The Story Behind VisitSPI.com
To better understand this project and the vision and drive behind it, I feel it’s important to introduce myself and my background which has led me to finally build the site I’ve been dreaming about for so many years.
Hello, my name is Mark Lehmann – Interior & Architectural Photographer with ArcTechPHOTO and the creator behind VisitSPI.com.
I was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas, just 30 minutes away from South Padre Island, and have lived here my entire life. Being raised so close to South Padre Island, it became my childhood beach; creating so many fond memories over the years as a adolescent and teenager. I learned how to surf at Isla Blanca in 1997 and first moved to the Island in 1998. My love for the Island continued to grow as I got to spend more and more time here.
The concept and vision for this site dates back to 2012 with a website I had created named infopadre.com. The great recession of 2008 had a negative impact on my business in Mexico; thus forcing me to search for an alternate resource for generating income and rebuild myself from the ground, up once again.
Having to start from scratch, I took my previous entrepreneurial experience that included assisting thousands of clients with their U.S. visa renewals at various U.S. consulates in Mexico, and combined it with the basic knowledge I had of building a website and my love for the Island. I kept my focus on what had made me successful with my prior business and built everything around that. I incorporated valuable information, added beautiful images, and offered phone and email support that would help visitors with questions and even arrange rides to South Padre Island from the airports. (this was before Uber/Lyft). Although I had spent countless hours on building infopadre, I ended up pursuing other opportunities that were a bit more lucrative at the time. I had kept this concept in the back of my head all these years, knowing that I would circle back one day and create something that would be even better.
That time has finally arrived!
Connecting the dots…
Photography My love for photography began in my early years as I would go through my parents’ shoe boxes full of photos and photo albums. Looking at the old photos of myself and family brought such a nostalgic sensation; briefly taking me back to those exact moments – the sights, sounds, smells, and everything about that particular image would come back to me and allow me to relive it, even if just for a few seconds.
I was given my first camera in the summer 1992 and loved photographing everything that captured my attention. Architecture was always fascinating to me and would often find myself photographing interesting buildings and structures everywhere I went. Photography allowed me to create my own memories and souvenirs of all the places we would visit as I was growing up. I distinctly remember being sad that our family vacation was coming to an end, but that would then be replaced by an anxious and excited feeling, knowing that I would get to develop my film and get to see all the photos I took. I still get that exact feeling every time I go photograph; only now it is digital and I get to see and edit my own images that same evening!
I decided to start monetizing my passion for photography and began shooting commercially throughout the RGV in 2006. I always saw it as an opportunity to create my own images which then led to generating a separate source of income. I later began photographing on South Padre Island in 2011. I initially focused on landscapes, including sunrises and sunsets – later evolving into photographing family portraits and small weddings on the beach. I would receive some random real estate jobs on the Island from time to time, but finally decided to dedicate myself 100% to only shooting real estate in 2015.
Property Management Photographing real estate on South Padre Island led to me being offered the General Manager position of a large property management company on SPI after being their contract photographer for over a year. I saw this as an opportunity to learn a new industry while still photographing properties. This experience had opened my eyes to a whole new industry that I knew little to nothing about. Although I had managed people and teams prior to this, I had no idea how the property management industry worked. I spent my first 3 months studying and understanding property management; absorbing as much information as I possible could on a daily basis. I spent a lot of time looking for ways to improve service and efficiency over all, but most importantly, I was still photographing vacation rentals.
The Vision Behind VisitSPI.com Has Come Full Circle
The more I work on this site, the more I understand how my current role as an interior and architectural photographer and everything I have done up to this point, has only complimented and fine-tuned my vision for VisitSPI.com!
- Experience: Having over 20 years of entrepreneurial and photography experience allows me to have full control of the proprietary content and imagery that is displayed on this site. Good quality is extremely important to me, whether it be photos, videos, or information.
- Content: My current role as an interior & architectural photographer makes me one of the best candidates for creating a site just like this one! Being able to capture the necessary photos and videos for this site on a regular basis allows me to keep the look and feel fresh and up-to-date.
- I Love SPI!: I feel so blessed to be in this position to do what I love and in a place that I love! I can only hope that the images and videos I produce reflect this passion and love for the area and the people that have supported me all these years!