Today we’d like to introduce you to Javier Reyes.
Hi Javier, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Sundial Creatives started 4 years ago previously known as JR16 Photography, then JR16 Creatives to now known as Sundial Creatives. My introduction to photography was in my last year of college at Southeastern University. I had to choose an elective going into my last year and I decided I wanted to try photography because naturally, I was into technology. Little did I know I was going to into a rabbit hole and start spending tons of time and money. Photography was something that I did as a hobby to meet new people, explore new places. and my plan was not to make this my full-time career.
Shortly after the class ended, I began sharing my work on social media, and people started to gravitate towards my images and would leave comments and appreciation for the image I had taken. Before I knew I started to receive private messages of people asking what I charged for a session. At this point, I was not confident to charge anyone anything! However, I wanted to give this a shot and so I would charge a fee where I feel comfortable doing it and not taking advantage of my first client. As time went on, I improved on my photography and decided to learn videography and went on another rabbit hole spending tons of money and time to learn this art. Let me tell you that videography is much more expensive to buy gear and much more complex than digital photography. As I improved with videography I then began to offer wedding packages for both photography and videography… Once I did that within 4 months of offering those services, I was able to make it a full-time career.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some of the challenges I faced with Sundial Creatives was identifying my passion within the creative scene for photography and videography. Once I identified that weddings, videography, and commercial brand videos were the things I was trying passionately about I was then able to start creating my business plan for the future. Another obstacle that I faced was getting the right equipment for the job. All cameras are not created equal and the features you want cost a lot of money, so naturally, it took time to amass the equipment I now have to make work much easier while at a wedding and in post-production. I can that since when I started, I’ve been able to grow my business every year, and 2020 was a down year for many people in general. but by the grace of God my business and the people around me were able to push through it.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Sundial Creatives is a Faith-based wedding film house based out of Lakeland, FL servicing Central FL and the surrounding areas. At Sundial Creatives, the relationships between our couple and our creative team are of utmost importance. From our initial meeting to the delivery of your films, communication on both ends is a priority. We believe phenomenal communication is a core building block of a stress-free experience, so we work hard to make sure that we understand your vision and talk you through each step we take to bring that vision to life. We value clients who understand the art behind wedding filmmaking and always want to work with those who share our love for creativity, quality, and adventure. Our style can be described as timeless, warm, and elegant, but each set of weddings that we film takes on the personality of our couples.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the people, scenery, and food. The thing I like least about our city is the traffic.
Contact Info:
- Email: javier@sundialcreatives.com
- Website: https://www.sundialcreatives.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sundial.creatives/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sundialcreatives
