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

Hi Flabio, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I think I just got to a point where I was shooting lots of freelance work as an assistant / second shooter and I felt that I was at a proper experience and talent level to just go out and begin doing my own thing!

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 like to think what sets me apart from other people is the fact that I tend to focus on this documentarian style of photography. I really like to focus on capturing very specific moments. I do not like to shoot things that are going to feel very forced to say the least! Whenever I am directing a shoot, whether it be a wedding, lifestyle, narrative, etc. My goal is to play with prompts, ideas, real emotions, etc. Rather than trying to pose someone in a forced, unnatural way.

Professionally, it’s taken a lot of networking for sure to get here! And, a lot of just willing to go out and shoot with people for fun. I think at the start you are most likely not going to get much paid work and it’s going to take a lot of time to build a truly worthwhile portfolio. For me, that looked like asking friends or people I knew to come out and shoot with me for an hour on a Saturday and create some good imagery for me and for them!

It’s also a lot of trying to meet other creatives and building a real relationship with them. Not seeing people as a means to an end. That’s not a real relationship. You just end up using real people to get what you want.

I think what I want people to really know is that the journey never ends. You’ve never reached this ‘mythical top’ that people always talks about. It is constant growth. It requires a lot of patience. I am nowhere near where I want to be but the journey is beautiful and I am learning to take the good days, bad days, meh days, etc. And learn from them, be patient, and continue to put the work in.

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.
I’d say a few things I’d like to take a friend to would be some of the following: I won’t give too much away but I’d absolutely go up to the Griffith observatory. The view is one of my favorite things in the world.

As a huge coffee person we’d have to go to Tiago Coffee Bar. That’s one of my faves.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I think I’d like to dedicate it to a few individuals who have all played a small part in getting me to where I am at thus far. That would be Faith Schiller, Aaron Bean & Jon Jorgenson.

Website: https://www.flabiocreative.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/flabiodoci

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