May 8, 2017

Meet Michel Pinto of A Modern Romance Photography

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michel Pinto.

Michel, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started about 10 years ago when my boyfriend and I wanted to do our own short film, bought a video camera an editing suite and I taught myself how to use them. I ended up doing videography and editing for a living, editing short films, some documentaries and a lot of corporate videos. When DSLR’s became the big thing, of course I bought one for my videography business and pretty soon after that I started exploring photography and found out that I really loved it, so much more than video and video editing which was actually not feeling as enjoyable any longer. Photographed lots of head shots at the beginning and events (corporate), not my favorite but gave me plenty of practice and payed the bills. Now I primarily photograph weddings and lifestyle, which I absolutely love and hope that my business grows in those two directions. I’m very inspired by people, so I love having them in front of my camera.

Has it been a smooth road?
A smooth road, no, but in the end, everything has that silver lining. Freelancing is great of course because it’s not a 9 to 5 however work is never guaranteed so it would definitely get scary at times, when the phone didn’t ring and rent was coming up. It could get pretty nerve racking. What helped me during those times was to look within myself, I guess you’d call itself growth, I did lots of reading and of course YouTube is great for finding uplifting videos with great teachers to inspire you. Because I didn’t like that I felt so vulnerable when work/money didn’t come in, I felt I needed to change that and so I used the experience of lack to help me grow. Now my business has grown some since but there are times when things are quiet, however my foundation of myself remains steady. What I found out through the struggles is that money or no money, work or no work, if things are going as planned or not, I am the one dictating how I will feel about life today.

Another small struggle I experienced was procrastination, probably the only thing getting in the way of me and what I desired. Took me a while but I finally learned two important things, and that is “you don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it started ” and that if you change your mind set you can change the outcome of your life

We’d love to hear more about your business.
My business is photography, I specialize in Lifestyle, Wedding photography. I love photographing people and weddings are exceptional because the setting is just right and it is filled with emotions and lots of love. I also really enjoy doing lifestyle photoshoots and would love to do some fashion in case anyone is interested 🙂

What makes me most proud as a company is that I am doing what I love.

What sets me apart from others other than I am me, I am not sure, however I can tell you what brings me together with others, and that is the desire to create, to have a great time while passing through earth and hopefully to be of service in a way that is beneficial to others and enjoyable to me.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think that Los Angeles is a great place for any business, photography included. Lots of people say that LA is so saturated with photographers, and that is true, but the same goes with any business really. I think the fact that there are so many people doing the same thing as yourself is great because in the end it really challenges you to do better and figure out where and how you can improve.

If someone is just starting out I would recommend them starting out anywhere they are at, that’s the best place to start. There are more opportunities everywhere than one could possibly imagine, it’s just sometimes one has to create them.

Any improvements for LA? I don’t know, maybe clean it up a little more and fix the roads, haha. But business wise I guess it’s doing it’s best, and I am happy for it.

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