Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alfredo Hernandez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Alfredo, thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I started my photography journey 15 years ago. At first it was primarily because I wanted to document the places I traveled to for my job at that time. It started with a disposable camera that I would purchase from Walgreens and take it in when it was full and get a new one while they would develop the photos.

In 2009 I moved from San Antonio to Arizona, after seeing how beautiful the sunsets and sunrises were in the desert. I knew that I needed a camera that would be more suited to capturing those moments. My first professional camera was the Olympus E-3 from that I transitioned to Nikon and have used other systems such as Canon, Sony and Lumix. But, my workhorse cameras are the Nikon Dslr’s.

The Landscape industry is a very difficult one to break into. There are many Landscape photographers so that Genre is saturated. That Genre for me didn’t go very far, it was when I started to shoot portraits that it finally started to take off for me. I started out by shooting weddings, and senior portraits. That is another field that is very saturated. I also found that it is very time consuming and most of the time after calculating the hours that were put into a wedding package the price I could charge for my work was inadequate , and the market I was in wasn’t a large one so that didn’t allow me to be very competitive for that market.

I decided to nix the Wedding and senior portraits and concentrate solely on the Portraits. It was slow going at first, then I got a break when friend asked if I could help her do some photos for her Modeling portfolio. After that the jobs started to roll in, I stayed doing that for many years. working with models and helping them build or refresh their portfolios led me to shooting Boudoir and eventually being commissioned to work with an agency. If, I knew then what I know now it would have been better to start with the portraits for me. in hind site learning the different genres of photography has helped me learn how to use and manipulate light. which is essential in all types of photography.

With the rise of social media it has become very profitable to use platforms like Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook to market my work. Not having to purchase a domain and maintain a website is also helpful with my workflow, I can concentrate on doing my job. I also have transitioned into Realty photography that is 50% of my income these days, during the pandemic it’s what helped me keep my head above water.

Alfredo, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

So my core product is portraits I provide Modeling portfolios, Boudoir Photography and Realty photography. My work with models came from a friend needing photos for her portfolio later that same model needed photos for her work in the Boudoir modeling industry and that’s how I started with that Genre. I have a soft spot for the Modeling industry because it started my career, it is a great feeling to be asked to help a model further their career with photos for their portfolios.

I recently started working in Realty, by recently I mean during the pandemic when I couldn’t get jobs with models because no-one was willing to work with anyone for almost an entire year. I found myself needing to find a way to make money and keep bringing in revenue. It was a drastic change from portraits, but the key to good realty photos is in the lighting, with my experience being a studio photographer and using lighting for 80% of my work. That wasn’t much of a hurdle. It did take some considerable time getting my name recognized in that market. With most Realty photographers doing 360 virtual tours and Drone footage, I had to invest in new gear and earn how to use it.

One of the things that I take great pride in is showing how versatile my work is. I want a potential client to be able to see my work and know that they can come to me with several needs and I can accomplish what they are looking for. In this day and age I feel that having one specialty or discipline limits the audience that you can attract and bring in potential clients.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Before I became a full-time photographer I was doing it part-time mostly weekends or when I could schedule a shoot. I was doing Industrial electrical while I was doing the photography part-time. in mid 2017 I worked with a Model who had a substantial following on Instagram and Facebook. We connected on a website that primarily is for Models and photographers. She asked if I could do a portfolio shoot for her TFP which means (time-for-print) or otherwise free.

I was reluctant at first because I really wanted to be known for providing a service to models that they could see and know that paying me to shoot their session was worth the price I would charge. After she informed me of her large following on Social media I decided to go ahead and work with her. If anything I would get my name out there and get more recognition.

After she posted our shoot the request for photos started pouring in, and the best part they were paying gigs! At first I started scheduling them only on the weekends, then I would schedule them during the week and I would make arrangements with my work to use vacation time so I could get the time off for the shoots. After a year and a half of doing that I decided that I was going to quit the electrical work and go full-time.

By the end of 2019 I had started my full-time work as a photographer, by then I was commissioned by an online magazine to work with their models and provide portfolio photos so I was being kept very busy. It seemed like everything was finally starting to place and I was on my way to a fulfilling and satisfying photography career.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

August 2019 I started my photography business, it was going very good I was scheduling up to 3 weeks ahead and staying busy while continuing to move forward toward my goal of having my own studio and moving from my home studio to a Brick and Mortar studio.

in 2020 when the pandemic started It became clear that it would affect the modeling industry. slowly the jobs started to fall off and when they announced in March of 2020 that the Country was going into lockdown, Instant catastrophe! I was able to stay afloat for a few months, but Models were reluctant to work with anyone until it was safe. I came across an add online while I was searching for an Electrical job. that was looking for a Realty photographer.

I decided to take a chance, although I had no previous experience with Realty photography I figured it couldn’t be much different then portraits. Which was an incorrect assumption to say the least! Looking back at the first few homes I photographed I am grateful that my clients kept using me. It took some time and experience to learn the industry not just the photos but also how to attract clients and get started working with realtors who have their preferred photographers.

I just decided that I wouldn’t give up until the calls completely stopped coming in, And it did get very close, thankfully my work was noticed by a Property Management company that provided photos for the Single Family Rental companies and That has been a very lucrative industry for realty photographers.

The portrait industry started to come back in late 2021 so I started booking work in that industry again. These days between Portrait and Realty I find myself working 7 days a week and some days are longer than others, but, I am grateful that I did not give in and go back to being an electrician. Giving up on my dream to become a full-time photographer was and is not an easy one. I wouldn’t change anything I’ve done to get where I’m at today!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @alfredo_hernandez_photography @eleganttouchboudoir
• Facebook: Alfredo Hernandez Photography