Felipe Alves Wants to Photograph Everything

Welcome to Hero of the Week, an ongoing series sharing stories from some of the best photographers in the Pexels community.

Oakland, California photographer Felipe Alves got hooked on photography through the excitement of capturing new places when traveling.

Since then, he's grown to love all kinds of photo genres, creating portraits of his wife and friends as well as stunning landscape scenes. Felipe is a project manager by trade, overseeing renovation projects at a construction company.

We talked to Felipe about how photography can record the most important memories.

Pexels: How did you get started with photography?

Felipe: I’ve held a camera since I was seven years old. It all started when my family first moved to the United States back in 2001 and my grandparents back in Brazil would always ask me to share new photographs and send them.

What camera gear do you use?

Today I own four essential pieces of gear that are my absolute go-to! The first and most convenient is my iPhone, of course. I use it every single day.

The second, light and quick, is my Canon G7X Mark II point and shoot — especially for videos. My absolute favorite camera is my Sony a7RIII, and I also like to carry my DJI Mini.

What's your favorite type of photo to shoot, and why?

Can my answer be everything? If so, everything. I’ve grown to love capturing life and moments of our current Earth.

Whenever my parents go on a travel trip, my mom would ask my dad to stop the car every five minutes if we were exploring a new place like Yosemite. We’d come home with thousands of pictures to look back to from a single-day trip.

When I was young, I loved taking pictures of my family, and of the places we’ve been to share with the people I loved.

Since then, I’ve shot numerous portraits of my wife, friends and family, weddings, engagement shoots, portraits, travel photos, and everything and everywhere I’ve been a part of and experienced.

What inspires your photography?

Knowing that one day my kids would be able to see how the life their dad lived and share my passion with a new generation.

I love knowing we can look back and time travel with every single picture taken. Little things, such as seeing the smile of my mom when she was younger, are beautiful to me.

Tell us about a favorite photo on your Pexels profile.

This is my favorite photograph of the ones I shared with Pexels. It’s special to me because it was my first time out of the country since I had moved to the United States.

My wife and my high school friends all traveled to Japan to experience it for the first time. One of my favorite memories from the trip is watching the sunrise next to Mt Fuji from the balcony of our Airbnb.

Who are some other photographers or artists who inspire your work?

I have a couple of photographers that I know make capture moments and our planet unbelievably beautiful.

Charly Savely and Samuel Elkins are my current favorites. But there are many others. Lucas Pinhel, Chris Burkard, etc.

What is one goal you have for your photography?

To never stop shooting.

Always carry your camera, your battery, your memory card. The rest is history.

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