We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Alvarado a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Daniel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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 have! It’s been officially a year since I left my corporate 9-5 job to pursue photography full time. At the time I was working a Business Development role with a SaaS company in the medical field. I was doing photography pretty regularly but on the side. At some point my photo work started to eclipse my 9-5 workload so I decided that maybe it was time to try pursuing photography full time and see where it takes me. In the first few months it was extremely challenging because I unknowingly quit during the slow season so I started to panic a little. I was still learning the business side of things with photography and didn’t have a solid pipeline of clients or prospects yet so it forced me to try harder at networking and taking jobs that I normally wouldn’t accept. I started to shoot events and nightlife for some of the bars in town, couples/engagements/weddings, product photography, ecomm, etc. I decided that in order to make ends meet, I couldn’t ONLY shoot what I wanted anymore. So I kind of had to set my ego aside a bit when accepting those kinds of jobs because I always considered myself a creative and my work as art so taking on jobs that didn’t resonate with me in the same way was an interesting process. These days I embrace those kinds of jobs because they allow me the freedom to do this for a living while still finding passion in creating something amazing for others. If I could give any advice for someone looking to make a similar career leap, make sure you have a general understanding of your market’s trends and have some cushion saved up to get you by before you completely cut ties with your 9-5. It’ll just set you up for success and less stress so you can focus on building your business and not worrying about making ends meet. Also, be flexible and stay open minded. Learn from others who have made similar career shifts and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Hi my name is Daniel Lee Alvarado and I am the photographer behind DLShots Photography in Nashville. Primarily a portrait photographer, my work includes but is not limited to lifestyle, fashion, beauty, editorial, product, and ecomm. My style is usually on the moodier side with a little bit of edge and a focus on aesthetics and movement which I think also helps my work stand out. I got into photography back in 2010 as a hobby and didn’t pursue it in a professional sense until around 2018. In the beginning, I started off shooting friends for fun and wasn’t even thinking about doing this for pay. Fast forward to 2018 and I’m shooting a wedding for the first time and deciding that I may want to pursue it as a career. Since then I’ve expanded my portfolio and have worked with models, brands, shot for fashion/beauty campaigns, had my editorial work published in magazines, and have become a lot more diverse overall with shooting. The best way to view my work is visiting my Instagram page which is instagram.com/dlshots. You can also shoot me a DM or email at [email protected] if you’re inquiring about a shoot.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Consistency with the quality of my work is pretty important to me. I also feel like my personality helps some. I’m fun to shoot with! Professional but down to earth. I do my best to treat my clients as friends and keep communication open and clear. My goal is to have my clients so happy with their experience with me that they can’t help but tell all their friends/colleagues about it. Also networking is super important. Get out and network people! You gotta show face now and then to get your name out there.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Honestly word of mouth! I get texts, messages, DMs, emails, all the time from random people/brands that have been referred by past clients of mine. That’s why it’s so important to give the best experience to your clients every time. Word of mouth is so crucial these days in the freelance world.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dlshots.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/dlshots