Daily Inspiration: Meet Jose Soto

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Soto.

Hi Jose, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started my photography journey in late 2020, I started to find an interest in Photography here In Nashville and so I decided to learn and pick up a camera, I invested months into learning everything about my camera and just photography in general.

I began practicing with friends and family and eventually in August and September of 2021, I decided to start taking it more seriously and to start networking and getting my name out there. Slowly, I have met some mentors who have helped expose me to many different photography styles and environments.

I started working with local models and I did a wedding for a relative, which eventually lead to more big events where I got my first paid gig. Since then, I’ve managed to work with extraordinary people and have been thankful to have gotten paid gigs along the way.

Balancing my 9-5, being a dad, friends, and family, and trying to start my own small business has definitely not been easy but totally worth it.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been, I am a full-time worker as well as a dad to a 5-year-old.

Balancing those two while also trying to start my photography has been really hard to balance but through trials and errors, I’m slowly finding a good balance to this, also the learning curve to photography is a big one, it’s not just taking a photo, there so much more to it.

Networking is also very important I had no idea how to start that but I began joining FB groups and telling everyone and their mother about being a photographer, thankfully, this has led me to mentors, paid gigs, a chance to work with models, and the most important part is getting the experience and feeling confident in my work.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I do photography, more specifically Portraits and Boudoir, I’m finding my niche on how exactly I want my photos to be and look like.

I’m most proud of simply pushing myself to learn something I knew absolutely nothing about, getting out of my comfort zone and starting building relationships, and getting myself out there. I’m very proud when I send some of the albums to clients and they are in love with what I’ve captured.

My favorite one so far was when I had someone tell me they have fallen in love with themselves when they saw the photos I took of them.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The value of my time. It’s become so essential to plan my weeks and months and to really value my time to get to the goals I want.

I’m usually forced to stay busy and I have realized how much I can accomplish in a day, it’s quite fascinating. While naps are amazing, I find myself really enjoying trying to achieve more throughout the day now.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/great_art_lens?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=