This is my idea being played out by someone that is actually going through with it. Heh-heh. You know we all have ideas about doing things that we never get started on. Back in 2004 I was considering going to all the top locations on Oahu, Maui, Big Island and Kauai to shoot video, photos, and write comprehensive articles about each place. I wanted to have a website full of media from the best Hawaii locations that everyone linked to because there was nothing else like it.

Instead I took a couple of jobs that paid OK and made me an employee with responsibility to someone else! Mistake perhaps, but I learned a lot.

Anyway, fast forward to today. I’m looking at my RSS feed and I see in Craigslist where someone has listed an ad requiring a budding videographer, photographer, writer, editor, ftp pro and more, to document 10 locations on Maui for $400. He/she is paying $40 per location. Here’s a little bit of the ad below, and the rest of it here:

I am looking for an aspiring travel photojournalist to document a defined set of locations on Maui. Because of the nature of the project, you will be loaned the equipment to record photos and videos. This means you don’t need your own equipment.

Each piece will be:

- At least 300 words of proper, correctly spelled English
- Containing 3 or 4 photos
- With approximately 5 to 10 minutes of raw video footage
- With GPS coordinates
- Uploaded to my Web site

To accomplish all of this, I will loan you the camera, and provide you instructions on how to document the location and record GPS.

You will be paid $40 per piece on a work-for-hire basis. This means that I own the exclusive rights to the text, photos, and videos.  The contract for work will cover 10 pieces, for a total of $400. You will be paid by check upon completion of all 10 pieces.

IS there someone on Maui for whom it would make any sense at all to do all of that for each location for just $40 per location? Heck, gasoline might cost $40 to get there.

I’m betting… No. No, it doesn’t make sense for anyone to do this for someone else. But, for yourself – yes!

I’ve not seen someone tackle this idea with gusto yet and it’s high time someone did. Start with the island you’re on and go document the top visited spots to start with. Create a website with a page for each spot. Add video, many photos, reviews of the spot from sites across the web… take comments from people that are there. Make your site a tremendous resource for tourists who only see the same tired photos of a spot in a brochure… bring the best spots to them and make them come alive…