Community Highlights: Meet Leslie Alvarez of LA Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Alvarez.

Hi Leslie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m a 23 years old photographer & CEO of LA Productions. Fun fact: A lot of people ask me if I’m from LA (Los Angeles) but I’m actually Miami-based. I was born in Cuba and came to the United States at the age of 12. Spanish was my first language so learning English was a bit tough for me but I never let that stop me from succeeding. I was a great student throughout my entire academic years which led me to graduating with honors from G Holmes Braddock Senior High in 2016. I have a high level of creativity and a high drive for art and music but never really used it in my advantage or had an idea I was capable of doing so. A year Flew by after graduating high school and I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, a lot of careers went through my mind but none of the options that were put in front of me sounded interesting enough for me to go execute them therefore as time passed by I kept on being pressured by my father to pick a field of study or otherwise “I wasn’t going to be anybody in life” so I went ahead and I signed up for an ultrasound technician course at FNU, just to make my parents happy and just to have a so called “degree” in something. This choice I made was a complete fail, I ended up dropping out three months after and going back to square one but still had hoped to be somebody in life. I believed school wasn’t necessarily the only choice to be successful so I decided to start applying for jobs. I went from one job to another for a period of two years until 2019 that I was hired as a manager at Walmart where associates were treated poorly, there was no type of consideration or understanding towards them and even though I was making enough money to take care of myself I wasn’t truly satisfied so I wasn’t giving the best of me and decided to quit.

Once again back to square one but this time ten times worse. I felt useless, ashamed of myself for not making money a priority and just quitting, I felt like my parents were not proud of me, I was being constantly compared to others and the words “you’re not going to be anything in life” just kept playing in my head over and over which made me fall into a depression and sadly started hanging around the wrong crowd, being at the wrong places at the wrong times, doing the wrong things and my life was a complete mess. A year after, I decided to remodel my room and as I was done, it was time to reorganize my closet and in the process of doing so I found an old cheap camera I had bought years ago to go on a trip to Chicago to visit my brother. I recall I didn’t really know how to use and the photos were either overexposed or too dark, only a few were worth keeping so I just abandoned it and never looked at it again until that day. Little did I know that this “old cheap camera” was going to change my life forever? I grabbed the camera and took a couple of shots and I really sucked at it but I knew since the moment I grabbed it again, there was just something about it that kept me wanting to use it more and more. I had a friend I used to work with called Darren who was about to graduate from college so I wanted to do a graduation photoshoot for him. I honestly had no idea of what I was doing or how to use the camera other than just press the shutter button and shoot so I decided to put my camera on auto mode and shoot. Surprisingly the photos came out a little too good! He loved them so he recommended me to one of his classmates who was also graduating but I felt like I wasn’t good enough to get payed for it so I denied the offer.

When the rest of my friends and family members started seeing the photos, the level of complements were high and they kept suggesting me to do it more often, maybe make it a hobby or event a career so for the first time in my life, I felt like I knew exactly what I wanted to be. I felt complete and knew photography was for me but still didn’t know what was the next step. I went ahead and created an Instagram profile which is how LA Productions came to life and decided to create a logo for it. I kind of isolated myself from my old friends and decided to take some time off for myself. During this alone time, I’d wake up every morning and try to look for something to photograph. I didn’t see this as a task to get better I just craved using my camera so much that I had the need to just go and shoot random things even if I didn’t really know how to and this is how I became better at it until I felt confident enough and luckily I had the opportunity to shoot my first concert which was Farrukos Gangalee Tour. That night was the best night of my life. The energy was just inexplicable, it gave me chills to be able to photograph such an amazing artist and be so close to stage. The music was great and I felt everyone’s vibes and emotions and it was just amazing to be able to express that through a photograph so I realized music photography was what I wanted to specialize in so I decided to invest in new gear and launch my photography business and I’ve been known as LA Productions ever since, combining my love for music and my passion for photography through the lens of my camera.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. I’ve had to sacrifice a lot of time and money in order to make my way up here but I don’t regret any of it. I believe one of my biggest challenges has to be being seen by big celebrities when there’s so many photographers in this industry. It takes a lot of networking, hard work and dedication to do so but it’s not impossible. I just give it my all every time I’m in the photographer pitch and it always pays off. Another of my biggest struggles has been drawing a line between friendship and business. As a beginner, I used to volunteer a lot to photograph small local events and upcoming artists and became pretty close to a lot of people and when I realized it was time to stop working gigs for free they’d get upset and question my loyalty so I’d go home with empty pockets most of the times because I was afraid to lose them and felt like they didn’t see my worth but truth is I was the one not seeing my worth. You have to be smart enough to put your foot down. As sad as it sounds in this industry, a lot of people will use you and sell you dreams just because they know you’re just getting started and would do anything to get to the top but it’s your job to keep your eyes wide open and earn your respect as a photographer Nobody else can do it for you.

We’ve been impressed with LA Productions, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’m a celebrity photographer who specializes in concerts/tours/events as well as portraits but can execute any type of photography session. I offer high-quality photos at a price anybody can afford. I can work around any kind of budget. My client’s satisfaction is my priority and I live to see a smile on their faces when they receive their photos. I make sure they want to contact me for another gig by providing the best service. I have experience covering a variety of events such as Farruko Gangalee Tour, Miami Bash, Rolling Loud Miami, Kodak Black and Friends Tour, Calle 8 Carnival, Miami Beach Pride. Maluma Papi Juancho Tour, Gente de Zona (En Letra De Otro) etc.

Any big plans?
My plan for the future other than getting hired by an artist to be his/her personal photographer while touring the world is to get a photography license and open up my own photography studio/school and be able to help any upcoming artist with amazing high-quality photos at a price they can afford so this can be part of their journey on their way to the next level.

Pricing:

• Portrait /Headshot session (Mini session $75 -30mins) 1 hour session $150
• Shows events (2hrs $300) (4hrs $500)

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: http://www.latopshooter.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/la_productions__/?utm_medium=copy_link