Meet Hillary Urgelles | @Safarishoot Photographer and Content Creator

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

Hi Hillary, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Creativity and art have always been in my veins.I’d like to say that I inherited it from someone, but in my family there are very few artists, I would say. When I was 12 years old I wanted a camera roll with a negative, and my mom and dad gave it to me on my birthday. Two years later, when I was 14 I got my first digital camera and then when I was 17 my first professional camera DSLR. Art it’s something that has been inside me, I know I still have to learn a lot, I have the motivation to improve every day to become better. I decided to study an artistic or creative career because I didn’t want to do only photoshoots, I wanted to learn about everything, I wanted to write, Talk in public, make videos, produce and thanks to god and all my effort, I can say I made it. Besides, I don’t only admire my art, I admire other photographers’ art. I love to be around creatives or photographers, singers, journalists, etc. I feel I become more creative when I am around creative people.

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.
When I was in venezuela, I always loved photography, however, I never saw the possibility of having a photography business, it was my hobby. When I started thinking about leaving my country, I realized that I could take advantage of my talent, but I needed something else to do it. I started posting a little portfolio to my social media. I was so afraid because I didn’t believe in myself. The first week I booked my first client, and after that I had clients every week. When I moved to Atlanta. I felt I had to start over, but it wasn’t like that, I have my portfolio and my experience. Atlanta has been my school and now I can say my hobby is not my hobby anymore, it’s my business and it’s the only thing I want to do for now.

It wasn’t easy but I’m working on it. Part of the growth process is taking risk. When you are in your comfort zone, everything goes with the same flow, and sometimes we don’t go where we want to go. My most important challenge was to move to a new country, learn another language and learn about the same business but in another country, I could notice it was different. So I have to settle before I start taking pictures again. It was like a break but I need it to grow and become better. I always knew if I kept going I could reach my goals, and I feel I made it.

Part of the lessons I’ve learned focus on myself and not the competition, believe in myself so other people could do it. Also, being authentic and humble it’s one of the most important. When you are yourself you can connect with more people and get clients that also become friends, so I always try to not only provide a service. That has got me many results. Authenticity is always a plus for creatives, and also never forget where I came from because that helps you to stay humble.

I’ve always been shy to talk in public or in my IG stories, and I always thought that I couldn’t do it. After I started creating content besides taking pictures, I can say my business has changed a lot for good. Sometimes when we start a business or we are in another country or city, we don’t stop working on other things for the fear that this new business, new country or new city won’t work out. I can give this advice to other people that feel the same, if you dedicate at least 1 or 2 hours a day to your business and also fight with the fear to speak or create content, you can connect and find people that want to be your client or like your brand.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Since I came here, I have fallen in love with the city. I love to go out and explore new places. My top 5 of places you have to go are: Jackson bridge, Ponce city market, Krog street market (you can eat amazing food), The battery, Georgia Aquarium, Atlantic Station and if you like more nature, I would say Arabian Mountain, Morgan falls park. I think there were more than five but it’s because this city has a lot of fun things to do.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mother and My dad who always believed in me and taught me to believe in myself. And today I can say, It doesn’t matter who believes in you, if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody will see the results of your hard work. I didn’t believe I could do anything, I lost opportunities because of that. I have the support of my parents but Hillary wasn’t believing in herself. After I changed my mindset I was able to value my parents, they always taught me to believe in myself. Now I owe that to them and they will always have my recognition.

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQj3QOLivMPUCcYzfsSFPTQ