Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexa Velasquez.
Hi Alexa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Alexa and I am one of the rare LA-born and raised individuals left – I say this because you find so many incredible people from elsewhere come to LA to find their dreams. For me, I was lucky enough to have grown up in LA and come from an entertainment family. My younger brother spent ten years of our childhood working as an actor on various big television shows. This unlocked all of my interest in storytelling. Initially, I was certain this would be in traditional film/television entertainment since I spent so many years as a shadow for some amazing creative minds in the industry. Turns out this wasn’t the case, however, the consistent theme of my life is the love of storytelling I continue to carry with me. After being certain, I would work in production or directing growing up, I went to college at UCLA and got a degree in English which is an education all about the original form of storytelling. After college, I went back into traditional entertainment and slowly drifted into the world of influencer management. This level of storytelling fit in the marketing space and never felt truly like home. After spending several years not feeling fulfilled, I photographed a family session for my nieces’ second birthday and from there, my storytelling changed for the best and I ended up where I truly felt I fit the most creatively. This space was in capturing the love story of families and couples through photography…
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes and no. For me, I have always put myself out there and worked hard to be a relationship type of person. I value each person I get to build a relationship with personally and professionally. Because of that, building my business has been fun and smooth in the sense that I love the people I get to photograph and connect with. This is why it is what I want to do everyday. The side that is less smooth for me is the logistics. Like any business, the beginning is the hardest and the most stressful. Personally, I still feel I am in this stage of stress and have a huge desire for growth. I love getting to capture special moments and the struggle for me is wanting to do it more and make it my life focus full time!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a photographer with a focus on Couples and Wedding photography! I love capturing people in love and love the positivity it allows me to focus on every time I am working. My biggest focus in my work is capturing what is intimate and making the most unintentionally beautiful moments seem intentional. For me being in love is about being the way you are with a person when there is no one else around and that is what I try to capture when I am with my couples. As I capture weddings, I want it to feel like my couples are eloping even with a wedding full of guests. I am really proud of my ability to be my client’s biggest hype woman and making them feel the most comfortable when in front of the camera. I work really hard to make my personality stand apart from others. I want my clients to remember the full experience of working with me and love that as equally as they love the galleries of images I provide them.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I strongly believe that you have to take risks in order to find yourself fully and successfully live the life you truly want.
The biggest risks I have taken have slowly pushed me towards the career I am building now. If I hadn’t taken the risk of leaving certain jobs after college, I would not have ended up finding my purpose in my life. The things that scare me the most are failure and disappointing those around me and I risk that everyday by working in a nontraditional space as an entrepreneur but I have never been happier than I am right now.
I will tell everyone that asks if you are teetering on whether or not you should risk it, you lose more by not trying.
Contact Info:
- Email: contact@alexajaclynphotography.com
- Website: http://alexajaclynphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexajaclynphotography/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexajaclynphotography
Image Credits:
Alexa Jaclyn Photography
