Meet Melquisedec Acevedo. Jr | Portrait and Wedding Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melquisedec Acevedo. Jr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melquisedec, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
more than anything I feel like it was the artistic passion to just capture beautiful and true moments for people, more than the thought of making it a business.

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.
What I am most proud of is seeing my journey and how far I have come. I am introvert to heart, so it has been a challenge overcoming my fear of speaking up an putting myself out there and putting my work out there. It has not been easy, I was going to school for it but somewhere in there I realized I don’t need a class or a paper to tell me how I should shoot. I have learned from a lot of influential photographers with different styles and I am grateful for the ones that have taken the time to personally teach me. But what has helped me to grow in this, has been the trust and confidence from family, friends and recommendations from friends. Over the years with every photoshoot, weather its a casual portrait shoot (family, maternity, model, etc.) I have learned something new that has brought me to discovering my photography style that I love. In every shoot theirs always something that I feel like I did wrong that has led me to say “I should’ve done this, tried that, or done it this way”. It does not matter how many photoshoots I do I still get nervous the day the of the shoot, but at the same still have that confidence to take control of the situation and put a professional face on. I like to think that I come from an old school generation, meaning someone that enjoys the nostalgia of when photography was more of film and the old process of developing a photo. That’s what I have tried to adapt in my pictures/edits from the classic black and white to different color tones and compositions. I enjoy a good candid photo, cause to me that’s what has made photography what it was and is today.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One of the areas I enjoy from the city is the Heights because of a lot of small shops and business that give you a small town and vintage vibe to it. From ice cream shops, antique stores, and other shops that just make you feel like you belong in a city with so much diversity and has a lot going on. We would visit the Art District as well, art museum and the areas around it like Herman Park and its garden. Maybe go out to a baseball, soccer, basketball or football game depending on the time they come. Personally I am not a big breakfast person but I would also take them to some of my favorite breakfast spots that I have tried, like First Watch, Snooze, and Cracker Barrel to name a few. And then through out the day to maybe some good ole BBQ like Gabby’s BBQ, Pinkertons and other spots that I have liked as well. And towards the end of the night go to a small out door bar that has activities to end the night like Heights beer garden, Little Woodrows in Midtown, The Truck Yard, or even visit some our local breweries like 8th Wonder, Urban South, Under the Radar, etc.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I feel like there are two people that deserve a shoutout on who I am or why I enjoy what I do. And that comes from my father (Melquisedec Acevedo) and an old friend/art teacher from middle school (Patrick King). Both had a very strongly influence on my artistic passion and visions in both life and my artistic style.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elumina.photography/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ELUMINAPHOTO

Other: at the moment I am still working on my website so it is not up yet.