Meet Jose Esquilin | Professional Athlete/ Model – Portrait – Commercial photographer

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

Hi Jose, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Commitment and Integrity. I pride myself on making sure to meet deadlines, arrive on time, and also deliver a product that I am proud to have my name on it. As a professional photographer, my work has to speak for itself. I want my past clients and future clients to never question why they chose me. I am dedicated to my work, both in producing but to also continue to learn technique, and understanding of photography. A bit cliché but, my word is my bond and when I discuss details with a client, I will stand behind it no matter the extent that I may have to go through. I envision a photograph and will keep at it, by tweaking lights or camera settings so that the final image represents my vision. Timing in photographs can be termed luck such as when I shoot sports. I can’t control the actions, so that is the luck part, however it is up to me to identify the angles, the lighting, and background that helps capture the best of the frame. All other aspects of my photography require me to plan, implement, and deliver so I don’t see it as luck. I am committed to my craft by the hours I spend behind the camera and in front of monitor. My integrity is that I will never over promise, under deliver and try to pass it off as “great work”. Before my client sees my work, I must be proud to call it my work.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am simply a creator who expresses through photography. However a career that was in hibernation until my later years in life. As a child, I always felt that I was destined to “grow up” as an artist of some sort. However growing up, there wasn’t an “internet” and all knowledge afforded to the current generation was not as accessible. I was always drawing, sketching, painting essentially expressing my thoughts on paper. It wasn’t something that my parents were truly on board with and as I was approaching my senior year in high school, the discussion leaned towards, “if you want to be an artist, become an art teacher”, sort of follow my mom’s path as she was a grade school teacher. I wasn’t convinced that was my path and without any other real plans, I joined the U.S. Navy. I figured I would buy some time while I figured out what I was going to do as an “adult”. 26 years later, I finally figured it was the time to decide as I was about to retire from the military. I had completed my Masters degree in business and thought that I would at least have a foundation. My first job offer came through a contractor offering me a job as a designer for a company after reading my resume and some of my work. It was actually under the hobbies and interest section and not my core qualifications and experience. I had taken courses on graphic design and was also very committed to self learning through online education. Regardless, I was hired and it was during this time in 2013 that I came across that curiosity previously mentioned, photography. Currently I am a photographer whose style is more creative, dramatic lighting is almost always included and composition must always make sense. I want my photography to stand out as if I had a small store and was only able to display a few things. Those “things” must truly stand out and give off a sense of uniqueness. I guess I want the image to remain memorable and not scrolled past without leaving an impression. By the way that small store is live on instagram @jose_esquilin_photography come by and browse.

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?
I am not really sure of this answer, I’m not much of a tour guide but rather, I’ll take you where ever you would like to go. However, in contrast when visiting a city, I am curious about it all. Of course, I always have a camera with me. In Miami for example the destination is always Calle Ocho- Lil Havana district. Our favorite restaurant is El Pub for the variety of plates and flavors, the ambiance, and the best cafe con leché. We enjoy the casual vibe of south florida and the plethora of options to visually excite and satisfy the taste buds. Fresh fruit smoothies, fresh cuban or puerto rican breads, pastries, and the welcoming community of locals and of course tourist in one area.

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 attribute my success to several factors that contributed to my drive and determination to follow photography. First and foremost, I have never peaked a curiosity and left at as that, a curiosity. I have always been determined to peel back the layers and understand as fully as I can what caught my attention in the first place. Second, my family. Literally it was through my two son’s participating in sports that I picked up a camera and started taking photos of them on the field. The interest starting peaking further when I would look at my images and question why these didn’t look like those amazing images on “Sports Illustrated” covers. This ignited my curiosity to start learning camera settings, lens choices, and composition. Moving forward, my spouse became my biggest supporter by providing me hours of encouragement, standing in front of my lens to practice and carrying gear bags in later years when my photography expanded to clients. I want to shoutout to all others who saw my potential, body of work and provided me their time to let me set up a camera, some lights and take images. In later years, commercial clients have allowed me to be creative and capture frames of their products or likeness to represent their brand. So this shoutout is a timeline and appreciation for all of those that have helped me pursue my “curiosity”.

Website: www.joseesquilinphotography.com

Instagram: @jose_esquilin_photography

Twitter: @dmvsportsphotos

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoseEsquilinPhotography