About

Valdez obtained his B.F.A. in Film and Digital Arts from the University of New Mexico. Immersed in a hands-on style of curriculum, Valdez acquired a deeper passion for cinematography and camera operation. He would write and direct his television pitch Doughboy while simultaneously taking position as Director of Photography for two Albuquerque based independent short films, The Garden, and Gutters and Glory. Pre-production for his own pilot began on the brink of his senior year with a social media/GoFundMe campaign to promote and fund the production. Pre-production spanned over eight months, casting leads and background, organizing auditions and rehearsals, recruiting crew members, and budgeting funds for project spending. Valdez would oversee all directional aspects of the film, designing costumes, set decoration, scouting locations, and collaborating with local businesses to film inside their establishments. Valdez co-organized and directed a team of thirty students on a micro-budget, and filming began in March of 2024. Currently, Valdez intends to carry his project as a future television series for streaming networks.

Valdez recalls his first runaround with a camera sneaking away his mother’s JVC handheld camcorder into his bedroom, which she was unaware of until she discovered the camera was filled with several shaky videos of model trains. In high school, he adored the advent of Youtube vlog creators so much that he convinced his parents to buy him a DLSR for Christmas, a Canon T6i which he still owns today. Valdez volunteered as a sports photographer and designed several pages of his senior yearbook. Valdez has accelerated as a creative professional from writing and directing his independent television pitch Doughboy to having his photography featured in Visit Albuquerque’s Route 66 Centennial campaign and juried exhibitions at Black Box Gallery in Portland, Oregon.

While completing his degree, Valdez was a camera operator for Albuquerque based broadcast network LoboTV with the NCAA. Under the direction of the Associate Athletic Director of LoboTV, Valdez operated broadcast cameras for the largest athletic events in New Mexico during the 2024 season, sitting court-side with the Mountain West champion Lobos and a shoulder mounted Hitachi broadcast camera. Post graduation, Valdez was contracted as the Media Coordinator of Santa Fe Workshops for the 2024 Summer Season. Valdez filmed a series of unscripted documentaries with local and international photographers of New Mexico Magazine, GQ Magazine, Tommy Hilfiger, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill just to name a few. Valdez worked side by side with his Sony FS5, documenting historic landmarks, National Parks, critically acclaimed Santa Fe restaurants, hotels, movie ranches and iconic film locations across Northern New Mexico.

Valdez was later connected with Visit Albuquerque’s Director of Marketing and assigned to photograph a digital series of historical buildings and landmarks along Albuquerque’s Central Avenue and 4^th Street for their Route 66 Centennial Campaign. He would analyze archival photos with their Route 66 Specialist and travel on location to recreate such photos, which are now on the Visit Albuquerque website. Recently, his work has been featured in gallery exhibition “Color Burst: Contemporary Photography” juried by Todd Johnson at Black Box Gallery in Portland, Oregon. Valdez was also scouted by the Creative Director at Explora Albuquerque to film and photograph their public summer event, “Day of Making.” Currently, Valdez is a full-time studio photographer and editor at Kenneth Brown Photography which is the largest portrait studio in New Mexico. Considering the challenges as a creative professional, Valdez is calls this practice one of his life callings. Valdez continues to carry his work into the professional world no matter the limitations.