a couple hundred dollars. All together the most basic kit can cost $4,000.

For editing, I am a Mac person, but everyone has their own preference. The key is to find something that you like the work flow of. To learn your workflow you must do your research and be sure to practice as much as you can before leaving for your trip. You want to have as smooth a work flow as possible while traveling so you don't waste your time.

About the Author
Mike has been working and traveling abroad since 2005. Recent trips include 12 months in Australia, a month in China and another in Europe followed by a six week USA road trip. Mike isn't rich, just resourceful in finding work abroad. In additon to providing free information on working abroad, and travel photography for sale online, Mike is also available for speaking engagements on the benefits of world travel.

The world is too amazing not to share. Contact Mike