Behind the Lens

Aram Herrera

Santa Fe native. Photographer since fifteen. Editor obsessive.

I'm a Santa Fe native โ€” generations deep. My great-grandfather opened one of the city's first barbershops in 1954, still running today. My dad and I now run Refined Nature of Santa Fe โ€” a family business that's reached 50M+ views and brand sponsorships across YouTube and Instagram. I picked up a camera at fifteen and never put it down.

Aram Herrera framing a stone fountain shot in the Santa Fe foothills

How I learned to see

At eighteen I studied abroad in Hong Kong, and that's where my eye changed. Surrounded by glass towers, modernist composition, and a city that doesn't look anything like the adobe and viga of Santa Fe, I started to see the world in lines and light I hadn't noticed before.

Since then my camera has traveled with me through Europe, Asia, South America, and across the U.S. โ€” California, Miami, Texas, New York. Almost half my life looking for the unique angle. The editing came next โ€” and that's where the real obsession lives. There's something therapeutic about pulling a feeling out of a file. I share the work because sharing creates opportunities โ€” for me, and for the people watching.

Aram Herrera composing a frame at a Santa Fe property

Almost half my life looking for the unique angle.

Aram Herrera with iPhone on Hohem M7 gimbal

"I treated every $150,000 condo like a $5M listing. That obsession is the only difference."

On the early days

The early days

I started small. The first listings I shot were $150,000 condos in Santa Fe โ€” the basic, modest properties most photographers would have phoned in. I treated every single one like a $5M listing. Same angles, same light, same editing care, every time.

That obsession caught the attention of luxury brokers and marketing teams across New Mexico, and the snowball kept rolling. I traveled to Manhattan to shoot penthouses. I photographed the iconic $10M Nedra Matucci property in Santa Fe. I've shot countless modern castles and the archaic adobe compounds that built this town.

Then came Gene Hackman's 13,000 sqft estate โ€” it sold in eight days after my coverage went out. The work was picked up nationally โ€” The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, Robb Report, and most of the major publications followed. From $150K condos to national press in less than a decade.

The philosophy

I believe in give and you shall receive. I go above and beyond on every shoot โ€” extra hours, extra angles, extra deliverables โ€” because when my clients win, I win. Real estate media is one of the few crafts where over-delivering creates a moat, so I lean into it. The work doesn't end at the camera; it ends when the listing sells, the brokerage's brand grows, and the next call comes in because of how the last one went.

15+
Years Behind The Lens
200+
Luxury Listings
50M+
Combined Views
200K+
Followers

Let's make your listing feel like a feature.

Currently booking property shoots, builder/architect collaborations, and editorial work in New Mexico and beyond.

Book a Shoot โ†’