Meet Al Arena

We were lucky to catch up with Al Arena recently and have shared our conversation below.

Al, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

Not to sound cliche but my parents were and always will be what i model my work ethic after. My dad was constantly striving to do more in his career path and event carve new paths in his chosen profession. And my mom worked so hard to find balance between creating the kind of career she wanted and caring for my sister and me because of my dad’s work hours. They showed me that there can be balance without compromising what you want to achieve in life.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a photographer and owner of Ignite Media, a rapidly growing, American based motorsports photo agency providing images to clients spanning Indycar, IMSA and beyond. My team and I strive to create colorful and impactful images that showcase our clients both on and off the track. Photography is all I ever wanted to do and started with picking up my dad’s film camera in middle school, to him building me a dark room in our basement, to going to school for photography. Ignite Media started out as just me, shooting drifting in college when it came over from Japan. I eventually switched to shooting more traditional racing and slowly built my company and client list. I love shooting racing, especially the human side of it. And i love showing the different locations we race in and figuring out new and different ways to incorporate the scenery into photos. Race cars are more than just the machines we see. I’m always looking for clients who are interested in working with me. We strive to show motorsports in not just a traditional style, but in an artistic and unique way as well.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Networking played such a big part in helping me get where I am today. I used to think that just taking good photos meant not interacting and being a fly on the wall at all times. But slowly I learned that you actually have to talk to people and connect. And that someone knowing and hearing that your passionate about what you do can actually help open more doors for you.

The saying fake it till you make it is a saying for a reason. I bid jobs in the past that were above my skillset. But i knew that with enough research and reaching out to other photographers for insight on how to go about doing a shoot would help push me to get to the next skill level.

I have been told no, or “well let you know if something changes” so many times. No is an ok word to hear. It means you’re putting yourself out there. And after a bunch of no’s there will eventually be a yes.

It’s ok to be your own worst critic. It helps to push you to try harder, and try new things. Just have to find that happy place between worst critic and self sabotage.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I have a tendency to get a bit overwhelmed. Especially on weeks when i have multiple events happening in different locations. And i’ve worked hard to put things in place to help. Pre planning and pre production is a huge help for me. I make these very detailed emails for me and my photographers to help them have all the info they need so all they have left to do is create and get artistic. I do the same for myself going into a race weekend.
If I have a bad shoot day verbalizing it to another photographer can take away a lot of the sting and help me get over it faster. Especially knowing that everyone has bad shoot days, we just don’t talk about it a lot.
Listening to music while i’m shooting helps clear my brain and lets me just focus on creating. Since i’ve already created a schedule i don’t need to stress about how much time i have to shoot, what i’m doing next, etc. But i still think about it. Listening to music forces me to focus.
And trusting myself and reminding myself that i’ve done this for awhile and even if I miss a shot it won’t be the end of the world. That helps a lot.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ignitemediaphoto.com
• Instagram: ignitemediaphoto
• Other: Tiktok: ignitemedia1

Image Credits

Al Arena/Ignite Media