Picture Perfect Fit

Some people pride themselves on seeing the big picture, others their attention-to-detail. For Project Manager Yerko Vega, he finds beauty and meaning in both. Yerko has always had a keen eye for stunning finished products. He remembers excelling in high school classes that involved digital art. His favorite course he ever took was actually architectural design. He knew by the time he graduated high school that, somehow, he wanted to be involved with the design and construction of buildings.

Yet it was a new visual fascination that would enter Yerko’s frame of mind when, during his final year of college, his father brought home a used camera someone was giving away at his place of work. At first, tinkering with the camera, Yerko was merely curious. He would spend a couple of minutes focusing and pointing his camera at anything close by, trying to understand its settings and the proper way to adjust them. The more he tinkered, the more he enjoyed the process of creating a beautiful image. A couple of minutes turned into hours at a time, and it wasn’t very long until Yerko was developing a true passion for photography.

Today, long gone are the times of Yerko using a hand-me-down camera. Instead, his arsenal of devices grew alongside his passion and his skills. Yerko never bothered to take a photography class, instead of enjoying the process of getting better simply via trial-and-error. Over time, he started to develop an affinity for certain subjects. Landscapes are a favorite, particularly city skylines. He’s traveled as far as Dallas just for the opportunity to use his drone to try and get an angle of the city that no one else might be able to get.

Yerko’s family and friends have also found that having a photographer on your contact list is a major benefit. His brother insisted Yerko take action shots at his soccer games. His cousin asked Yerko to photograph her wedding (which Yerko did happily, but sweated over the pressure to capture the special moment just right), Yerko even had the opportunity to photograph the Chilean National Soccer Team thanks to a family connection. 

Yerko’s photography skills also come in handy in his role at BLOCK. He takes every opportunity to snap some shots of finished builds or works-in-progress. Yerko’s years of photography have given him an extra sense of detail, which is always a valuable asset to any project. Since joining the BLOCK team, Yerko has started to make a habit of using his drone to take aerial shots of projects in their very early stages. “Most satellite images available online are three or four years old. By using the vantage point of the drone, we can factor every aspect of the project environment into our planning and give trade partners a heads up on what the surrounding landscape is like.”

In the end, construction and photography overlap almost identically on their intended outcome: creating a stunning finished project is a must. The process to do just that is something Yerko Vega revels in, it’s the reason he works passionately on the job site and behind the camera.