Meet Gabriel Reyes Donis

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gabriel Reyes Donis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Gabriel, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I’d like to say that I get my work ethic from my mom, she’s truly the most hard working person I know and I wouldn’t have made it as far as I have if not for her and her sacrifices. It’s something I want to pay her back for in time, to prove that I’m worth the sacrifices she’s made and show her that I’m capable of so much more.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Professionally, I am focused on being a Pre-medical student. Photography is my main outlet for when I need to de-stress. I’ve been taking photos ever since I was a little kid and even had my own Nikon camera. It wasn’t until I was about 15 or 16 years old when I was gifted my Canon EOS 650D, I’ve fallen more in love with photography ever since. It’s a way I can express myself, how I feel and how I perceive the world, taking the saying “capturing the moment” quite literally. What I find most exciting and special about photography is the community, where we all come together to showcase our work. I love posting my work whenever I get the chance, showing the people my thought process and how I view the world without having to say a word is pretty amazing to me. I mainly started off with nature photography and recently branched into concert photography which I’m aiming to do more of next year.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back, I believe the three qualities or skills that were most impactful in my journey were 1) photographers eye: It’s usually a saying said within the community and it isn’t at all a hard skill to acquire, I just believe it’s something incredibly beneficial, to be able to spot something worth taking a shot of is something that comes a long way. 2) Editing; editing is a crucial part of photography, from balancing balancing light levels such as exposure, contrast, highlights, to shading, to increasing the intensity or minimizing certain colors in a photo to draw the viewers attention to something specific, is something that takes time and skill. We take photos to capture a story, to capture raw emotions and to spark emotions in the viewers. 3) Patience: sometimes it can be hard to get the photo you want, there is also a lot of information to learn and absorb such filling in the frame, the rule of thirds, and understanding depth. In term of improving, I truly believe the best way to do so is by consistently taking photos of whatever piques your interest! find your style and improve from there.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I believe what has been most helpful in overcoming challenges to developing necessary skills to be successful is the drive to constantly improve myself and become better. Not to say that I’m never happy where I am, however, Abraham Maslow, a widely known psychologist and huge contributor to the field, developed the hierarchy of needs. He believed that every human had the potential to reach their max potential which he called “self actualization” . I became heavily interested in his theory and applied to myself, I am constantly working to get better, even on my days off when I am just relaxing. Rest is vital to becoming better as one cannot do so if they’re constantly overworking themselves. It’s about balance.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Rey.sphotos
• Linkedin: Gabriel Alexander Reyes