Meet Elix Figueroa | Freelance Photographer

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

Hi Elix, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My thought behind starting my own business was to use my passion for photography and my love for cars to build a brand that defines me as a person and a photographer. Using my free time doing something that I love and initially turning a passion into a business opportunity while capturing the car scene in my home, the beuatiful island of Puerto Rico. Being from an Island is what brings the inspiration behind the name, Tropical Mind Media. A few years later, a job opportunity brought me to the DFW área and the dream is still the same behind the business, built a brand that shows my passion for the craft and the love for cars that I’ve had since I was a little kid.

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.
I think one of the things the thing that sets me apart from other is the warm tones and how I more than just the cars, I have tried to add the owners into the storytelling of the my photography. It took me a lot of patience, learning, practice, trial & error, and listening to other colleagues feedbacks on my work. At first it is hard to hear the feedback others have about your work (clients & colleagues), but also knowing that you have to create your own style and not adapt your style to others. For me it took me time to realize that my style is to try to create a warm tones that feel soothing to the viewer. One thing one of my biggest lesson learned along the way is that you can never be satisfied, in a good way, with your level of work and knowledge as their is always room for improvement to get to that next level and give the viewer a great experience through your art.

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 would definitely take my best friend to get some Texas BBQ at Hard Eight and visit a lot of the breweries in the area. Visit downtown to take some cool pictures. Depending on the season, a Rangers game is a must for entertainment. On a weekend, a mandatory stop has to be the rodeo over at the Stockyards and visiting Deep Ellum for a fun night. And after that improvise on some of the other things the DFW area has to offer. To continue a list of possible places are some delicious mexican food restaurants coffee shops that serve specialty coffee, top golf, bowling, flight museum, car events and any other places that I can find as I am fairly new to the DFW area anf there are a lot of places I have heard about, but have yet to visit.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to say there is a lot of credit to give throughout this journey as a photographer over the years, but mostly to the “Asociación de Colegiales Amantes a la Fotografía” which was a photography club over at the collage I was attending to. I started learning with camera that other members from the club while I saved up to money to buy my first camera. But the truth is there are so many people along this way that have taken time out of there schedule to answers the millions of questions I had while starting and giving me the tools I have today.

Website: www.tropicalmindmedia.com

Instagram: @tropicalmindmedia

Other: other ig accounts: @elix.tropicalmm

Image Credits
The pictures of me in a vest where shot by Carlos Guitierrez.