Today we’d like to introduce you to High Vis.
Thanks for sharing your story with us High Vis. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I started my personal brand @high_vis on Instagram in 2013. I started out using an iPhone and took photos around the city. I already had my Bachelor degree in Graphic Design and was working and living downtown, so I was in the heart of the city. I realized people were making money working with brands creating content, so I set out to do just that. I hoped I would one day be able to sustain myself solely off of photography and design and quit my 9-5.
During the next couple years, I met more people like me around Dallas that explored the city and took photos on rooftops. I really noticed the lack of a street photography community here in Dallas like I saw in LA and NYC on Instagram. We have one of the best skylines and cities in the world, and nobody was taking advantage of it and showing the world how cool our city is through photos.
So I decided to start @dtxstreet in Jan 2016 with my wife Missy a.k.a @missy_monoxide to help give photographers like me a platform on IG that caters to that gritty street aesthetic inspired by LA and NYC but make it our own. During this time I also was approached by WFAA to do a rooftop interview that ended up blowing up my personal “@high_vis” brand as well as “@dtxstreet” and shed some light on the movement we created here in Dallas.
I have been interviewed and featured in DMagazine, Dallas Observer, multiple WFAA interviews, 105.3 The Fan radio interview, along with multiple local podcasts. The @dtxstreet slogan is Explore, Network, and Create so we started to throw photography meetups with 100+ photographers and models and grew to have full-blown sponsored events like our “Love Is In The Air” event where we gave over 400 photographers a free open door helicopter ride to capture the city from above.
We have had multiple Art/Photo galleries as well with great success and helping give back to the community that has helped us grow to where we are today. I have come to the point that I am now able to work for myself creating content for clients from all over the country and even the world with our most recent client being the Dallas Mavericks.
I got where I am today with both of my brands by staying consistent and always pushing my content to be better and better everyday. I try to only compare myself to my best last work, and it helps me continue to focus on what matters most rather than all the noise out there in the creative and social media worlds.
I love what I do rather than love the idea of what I could do, which was what I was doing at my 9-5. I took the plunge no matter how scary it was going to be. I still have much more to learn and grow, and I’m just so happy to be able to do it in such a great city like Dallas.
Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road by any means, building a brand is hard work. For me, a big struggle was people not taking me seriously in the beginning. I grew a brand off of edgy street photography, and some companies didn’t want to work with me because I wasn’t the basic point and shoot photographer they have always worked with and did things outside the box.
After years of developing my photography style, I learned to incorporate product shots, lifestyle photography, portraiture, food photography and much more to show companies how diverse and serious I really am about creating high-end content for any client. I can give them content others typically cannot or would ever attempt to create which makes me stand out.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the DTXSTREET story. Tell us more about the business.
Both of my brands @high_vis and @dtxstreet create social, web, and print content for brands. I do a lot of influencer-marketing with brands under my @high_vis profile and specialize in product shots, lifestyle, and architectural photography.
@dtxstreet works with companies creating content for social and web campaigns as well as social events to help create brand awareness in the DFW area and more. We also throw creative community mixers and photo meetups to help grow and push creatives to get out and Explore, Network and Create.
@dtxstreet is very proud of being the pioneer in the creative social media world here in Dallas. We were the first to have huge photography meetups and events in Dallas that catered to the street photographer and models. We showed people you could pick up a camera and could make a business out of creating content.
There are a lot of social media creators in Dallas that do it purely out of becoming famous or super rich, not really caring about the content or other creators. What sets me apart from the rest is that I do it for the love of content creation and our community rather than just fame and money.
Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc.?
I’m sure in 5-10 years everything will be different. Texas has some of the biggest Fortune 500 Companies headquartered here. A lot of them work with big firms creating content, but I believe many of them will eventually work with well-known local creators like companies do in LA and NYC.
Companies can reach smaller niche markets they normally couldn’t reach and do it more organically with this method. As technology changes, I’m sure content creation and social media will change a ton too. We may be taking photos with a blink of an eye soon rather than a big camera, and sharing on a platform, you can’t even imagine right now. Only time will tell.
Contact Info:
- Website: dtxstreet.com
- Email: highvis@dtxstreet.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/high_vis , instagram.com/dtxstreet
- Twitter: twitter.com/highvisdtx
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
