Meet Valentin Ehambe | DFW’s Visual Visionary

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

Hi Valentin, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
With photography not being my main source of income, I still want to grow as much as possible within the industry however it can definitely be challenging at times. The way I look at it is, there’s not really a such things as” I don’t have the time”, because if you truly want something, you’ll have to sacrifice something in the short-term.

Compare this to someone who is working a job they don’t particularly care about but have aspirations for something else. They will have to either manage the funds from that job to fund the next, and or sacrifice their time outside of work to get to goal.

I’ve been blessed to not have to allocate much of my finances to marketing due to a majority of my clients are from word-of-mouth but planning at least 2 weeks ahead helps to make sure i leave time for friends and family.

For anyone struggling to make things work, my best advice to you is “adjust your goals to bullet points with a goal of at least 1 thing and you’ll get to the finish line…patience is key”

~V

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
This is probably my favorite question. I do NOT like being placed in a box, so much so I made every effort to create art in every field possible. My greatest joy is spending time with each client hoping I can catch 1 or 2 candid moments that can resonate to others when they see the end picture.

Everything started over 6 years ago in a challenge ( gain a skill every month for a year, one of those was photography). I took my little cannon rebel XT everywhere and i mean EVERYWHERE.
one of those places happen to be at the Dallas Bachata Festival and just sat front row taking over 1000 pics. I posted it on my Facebook and tagged the event and the person covering media (My Brother Diamond) saw them and shared it with the owner who then asked for me to join officially for next year.

Then Covid Happened….

The photos didnt stop as the love only increased and began to take trips simply to have something to take a photo of.
I joined latin clubs
Photography meetup groups
Even Joined a podcast group!

My Goal….
To be better than every photographer you’ve ever worked with (I love competition)

The journey has absolutely been amazing and even more when you make money from it (to buy more gear of course ^_^)

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ohh I feel like I might give some of my favorite spots away….

Monday we do absolutely nothing except relax at my pool. Blue coconut rum+ sprite while i play DJ to some afrobeats is a vibe
Tuesday – start the late morning off at our local Lifetime gym a.k.a the glorious house of gains then stopping by HTeao for refreshers. theres this awesome cafe in Irving with delicious empenadas and pastries to enjoy which wraps up the chill part of the week
from Wednesday-Sunday we have about 4 days of dancing with a mixture of salsa,bachata, kizomba, cumbia, and hip-hop while eating at some of my favorite places such as : Midori Sushi, Gyu KaKu, Pizzeria Testa, an d depending on the time of month, a cigar lounge.

With V, be prepared to dance cause theres alot of it

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The individual that aided in opening the doors to the Latin Dance scene is Mr. Diamond Rivera of Diamond Rivera Filmz. He continues to share the love introducing me to the best individuals in the industry and build amazing teams for every festival we provide media coverage for

Website: visualsbyv.com

Instagram: @jvalentinphoto

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jve12/