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

Cameron, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is a tough one to pin down as its completely arbitrary. One persons idea of success can be completely different than my own. Personally at this point in my life, success is a matter of mine and my families happiness. I remember a time when there was a monetary value attached to it but now i just want a satisfying creative outlet, as much time outside with my family as possible, and healthy food to grow and feed them. As an artist to be successful i think you sometimes need to be dillusionly optimistic. You need to believe that the world needs your art and pursue it tirelessly. You also have to enjoy the process thoroughly and embrace failures as teaching moments. You need to fail, f*ck up royally over and over again until you learn what you did wrong, right, and everything in between. Dont take short cuts, work every position you can in your industry with ears wide open. Surround yourself with people more talented than yourself. Being surrounded by talent and ambition is a great motivator to hone your craft. Push boundaries and dont be afraid of “teaching moments.” Sadly i wish i could say another prerequisite for being “successful” was being a good person but ive seen that line muddled too many times. In the end i think it takes an absurd amount of hard work, patience, optimism, curiosity, and talent to be “successful.”

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

My name is Cameron Smith and im a phtographer and director of photography currently based in Portland, OR. I was lucky at young age to not only know what i wanted to do for a living by the time i turned 15 but i also had parents that supported that vision. My photography started in southern CA and was driven by skating, snowboarding, and especially surfing. I started working at a water housing company in high school and built my own housing and quickly took to the water. Surf photography was my passion for many years and i started implementing off camera flashes and playing around with lighting. I later went to photo school for college and my eyes were opened to so many more tricks and tools photography has to offer. Taking a step back from digital i shot on a 4×5 for almost 2 years and slowed my process. This really helped my think about the end image in my head more and what i need to do to achieve it. After school i lived and worked in LA for about 6 years years shooting movie and TV posters. Around that time a graphic designer and great friend of mine started a small creative agency. I ran all things photo and video at the agency and worked closely with brands to create their vision. In more recent years i have been working at Swanson studio as a photographer and director of photography based in Portland OR. This position is really a culmination of all my previous jobs and acquired talents. The studio is a commercially driven photo and video studio that produces amazing work with awesome people. My favorite part of my job is getting to work with super creative people and working with their ideas to bring things to life.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

creativity is not a switch to be turned on and off, nor is it an endless well of ideas.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

How much happiness fuels creativity. For me, time outside is happiness so… Time outside=creativity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.swansonstudio.us , https://vivo-creative.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swansonstudio/ , https://www.instagram.com/wearevivo/