Meet Luiz Acosta: Fashion Photographer from Houston, TX

Fashion photographer, Luiz Acosta shares a glimpse of behind the scenes of modeling, colors, and angles. 

Urban Time: Let’s start with your name, where you’re from and what you do.

Luiz Acosta: I'm Luiz Acosta, i'm from Kansas City, Kansas, currently in Houston, TX. I was never an athletic kid, i was extremely fascinated with the art since a very young age. Photography was never really my goal in life due to the fact that I never knew what I wanted to be but lucky I asked for a camera one year and boom it became such a fascinating that I love doing.

Urban Time: What made you want to ask for a camera? What inspired you to do so?

Luiz Acosta: I thought it would be a cool idea to take photos… I saw a couple of Brooke Shaden’s pieces and I wanted to recreate her images.

Urban Time: You consider yourself a fashion photographer correct What does that involve?

Luiz Acosta: Yes I do, and fashion photography is where you take concepts and different fashion trends and create a story of images with no limitations. That's why i'm drawn to fashion photography bc I don't have to worry about rules.

Urban Time: What got you into fashion photography? Do you have an interest in fashion as well?

Luiz Acosta: I got into fashion photography because I love the idea of clothing telling a certain mood or story. I got into it because of looking at all sorts of photographs and fashion based images I was so drawn to. I do believe I have somewhat of a fashion sense but I don't restrict myself to one style i'll literally way any style from prep to grunge to urban to classy to bum, it's whatever i feel.

Urban Time: How do you get the person that is in front of the camera onto the film just the way you want?

Luiz Acosta: I usually shoot pictures of my friends that are decently attractive, so it's easy for me to get them comfortable. If I don't know the model, I set a storyboard of colors, hair, makeup, clothing and theme to see if they could match it. From that point, posing is super simple because i'm always encouraging them to go out of the box. I will do the exact pose so they have something to mimic.

Urban Time: Tell us about your other strategies! Angles and looking!

Luiz: With fashion photography, I stated before there is really nothing that limits you to go outside the box to a board above them. Anything, vibrant colors, everything is what you perceive as normal or even perceive as different. Don't ever let me use up to anything when shooting you, shoot what you believe is the best that you can do. Never be stuck in one spot, always go around everywhere, shoot every single way you can, because that's how you make a good image.

Urban Time: Do you have any specific lens you use uniformly? What do you find yourself going towards when you shoot, camera wise?

Luiz: 50mm f/1.8 with a nikon d3200, is my go to set.

Urban Time: What about editing? What style do you go for?

Luiz: Editing is done strictly on my phone ex vscocam, artstudio snapseed etc. my style is high contrast shadows with deep color tones or moody black and whites. 

Urban Time: Love it! That's amazing the quality of your work, you have a great eye. Would you want to pursue a career in photography?

Luiz: I would love to be a great fashion photographer when i'm older but i honestly want to become an art/photography or English teacher because I hate the fact of just one right answer..

Urban Time: That's so nice, how do you hope to influence the education system?

Luiz: I hope to teach that we are all different everyone faces a new struggle everyday. I hope to influence that we all are creative, we are all our own masterpiece & we are all different.

Urban Time: Are you working on any projects currently?

Luiz: No, not really, i've been in a creative slump. So i'm just really doing self portraits until I get a spark of creativity.

Urban Time: Anything you would like the readers to know?

Luiz: That everyone is art, we are all made differently and everyone should love and accept each other, we are the generation that can make a difference, I want everyone to know that I make art to inspire, I aspire to inspire and everyone should as well and never stop chasing your dream follow what your heart tell you but stay true yourself and you will learn how to live.

Luiz Acosta on Twitter: @omgitsluiz

Luiz Acosta on Instagram: @omgitsluiz

Interviewed by; @b0nsang