We were lucky to catch up with Austin Villegas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Austin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think the greatest indicator of success is the feeling of self fulfillment for the work that you’re doing and the work that you’ve done. The clearest path towards success is of course hard work and determination- a sense of drive towards the goal that you have in mind. But that goal can be very different from person to person depending on their profession and their own personal definition of success. For myself personally and the photography that I do, the feeling of a successful day is doing edits to photos I think look good and seeing the bands enjoy the very same photos I put hours into editing. And the clearest indication of this success having these photos open doors for me that lead to bigger opportunities such as getting to take photos at bigger shows, or being sought out to go on tour with an artist. What it takes to be successful is very subjective, and its up to each person individually to pinpoint what success means to them first and then what steps they need to take to get there.

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

My name is Austin M. Villegas, some know me as Austin Murray and some will recognize me by my social media handle VillegasVisuals. My real interest in digital art and photography started in high school with my broadcast journalism courses ran by the greatest teacher I will ever have; Brian Taylor. I mainly started out doing exclusively video work, and that carried through to college. I was a film major at ASU with a specific interest in cinematography and I worked on the digital news desk for The State Press doing video news packages. Once COVID hit however, when businesses shut their doors and everything went online I wanted to still be able to practice framing and and composition and that’s when I picked up photography. I started out collaborating with local models and did that for almost 2 years but never felt creatively fulfilled by this and ended up taking a break to decide if it was something I wanted to continue doing or find something else, and during that break is when I started doing live music photography.

Ive been doing concert photography for about a year and a half now, and I think what really sets myself apart from the others who are just getting started in this field is the years of editing and behind the camera experience I had before getting started in this. Whereas a lot of others have a reliance on using the flash at shows or giving their photos the more traditional concert look I set myself apart by providing the cleanest and sharpest photos that I can provide, preferring my shadows darker and the colors and highlights to be the main “pop” that draws the eye towards the subject.

Its hard to pinpoint my proudest moments. Of course I can always point to getting to shoot bands that Ive been a fan of for years. But I think the moments that make me feel the most accomplished are the ones that Ive spent helping local bands. All these aspiring concert photographers are invested in shooting the biggest shows they can and for good reason, but it leaves these smaller local bands that are just starting out without someone to provide them with high quality photos that they can use to market themselves. Which is why my main focus right now is these local bands, a rising tide raises all ships, and these bands finding the massive success I know they will be beneficial down the line for myself too.

What Id want my potential clients or new followers to know right now is no matter the size of your following, no matter how long your band has been around for Ill still give you the same time and attention to detail that Id give anyone else.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Sometimes I think the hardest thing that you’ve got to overcome when just starting out in an industry like this is the amount of time you have to be prepared to put in. Along with doing this I also have a day job that I do 5 days a week from 6 AM until 2 PM, and more often then not what my days turn in to is working my day job until 2 PM, getting home and editing on and off taking small breaks in-between until 10 or 11 PM. Ive sacrificed spending time with friends and Ive seen relationships with people I really cared about end because my mind is constantly on the work that I do. Its a tough thing to come to terms with but now is the time to have that level of commitment to the current point of success I’m currently after. I’m 23 years old, I’m not in school anymore, I’m not working a day job in a field I can see myself making a life-long career out of, and I’m not beholden to where I live if the right opportunity comes my way. Resilience for me is the testament that I can spend these countless hours shooting and editing and still loving what I do, because its what makes me feel the most creatively fulfilled and happy.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I would say the most rewarding aspect for me comes in 2 parts, the personal gain and the sense of helping others. I love the feeling of seeing others enjoy my work, the feeling of being sought out by bands to take photos of their shows because they’ve seen my work or because they’ve heard of me from other bands, its a rush I never saw myself receiving so early in my career. Along with that getting to shoot new bands, more often than not bands Ive never heard of. Getting to hear their stories and becoming a fan is not something I ever saw for myself growing up. Plus on a funnier more personal reason, I have a Spotify playlist of just bands Ive taken photos of, and every time I shoot a new band I get to add my favorite songs of theirs to the playlist.

The other aspect of that is one that I touched upon previously which is my investment in local music. Local musicians to tend to get overlooked by professional photographers who seek to continue to shoot bigger and bigger shows that they severely lack professional content they themselves need to grow. Full-stop I barley ever charge local artists for the work that I do, and this is a large part is due to the friendship and creative freedom when it comes to the photos they give me, and my confidence that these bands will make it big. Mark my words in 5 years time Significant Others, Practically People and Aura May will be doing big things. Seeing them, and countless other local bands use my work to uplift themselves is one of my favorite feelings in the world. Nothing can match the surreal feeling Ive had seeing one of my photos on a flyer hung over a urinal in a men’s restroom.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/villegasvisuals/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AustinMVillegas

Image Credits
In order of upload names of bands/artists -Meg Myers -Viper Club -Goodbye Ranger -Liliac -Whales Talk -Girlhouse -The Regrettes -Evan Stanley