We were lucky to catch up with Alfonso Martinez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alfonso, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Self-esteem and self-confidence fall in the same bundle— it’s all about feeling good about yourself and believing you are capable of accomplishing anything you set your mind to. Generally, there is many things that get in the way of that such as being too self-critical, likely by having critical and unsupportive people around you. In my personal life I had to set boundaries for myself to keep that from getting in the way of my goals. I’ve learned to ignore the noise around me and focus on my vision, because at the end of the day there is no one like you. It is important to remember that everyone has different objectives in life, everyone has a different lane and it is crucial to stay focused on your goals and avoid comparing yourself to other artist doing similar things. I always like to refer to a saying I heard once that goes “Anyone can steal your recipe but the sauce won’t taste the same” it’s a bit silly but that stuck in my head. It helped me understand that everyone has a unique quality they can bring to the table that can’t always be duplicated. This is what you’re overall competence is measured by, not by the things that everyone can do.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a full time Portrait & Product photographer. I have been pursuing my love of art since 2018, I’ve often experimented with different art forms but my favorite outlet for my creativity is photography. Ever since I can remember I’ve had a huge interest in art and creative expression, since a young age I’ve enjoyed creating art in many different forms such as painting and digital designs. As I got older I discovered photography and immediately became obsessed. What I like about it is that there is no rules, I like the freedom it gives me to express however I’m feeling at the time through a photograph or design. Growing up it was very difficult for me to verbally express myself the way I wanted to, so this outlet allowed me to create it in a physical form that I could share with the world.
In this age of online content, I’ve also found a liking in videography. Whether it’s creating video mood-boards on tik tok or videos for online personalities on Instagram, I’ve found that it is a fun way to evoke emotions through a short video. I hope to perfect my craft in that field as time goes by.
I named my business Area 51 Media so I could create different forms of content under one brand, such as photography, videos and graphic designs. Besides being a photographer I consider myself a creative, so I did not want to conform to one outlet for my art.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One of the most impactful qualities that has helped me become more effective with my art was learning how to stay up to date with the times. We live in a online driven world that is constantly changing and growing, so knowing the latest trends and techniques has helped me become a better creator by constantly learning new things. You never know when an opportunity may arise that requires something that you might not be the best at, so it is important to always challenge yourself by learning new things and not being afraid to fail. Practice makes perfect so it is important to understand that a new technique might not always land the first time, but if you stay dedicated and willing to always keep learning eventually it will come easy.
Other key areas include improving your communication skills and feeding your creative mind. These qualities can have a major impact on your effectiveness with your craft.
No career path is without challenges, but nothing good comes easy. Some advice I could give would be to take advantage of on-the-job training to learn as much as you can. My first photography job was shooting church directories in my home town which taught me a lot about studio photography, many of those techniques i still use till this day. I would also say ask questions and get to know people across the field. I would suggest shadowing someone to learn what their role is like. You can also try reading online articles and watching videos to help absorb expert advice.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
I’ve recently added product photography to my services and it has helped me grow my business in different areas that I was not reaching before. One day I picked up a few cosmetics and Decided to experiment with product photography and realized how much I liked composing these different types of images. I dedicated the last few months to learning different ways to do it and have since gained so much knowledge in that field.
Contact Info:
- Website: Chillinarea51.com
- Instagram: Area51media
- Other: Tik tok : Area51media
