We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gary Alves a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Gary, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Wow, that would be a long story.

I started off with a camera taking pictures of cars I was selling. I was in the car business for 38 years and sold cars on the internet for 12 years. I slowly learned how to take pictures that would capture attention and edit and process the images to give them a professional look. Part of that process included upgrading my equipment and cameras.

When I moved to Florida I had to start over again (I previously lived in Va,) and took a job as a new car salesman. Many of my co-workers knew of my interest in photography and one had a son who was opening a wedding company. They would be setting up and doing weddings on the beach. The son asked if I would be interested in shooting weddings for him and it kind of took off from there.

Shooting in the bright sun on white sand is very different from anything I’d ever done and was quite challenging, so I sought out the help of other professional photographers via the local photographers guild. I was lucky enough to be mentored by some great photographers who helped me get up to speed in shooting in that environment.

I soon learned that family photography was a bit more profitable than trying to do the high volume package weddings and have really worked in increasing that business. I also realize that if not for the mentoring of some very kind and talented photographers, I would never have succeeded and make it a point to help and mentor other photographers who are trying to learn and get themselves established. Karma is a wonderful thing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Photography was an interesting hobby for me as a kid and young adult. There were lots of photographers in my family, all amateurs. I grew up around cameras and photos.

As I mentioned earlier, for me it started as a means to an end, which was selling cars. Shooting humans in the environment I work in now is very very different and was a steep learning curve. In my current work, lighting is the key to creating exciting and dynamic photos, and learning proper lighting techniques was the point in my career that turned everything around and really made me successful.

We live in an age of digital photos and everyone with a phone considers themselves a photographer. Young people are accustomed to seeing iPhone photos and many are shocked when they see a properly lit and composed photo. Unfortunately, many of those people buy a basic digital camera and advertise themselves as pro photographers without taking the time to learn. It makes for a huge amount of competition in the market and a lot of confusion for the consumer

How did you build your audience on social media?

I was lucky enough to have had a pretty extensive background in marketing on the internet. During my last 6 years in the car business, I was the internet manager for our local Mercedes-Benz Dealer. I took the lessons I learned and applied them to my business which contributed greatly to my success.

It may sound overly simple, but ANSWER your client inquiries! Many clients I speak to who are shopping for higher-end photographers tell me I’m the only one who answered their calls, returned their messages, or answered their emails. Believe it or not, your competition may not be as hungry as you… or not hungry enough to at least do the basics. Here’s a quick sales tip, Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Incredibly simple.

Get traffic to your work. Every like, comment and share on social media helps you in those all-important rankings. Google draws from at least a dozen sources in ranking your business, social media is one.

Earn and then ask for reviews. Do a good job, treat your clients right, make sure they are happy, then respectfully and humbly ask them to give you a review. Obviously, a Google review is like gold, but all the other reviews you can get, eg Facebook, Yelp, Travel Advisor, etc are factored into your Google ranking. The most important thing is you have to have the chops, you have to earn those good reviews, and even though it can be difficult at times… don’t piss off the client!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think that my nature is that of a “people pleaser”. I love making others happy.

Coming from a family where photographs were always such an important thing, I realize how truly special a photo of a loved one can be. Nothing is as important as the photo of a loved one who has passed, a child who has grown up, or a young couple on the happiest day of their lives. If you remember that what you are creating will someday be cherished memories and you strive to treat them as precious I think you can’t help but succeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.CarrieAlves.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carrie_alves/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarrieAlvesPhoto
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/carrie-alves-photography-destin?osq=Family+Photographer

Image Credits
Gary Alves