Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Vision.
Hi Justin, 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?
My involvement in the art of photography started in 2017 when I purchased my first DSLR camera, the Canon Rebel T6i. In pursuit of becoming a well-known sneaker Youtuber, I knew that acquiring that camera would take my video quality to the next level. After work one day, I rushed to Best Buy to sign up for a store credit card and maxed it out with that first and very important purchase that kicked off my journey. I pulled it out of the box as soon as I walked through the door of my apartment and began to take pictures of random objects around my room. I was amazed by the quality of these images and how easy it was to make these everyday objects look amazing. At that moment, my YouTube aspirations went on the back burner and my entrepreneurial spirit shifted my focus to photography.
Within the weeks following, I took pictures of most of my friends and I even began to charge a hefty $25 to deliver hundreds of grainy, out of focus, unedited images to fellow students that needed last minute graduation pictures. I quickly realized that photography was not as simple and easy as I originally thought it to be when I learned that I had been taking pictures in automatic mode the entire time. I was just pressing the button and letting the camera decide how my pictures would look which is not what real photographers do. I switched to manual mode and began to learn how to control my settings in order to control the outcome of my photos.
For almost two years, I had an on and off relationship with photography. There would be months when I would do a photoshoot almost everyday, usually for free. But then I’d get burnt out and I’d throw my camera into the furthest corner of my closet and leave it there for weeks at a time. Nonetheless, my skills were slowly progressing. My entrepreneurial adventures led me to start my own clothing brand and through the process of creating lookbooks… my love for photography began to outshine my love for fashion.
In April 2019, my son was born and that led my wife and I to leaving Boca Raton and moving in with her parents in Naples to get on our feet. I told myself that with all the big changes going in our life, I would take the opportunity to pursue photography full-time. However, I was fearful that I would not be able to make money quick enough to provide for my family, so I drove to Ft. Myers and applied to be a school photographer for a company called Leonards. I walked into the paid training feeling arrogant from all the skills that I had developed in the first two years of shooting. I had no respect for people that spent their entire careers taking yearbook pictures. I was humbled expeditiously. The skills I learned during that training and during the year I spent working there are vital to the photographer that I am today. I spent hundreds of hours becoming a master of lighting, posing, and composition. I was much more than just a yearbook photographer. I was able to shoot sports games, casual studio sessions, group photos, classroom activities, special events, etc. I am so thankful for everything I learned from that experience.
At the beginning of 2020, I decided that I had learned what I needed to learn and I left that job to build my own business thus Romelovision was born. I bought a new camera, I invested in lighting equipments, and I grew closer to the vision of having magazine-quality work. Now it’s almost 2022 and I have been published in 5 international fashion magazines including Goji and Mob Journal. I am still working to master my craft every single day and I can’t wait to see what my images look five years from now.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road for me at all. Dealing with personal family situations, the trauma of past events, and feeling lost have all taken their toll on my creativity at some point. Intruder syndrome has gotten the best of me over and over again throughout my journey and I am only recently starting to feel like my images are worthy of the visions that I see in my head before I shoot. As far as the business side of photography goes that has been the bumpiest road of all. As many entrepreneurial escapades that I’ve gone on in the past the truth is that I am a better artist than I am a businessman. I don’t care to be the richest man ever, I just want to be able to wake up everyday and have the freedom to create whatever I want to create. However, photography itself has always been a bright light in my life. When I am behind the camera, my mind is in Heaven and my spirit is presenting itself in the purest form.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in capturing the beauty of God’s creations but stated plainly, I am a portrait photographer. I look at every photo I take as a painting because that’s what it is, painting with light. It’s hard to say what other people know me for but I believe my use of color, lighting, styling, and composition all join together like Voltron to make me stand out amongst a sea of mediocrity. I am most proud of myself for being consistent and not letting ideas linger too long before I give them a home in the physical world.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
There are tons. The most important book in my life is the Bible, it is where most of the concepts found in self-help and personal development materials stem from. I’d rather get my information directly from the source. I also get a lot of inspiration from different photobooks, even those that are not necessarily related to my niche of photography. One of the photos books that I find myself returning to the most would be one called “New York: A Photographic Journey” by Bill Harris. It consists of his New York City street photography from the late 80’s and early 90’s. I purchased it a couple of years ago at Goodwill and it has brought so much joy to my life. I don’t have much time or mental space for podcasts anymore but the two that I go out of my way to listen to would be The Fly on The Wall Show by my good friend Javier Lee and the Social Proof podcast by David Shands… both bring value to my life. However, a majority of the digital content that I consume is directly related to the art form of photography. A few photography YouTubers that I really appreciate are Vuhlandes, Willem Verbeeck, Matt Day, and Lindsay Adler.
Contact Info:
- Email: justromelo@gmail.com
- Website: Romelovision.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/romelovision
- Twitter: twitter.com/justinromelo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JustinRVision
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@romelovision
Image Credits:
All images are by @Romelovision
