May 14, 2020

Meet Salvador March

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Salvador March.

Salvador, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Well, a few years ago, when I was living in Puerto Rico, I use to go through the island taking photos with my cellphone. This was a therapy for me. A lot of people told me that I have a good eye for photography. Then two years and a half ago the Island got hit by a powerful hurricane (Maria), I lost my job as a bartender in a luxury hotel & resort. Luckily, I had a good friend living here in Atlanta. He was working in the same hotel brand as I was in the Buckhead area. He told me to do a transfer and move here to Atlanta. I took my time to see if this will be a good idea. The hospitality industry at that moment was practically shut down. There was not going to be work for anybody in the island any time soon.

I took the decision to move on and do the transfer. Once I moved here, I started to work, and by that time, it was working nonstop. It was very difficult for me to go outside at that moment, I was living far formwork, the traffic was very bad and basically, I never had much time off. So I made the decision to change to another work. In this new property, I had a different position and the managers were very good with me. I started to have more free time. My shift was shorter, giving me the opportunity of travel around Georgia. I resumed taking photos with my cellphone but I started to feel limited with my cellphone and wanted to learn more and evolve in photography.

I made the decision of buying a DSLR Camera. I started to watch a lot of YouTube tutorials every day. During the week, I started searching and planing which places should I visit. At the beginning, I came back from my trips with around eight hundred photos, which made it very hard for me to choose which picture to develop. With time, I started to improve my compositions. Also I was taking less and better quality photos. At this point, I started to notice my growth as a photographer. Without noticing, I was immersed in this passion. It is still a good therapy for me.

Has it been a smooth road?
I think one of the hardest things on photography is equipment cost. Besides that, learning the art and acquiring the skill of photography depends on how much you like it. For example, I didn’t have anyone to teach me personally, how to set a camera to shoot a waterfall, how to shoot portraits or how to edit the photos and or what program to use. It was my desire of do something that made me feel good, that helped me to connect with others, that desire to create something by myself, that made me feel in power of what I want to do next. At the beginning is always hard, you need to read, to invest time in learning something new, but once you start practicing, it will bring that feeling of accomplishment that is going to push you to do more, to be a better photographer.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I use my Instagram page to sell Metal prints of my photos, the majority of my photos are dramatic photos of waterfalls. For the moment, I am more like a nature photographer. Eventually, with the time, I will start working with different things. I have plenty of ideas, but the situation right now is a little complicated to develop my business.

Something that makes my proud was when I sold my first print. Sometimes I am very harsh with myself, maybe because I am a little perfectionist and because I am like that it took my time to dare to sell my art. I was a little scared when I made my first print because I was thinking how long it going to take me to sell that print or if the price was the correct one. But someone bought it the same day that I start to promote the print. That was one of the happiest days for me.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I have been living in Atlanta only for two years and a half. I don’t know if I am the correct person to said if is a good place to do business. But I believe that Georgia and the city of Atlanta are growing and that makes a lot more easy to start a business here. Regarding photography, I do believe that there is a lot of opportunities in Atlanta, you have big companies open their offices here, they need photographers for the brand and for a lot more stuff. Atlanta is a very busy city, there so many people looking for wedding photographers, event photographers, even filmmakers, taking in consideration that the filming industry is really strong, for example, many staring actors need a photographer to do their photos for their portfolios.

Besides photography something that I learned is that you have to think without boundaries. Right now, is very easy to make business from your house. The internet is such a powerful tool that helps people and companies to make deals around the globe. One thing I can say is very positive about living in Atlanta is the diversity of cultures. This can help anyone to connect with the people around the world and make your business reach places you would never think of.

Pricing:

Metal Prints 20×30 cost $260

Contact Info:

Website: www.marchphotographies.com
Email: march.photography@outlook.com
Instagram: @salvador_march
Facebook: Salvador March Photography

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Meet Buckhead Series Sponsor:

Ase Omavuaye Otite: I am a Nigerian-born author who is passionate about children and driven to protect their innocence. I have an extremely creative mind and identify myself as an artist. I love to express myself through art, especially photography, words, and music. I have discovered how great and freeing it is to be myself and it helps me unlock new ideas. I am an aunt and godmother to 27 nieces and nephews and play an active role in their lives. Engaging with the children in my life helps keep my inner child at the forefront when I am writing and creating art. My goal is to take readers’ imagination on a magical adventure, allowing children to connect to their creative side. I believe with my artistic ideas, I can accomplish that. My love and passion for children and technology in my personal life was the driving force that helped me write my children’s book, Happystarville. My book, Happystarville teaches great morals to young children; allowing them to see how the consequences of their actions don’t just affect them—but also everyone around them. Happystarville is available online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart.