We were lucky to catch up with Alejandro Veliz recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Alejandro thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
To me the biggest challenges to profitability in the photography and filmmaking industry, its the lack of understanding from costumers and other in the industry, that taking photos or video isn’t simply a hobby, its a craft that has been perfected with years of experience, studying and learning something new everyday, there isnt a shortcut to success, you have to put in the time to learn as much as you can about the career path you choose, wether is landscape photography, portraits, director, director of photography, etc.
Alejandro, 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?
I got into photography about 12-13 years ago, simply taking photos of friends skateboarding. At the time I was a computer engineer mayor. After a few months i got more serious about it and I switched over from digital to film and decided I wanted to learn as much as I could about photography, how it started, and how the great photographers like one of my biggest inspirations, the father of photojournalism Henri Cartier-Bresson would capture such iconic moments, which ignited my love for street photographer, which besides all the commercial work im lucky enough to do, I still take time almost weekly to go around and roam the city of Miami finding some amazing candid moments to capture. Fast forward a few years and started working as a photographer full time doing product photography, and assisting a few friends in order to learn more about the production world as well as marketing myself as much as possible and meeting as many creatives as I could. A few years later I started getting more serious about video work and got a job as a videographer at a marketing agency, this job helped me see a different side of this industry, It is very fast paced, minimal crew, you have to wear different hats on any given set (photographer, videographer, director, lighting, etc) you need to be able to adapt to the different moments, and that really helped me be quick on my feet as far as troubleshooting on set and finding a solution to any issue it may arise, which is a skill I am very proud of, it has helped on any job that I’ve taken up to this day, it helps me to always give 100%, no matter what the task is.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
In this entertainment industry, meeting people is key. Networking and marketing yourself is extremely important as much of the clientele that will come to you for a specific service will most likely be recommended by someone else. A positive and friendly attitude will get you everywhere, that and the skills to back it all up, so learn your craft very well, then learn some more about it, never stop growing
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I think as a photographer/filmmaker who did not go to school for it, going full time is the scariest step you can take, specially if you’ve had a 9-5 before, the assurance of having a paycheck come in every week or every two weeks can make you very comfortable and halt your growth. Taking that first step towards being a full time freelance will feel scary, but it is the most amazing feeling being able to work on your own schedule, it pushes you also to grow more and more everyday. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a regular job while learning the necessary skills and marketing yourself enough to start getting clients on a monthly basis, thats the road I decided to take, I was patient enough to keep working on my previous job until i felt ready, I knew I wanted to go full freelance and worked towards that goal, until I was comfortable enough to put in my two weeks notice, also in my case I was lucky enough to have friends in the industry I got to learn a lot from, and having an incredibly talented fashion blogger wife, we work together with amazing brands creating some of the coolest content
Contact Info:
- Website: legendaryalex.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/legendaryalex
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/legendaryalex_
- Youtube: youtube.com/legendaryalex15
- Other: vimeo.com/legendaryalex