Meet David Huval of DHuval Photography in Lewisville

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Huval.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved creating art. When I was growing up, I really liked to draw. I got really into comic books as a kid. There were so many talented comic book artist at the time, like Jim Lee, Frank Miller, and Todd McFarlane. Their unique styles fascinated me and drove me to become a better artist, I had drawing pads full of my favorite characters like the X-Men and Batman. Through junior high and high school I took art classes that helped me develop and hone my artistic skills as well as develop an understanding of principles such as perspective and depth.

 When I graduated high school in May of 2000, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do career-wise, so I just started taking part-time courses at a local junior college. I did this for a year while working full-time, to pay for school. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to pursue a career doing something creative or to go into engineering. It turns out that I took too long and fate stepped in and decided for me.

I turned on the television, as the second plane hit the Twin Towers on the morning of September 11th, 2001, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I couldn’t imagine what it was like for the families of those involed in this tragedy. That day, I wanted to do something. I wanted to help protect my family and friends. So, after a week or two of thinking about it, I decided to join the Army. One month later I was shipping off to Fort Benning, GA for basic training.

I spent four years assigned with Bravo Company, 2-14 Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division. It was during this time that I purchased my first DSLR and started taking pictures. I almost always had a camera with me, even if it was just disposable. In the summer of 2004, I deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During this deployment, I lost serval friends and was mildly injured in an RPG attack while on patrol. After I re-deployed back to the states in 2005, I chose not to re-enlist, due in part to the physical trauma my body had endured over the past four years of being an infantryman, but also because I intended to go back to college.

I had decided I wanted to work in marketing or advertising or possibly graphic design, as they would allow me to pursue better-paying careers, but still allowed me to be creative. In May of 2011, I graduated with a degree in Communication Design. Shortly after graduation, I started working as an Art Director for a local advertising firm but eventually moved to Dallas, as there were more job opportunities.

For the past six years, I’ve been working full-time in marketing, but over that period I was also doing freelance work as a photographer for friends and family.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Most of the struggles I’ve encountered in my career as a photographer were self-imposed. I would lose focus for short periods of time; It’s easy to push things to the back burner when life gets busy, or you hit a roadblock. You just have to remember to set goals and stay focused on them. You can’t allow distractions or obstacles to keep you from achieving them.

DHuval Photography – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Photography is my passion. I shoot many different styles of photography, from landscapes to architecture, to astrophotography, but my favorite is portraiture. Portraiture incorporates a wide variety of different styles and allows me to tell a story.

Last year I rebranded my freelance photography business as DHuvalPhotography and launched a new website – dhuvalphotography.com, as well as a couple new Instagram accounts to feature different aspects of my work – @dhuvalportraits (more fashion, lifestyle, and boudoir) and @dhuvalphotography (landscapes, some portraiture, and architectural work).

Over the past year, I’ve been working quite a bit with local models, helping them develop their portfolios. A few of them have recently been featured in this magazine, (Britanie Phan and Kendalyn Aldridge).

I also work with the North Texas Warrior Golf Association, a charity organization that provides free professional golf lessons and playing opportunities for post 9/11 veterans in the DFW area. I became an ambassador for NTWGA in 2016 after going through the program in 2015. I help them document their clinics each year by taking photos for them and I also helped them build their website.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
It’s hard for me to pick in my proudest moment over my career as a freelance photographer, but if I had to choose one, it would probably be when I relaunched my photography business last year.

Over the past two or three years, I hadn’t been shooting much, due in most part to self-doubt and making excuses as to why I wasn’t good enough. I was still shooting a bit for fun and had been doing freelance work here and there but not enough to make me happy. Then last year I decided that I’d had enough of the excuses and wanted to start shooting more. I joined local photography groups on social media that would get together for meet-ups to shoot and learn from each other. I started networking with local photographers, models, and studios to open opportunities to shoot more. By the end of 2017, I was doing more photoshoots than I’ve ever done before, and I could tell my work was getting better with each shoot.

When you set your mind on a goal and work hard, you can accomplish almost anything.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dhuvalphotography.com
• Phone: 214.803.2089
• Email: dhuvalphotography@gmail.com
• Instagram: @dhuvalportraits
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dhuvalportraits/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DHuval214
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/dhuvalphotography/

Image Credit:
All photos were taken by David Huval. The models in the shots include:
Shelley Simon (https://www.instagram.com/ohitsjustlittleoleme)
Kasey Goedeker (https://www.instagram.com/kaseygoedeker)
Lexa Lea (https://www.instagram.com/lexa.lea)
Emily McDaniel (https://www.instagram.com/edm_modeling)
Charlie Mondares (https://www.instagram.com/charliemondares)
Deanna Garcia (https://www.instagram.com/deannapache)
Alex Paul (https://www.instagram.com/aaxandra____)
Rohan Nair (https://www.instagram.com/rohan__nair__)

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