Daily Inspiration: Meet Zach Dorame

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Dorame.

Hi Zach, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Before Covid hit, I was heavily invested in nightlife, working/managing nightclubs, this was something that interested me a lot and something I wanted to build a career from to eventually open my own bar, club, or restaurant because hospitality had always come really easy for me. I also had a firm network that I feel could propel me forward in a lot of scenarios.

However, once Covid hit, and nightlife everywhere came to a screeching halt, I came to the realization that something in life needed to change and I couldn’t sustain myself forever working on an instability like that.

So, as Covid went into full effect, my best friend/mentor David “J-Visionz” Velasquez who is a very talented, creative, and well-respected photographer/videographer in the state of Arizona offered me to tag along with him to his shoots since I didn’t have work but he was still very busy with photoshoots and other gigs.

All he wanted was simple behind-the-scenes content that was captured on an iPhone that allowed him to post more on social media.

As this continued for months, still out of work due to Covid, David and I became inseparable and acted as a dynamic duo. In doing this, I became an administrative assistant for David taking control of all his social media, bookings, scheduling, and everything else in between. In doing this, I was subconsciously learning how a successful photographer ran his business and the type of way you handle certain situations and walks of life.

Before you knew it, David and I were traveling to different cities, like LA or Vegas, to work with all sorts of models. In doing this, we built an experience with every person we came across that allowed us to excel and then get referred to others. This then generated more business and more opportunities.

I still wasn’t shooting but was thoroughly enjoying my experience meeting a vast amount of new people and having so many fun experiences while the world was still on standstill. David and I accomplished this from Mid-March 2020 to December 2020. I had no interest in ever picking up a camera or being a photographer but I did find a joy in using polaroids or instant cameras that we could later develop at Walmart.

This became my special project which I named Project Candid because it was capturing all the candid moments and people we encountered on a daily basis. At one point this was hard to do because I was running low on money due to covid and no work, So, as I still am trying to figure out my life, one day in September a mutual friend of David and I asked to do a shoot with David. However, David was booked out for the next month and didn’t have any availability.

So she asked me to do the shoot. At this time, I had no real camera or very mild knowledge of how to operate a camera. However, she didn’t care and was willing to work with me even though I had no experience. So, as this happens, my roommate at the time, had a Canon T-6 Rebel, which is a very beginner camera. He was kind enough to let me borrow this since he knew I had been under David’s wing essentially almost every day of the pandemic.

Because I had spent so much time working with David I knew how to pose and somewhat of how to work the camera but not enough to really make something amazing. From that day on, I had a fire lit inside of me because I knew I could do so much better from that moment.

I have worked tirelessly and relentlessly to master posing models, becoming comfortable with my camera settings, spending thousands of dollars on new equipment, hours on hours sitting at the desk editing and learning the software, and finding a whole new meaning to what it means to Re-Invent Yourself.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Has not been a smooth road due to being a very expensive career with Professional Camera equipment costing you thousands of dollars, then learning how to master your equipment, then learning how to read people’s body language.

Then posing them, and then making something you see in your mind, come to reality on an open canvas, as a painter does on a blank canvas, then the tedious and patient work it takes to sit at the computer for hours on end learning how to master programs like Lightroom that bring a different dimension to your work.

It allows you to stand out from a very saturated market of photographers and videographers. It’s also a very long road to building a reputable reputation that coincides with the product of work you create.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Photographer/Videographer based out of Scottsdale, AZ who specializes in model work. I am known for working with the most beautiful/sought-after girls in Arizona especially those who work in Nightlife in old town Scottsdale.

Working with those girls is especially hard unless you have an in with them. Recently, I am also known for doing a UFC Documentary of the last 3 weeks of the Deiveson Figueiredo fight camp who fought against Brandon Moreno at UFC 270 where he reclaimed his UFC Flyweight Championship.

I would say up to this point that is my proudest moment even though I’ve shot for 3x UFC Champion Henry Cejudo, music artists like Glass Animals in Austin, Texas, or NFL athletes like Kwon Alexander, Matt Breida, Jet McKinnon, and many more, or even 2x NCAA Champion Roman Bravo-Young from Penn State.

My attention to detail, my love for my craft, my hunger to be the best, my posing abilities and positive energy which creates an overall comfortable and great environment for my models, and finally my network is what sets me apart from the rest.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Favorite Books – Outwitting the Devil, The Four Agreements, Compound Effect, and Clarity and Connection.

Podcast- Joel Osteen, Steven Furtick, and TD Jakes.

Journaling and writing down my goals have also helped me become more focused.

Pricing:

• $350 standard Photoshoot
• $500 Video Work
• $750 Package
• Wedding Varies
• Special Events Vary

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Zach_Dorame21

Image Credits
Zach Dorame