Alejandro Found Photography Through a Hobby – Now He’s a Professional

Who are you?

I’m a Spanish photographer. I’ve been living in Finland since 2005. Like most Finns, I like it here in the summer and complain about the weather during winter.

I’ve always been a visual person. For me, photography started just as a hobby without even thinking that it could be a profession. Since I was a kid I’ve created images in my mind. I always wanted to draw and paint them but I wasn’t really good at it. When I got my first camera I realized I could suddenly make those images without being good at drawing.

What do you do for a living?

I take photos of people. That’s what I like and that’s what I always tell people.

For work I do portraits and event photography for both, individuals and companies. I also teach photography at my studio and every once in a while I do artistic shots too.

How did you end up being a light entrepreneur?

Being a freelancer is a norm when you’re a photographer. I tried having a trade name when I first started in 2008 but had a rough start with the economy collapse and all. Once I was adviced that sometimes even good idea requires time – the most important thing is to hang on until it takes off.

While I wasn’t having enough work a friend suggested me to try teaching photography. I contacted several schools and got accepted into Helsingin Aikuisopisto, where I taught succesfully for a few years after which I moved into my own studio.

Meanwhile I discovered about the billing companies and then took the chance to start trying to get photography gigs again – even if would just be every once in a while. I started growing from there.

What is the best part of your job?

There are many sides to it. The creative part along side with the technical challenges are a good combo that always keeps it interesting and evolving. I especially like meeting people and learning from experiences.

Meeting them and working with them is an important part of the process. People are happy to meet you, to communicate with you and participate with you to build what they want or need. Whether that’s just about business or something personal , I feel like the guest who came to help with something.

How does your typical work day look like?

Besides the fancy part of taking pictures, of course, I have a lot of typical freelance work. I take care of my social media and my web page and then I try to learn new tricks and get more clients. Of course i shoot and edit, but besides that there’s really not much of a regular day. Teaching is perhaps something that I do more routinely, but even there I meet  lots of new people too.

All my works and the people I photograph differ so much from each other. I have been to refugee centers, old people’s houses, disco parties, rock concerts, business events, weddings and even my own art exhibitions and much more.

Photographing is pretty much seasonal work too: summer is mostly about weddings and the rest of the year is mostly company clients and teaching.

How do you want to improve yourself?

My favorite teachers where these two old men. They didn’t know each other but agreed on one thing: the learning never ends.

I wanna be like them.

Greetings and tips for other light entrepreneurs?

If you’re just starting, find a way to keep working on it. It’s not only the getting clients that takes time, but there will be failures and catastrophes along the the way too. Just keep on working and learn.

Also, if you don’t have clients yet, try to keep active. Collaborate, offer your services to a friend or whatever – it’s all up to you. It will give you experience and something to show.

You can admire Alejandro’s own work at his website . You can reach him also on Facebook and Instagram. If you got inspired and wanna learn all the tricks of photography, you can sign up for courses here and learn from Alejandro himself!

Do you have a story about becoming a light entrepreneur? We’d love to hear it! In order to be featured on our blog, please fill in the application here (unfortunately in Finnish, but you can match your answers with the questions in this post).

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