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The Masterclasses by National Geographic Traveller (UK) returned in September 2023 with a brand-new series of insightful, hour-long online sessions curated for aspiring travel writers and photographers. These are just some of the pearls of wisdom our expert panellists offered up throughout the six sessions. 

Travel Writing

Know your reader
鈥淚 would say the number one mistake freelance writers make when pitching is they don鈥檛 understand the audience of the title. The best thing you can do if you鈥檙e really interested in writing for a publication is to go out and buy yourself the magazine and familiarise yourself with the content, the tone and the kinds of things that the readership might find of interest.鈥� 鈥� Alicia Miller, Pitching and getting published听

听Don鈥檛 be afraid of writer鈥檚 block听
鈥淎s someone who has come to this relatively recently, I would say that even the best writers struggle to write sometimes. Everybody gets writer鈥檚 block, even published authors. Just don鈥檛 beat yourself up. If it鈥檚 not coming, it鈥檚 not coming. Just come back to it another day.鈥� 鈥� Georgia Stephens, How to structure your storytelling听

Utilise social media
鈥淒inosaurs like me may absolutely despise it, but the reality is that if you鈥檙e a travel writer and you have no presence on social media, you have no presence.鈥� 鈥� Tharik Hussain, How to be a savvy travel writer in 2023听

Travel Photography

Plan ahead
鈥淒o your research and get familiar with your own equipment before you travel鈥� Get ahead of the game, pre-visualise and make a plan. When I go to a place that I鈥檓 not familiar with, I can start recycling and adapting those ideas to suit the environment.鈥� 鈥� Renato Granieri,The art of wildlife photography in travel听

Shoot with passion
“I鈥檓 really strong on finding your niche and making sure you鈥檙e passionate about it. I could say 鈥渂uild a portfolio鈥�, but often, and I think especially with Instagram, you could build a portfolio of work that you don鈥檛 even like. If you want your work to last, if you want to be able to sell that work and really make people believe in it, then be passionate about what you photograph.鈥� 鈥� Holly-Marie Cato, How to go professional听

Use kit to connect with your subjects听
鈥淚 bring a little Fuji Instax camera with me. And that鈥檚 for when I鈥檓 going into more remote regions so that I can not only ask for a photo but give one back as well. For me, I鈥檝e found that this opens doors to getting people to sit for portraits. Because, if you鈥檙e always just showing up and you鈥檙e this guy with this big camera coming up in front of them, there鈥檚 a little bit of shyness and reticence. But if you can sit with them and open up a little bit of a dialogue, even if you can鈥檛 exchange in the same language, that鈥檚 a really great way to get them involved.鈥� 鈥� Matt Dutile, Picking the perfect kit for your assignment听

We鈥檒l be back in 2024 with another series of insightful conversations with leading writers and travel photographers.  

Browse and buy our autumn travel writing and travel photography sessions here: 听听

Individual session recordings cost 拢10, with all six classes available for 拢50.