Meet Greg Hernandez | Photographer / Videographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Greg Hernandez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Greg, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Starting my own business was at first a matter of necessity. My wife and I were both working jobs with irregular hours and schedules which, was doable with one child. When our second child was born it became more hectic to try and juggle both of our schedules with a new baby and a toddler. My job at the time wasn’t being very accommodating to our adjustment period so without giving it too much thought I made the decision and left. I had already been freelancing at the time so we had a little money saved up but it was then that I knew I had to buckle down and build a business rather than look for another job. Honestly it was the best career decision I’ve ever made and I can’t imagine things being any different.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
By far the biggest challenge of running the business doesn’t have anything to do with the photography part. Learning how to do my taxes and balance my ledgers and invoicing, insurance, licensing, and all of the other administrative and financial aspects are what challenge me the most. I’ve been fortunate enough to have mentors and resources in these different areas so I wasn’t stumbling completely in the dark but it was and is still a challenge. I would suggest anyone who is primarily a creative that is interested in starting a business should take a business management class to get a handle on all of the things no one really tells you upfront or, if it’s in the budget hire someone that can take care of those things for you so you can spend more time being creative. I couldn’t afford to have a staff in the beginning so I made the effort to just learn as much as I could to be able to run things myself and ask for help along the way.

When it comes to the photography part of what I do, I like to say that my photography is science and art blended. There is so much that needs to happen to take a technically good photo but that’s only a part of what I do. While I have a fair amount of commercial and corporate work, a lot of what I do is photographing people.
It’s my job to help them look and feel their best and making sure the photos are technically sound; good light, good color etc. is important, but a very big part is subjective and very creative. It’s still art. Working out how the light and shadows play on the features of my subjects and how to work in that physical creative space. I also have to understand what kind of lighting, or backgrounds, or colors would compliment a subjects personality or the look and mood they’re trying to express. It takes a lot of empathy to be a good portrait photographer and I’ve been told I’m pretty good at feeling understanding people. I like to say I’m in the business of building relationships that can be seen and felt in the photos I take.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well living in Central Florida means there’s no shortage of things to do, places to go and food to eat. Of course, the most world renowned theme parks are right here so that can cover a whole week by itself. We might take one day at the beach. A lot of people love the treasure coast because of how peaceful and quiet it can be but I like the space coast beaches a little better.

I think Orlando kind of has 3 distinct cultural hubs, there’s Downtown and the Lake Eola park area that fulfills the city vibe, there’s the Disney resort area out west and kind of in between there’s the Universal Studios / I-Drive
area that has a lot to offer also.

We also have a great local arts and entertainment scene and there are things to do peppered all throughout and in between these three sections so we could do the tourist and sight see or theme park during the day and then see what local shows and events are playing in the evenings and pair that with great local food for dinner.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a lot of love and a lot of thanks to my family and friends who not only supported me throughout the building process but many of which also bless me as clients. A lot of times they say you shouldn’t work for or with friends and family but thankfully my extended network has taken really good care of me over the years. They have been my biggest cheerleaders and blessed me with more referrals and word of mouth marketing that I’ve been able to leverage that help into success.

I would like to especially thank my amazing wife Maria, who, when I was just getting started kept our family afloat but also became a reliable business partner helping me grow and maintain my success and providing constant love and support every step of the way.

Website: www.vmpphoto.com

Instagram: @VMPPHoto

Facebook: @VMPPhotography