SAN ANTONIO – Eric Velasquez served his country and learned a skill that he could use in the real world. When he was laid off from his job fixing jet engines, the local Iraq war veteran decided to start down a new career path as a photographer.
"I didn't see myself doing this before and once I fell into it I just fell in love with it," Velasquez said.
It took Velasquez seven years in the Air Force, one tour in Iraq and getting laid off to find a job he really loves.
Velasquez was working at Lockheed Martin where he did maintenance on jet engines. After three years on the job he was one of 60 people who were let go by the aerospace company last December.
"I've never been unemployed, it was definitely different," Velasquez said. "I was a little shocked. I was a little sad because I didn't know what to do but then I was like this is probably a blessing in disguise."
At first, he started looking for jobs in the aerospace maintenance field, but the more he looked the more he realized he didn't like what he was doing.
"I was looking for jobs and everything just seemed so lame and real bland and I was just like, 'I don't want to work for anybody else,'" Velasquez said. "I'd rather work for myself, take control of myself and do things for myself and for my wife and do what I love to do."
That's when Velasquez decided to turn his love of photography into a career. He was first bitten by the shutter bug when he was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
"I started taking pictures out there and I fell in love with it and I've been doing it ever since," Velasquez said. "I had done my photography for awhile, but I never went full force into it and it was just a leap of faith."
Velasquez started his own photography business, StellarSight Photography, and is now slowly building up his client list shooting weddings, engagement photos, portraits and landscapes.
Velasquez believes too many people settle for jobs that aren't right for them and that's why they get burned out.
He encourages others who find themselves out of work to consider following their passions to find a new career.
"What's the worst that can happen? I mean if you're already laid off there's no other place to go," Velasquez said. "You can only move up. Just try to do something you love. If you haven't found it yet keep looking, you'll find it eventually."
Click on the link to see a slideshow of photos taken by Velasquez