We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rob DeVenuto a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rob, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?
It’s funny as I have always viewed my photography as a personal self-care ingredient. When I’m out on a hike, exploring somewhere new or looking at a familiar scene with new eyes, it forces me into the moment. When I’m in the moment, nothing else seems to bother me. I guess that is why they call it the “present”. Too often in everyday life, I can easily find myself “thinking” and “preparing” for the future or trying to “review” my past, invariably to “help” my future. But anytime you are sitting in the past or living in the future, you can’t be present and are missing the moment. Photography provides me those moments where I slow time down to a single frame and offers me a spot to be present.
Another key way I try to take care of myself is through exercise. I love biking. It can be road cycling, mountain biking or even a session on my Peloton. Whenever I find myself stressed out or just grumpy, my fastest path back to a happier state is to hop on a bike. Cycling is a lot of cardio and in order to improve your cardio levels, you have to control your breathing. It took me a moment to realize that how one controls their breathing is very similar to a meditation. So when I’m out climbing a mountain, I will find myself getting into a Zen state as I start to control my breathing. It is one of the most magical and fulfilling sensations I have encountered and what I might consider what a runner feels when they feel that “runner’s high”.
Both photography and my biking are two of the biggest ways I manage my self-care. And when I can’t see the forest through the trees… well, my wife can easily sense my moods and will instruct me to go get out with my camera or bike and not come back until I’m in a better way 😉
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?
Sure, my pleasure. My journey with photography started back in high school, when I signed up for a photography class and began learning the fundamentals. Honestly, I wasn’t very good at first—but I loved it. The challenge was that I couldn’t afford all the gear, film, and developing costs at the time, so the hobby had to sit on the shelf for a while.
After college, I bought my first point‑and‑shoot camera. One of the first photos I took was of a sailboat silhouetted against a sunset. I entered it into a contest—and won. That moment was the spark that made me realize photography could be more than just a casual pastime.
Fast forward a few years: my kids were playing soccer and baseball, and I picked up a DSLR to capture their games. I’d upload the photos to my website so parents could view and download them. Before long, I became the “team photographer” for every squad they joined. That reputation opened doors into portraits and senior sessions, and once my kids graduated, I had more time to build out a full photography business focused on portraits, headshots, and landscapes.
Now, here’s the thing: with today’s equipment, almost anyone can take a technically good photo. And I encourage people to experiment and play—that’s how you grow. But what separates professionals from casual shooters is experience and approach. When photographing people, you need to connect with them; otherwise, the image falls flat. With landscapes, you need to see the composition before you press the shutter. In short, you have to know what you’re shooting before you capture it, and that only comes with practice and perspective.
Beyond the images themselves, I pride myself on customer service, quick turnaround, and a distinct editing style. Editing is a photographer’s signature, and mine leans softer. I think that comes from deep inside—I want to soften some of the hardness we all face in everyday life. If someone feels something when they look at one of my images, then I’ve done my job.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three of the most important items that have been most impactful are all centered around being humble and belief in myself. When first starting out in something that you have a passion for, you often lack the formal skills. And that is ok, everyone needs to start somewhere. Just don’t put undue pressure on yourself because you didn’t know something. This is how we learn. We need to embrace our mistakes so that we learn from them. If everything came easy, we wouldn’t place as high of a value on them. Its the items that we struggle with that cause the growth. So first give yourself the grace that you don’t know everything and it will open the receptors to learning. Now just because one doesn’t know something doesn’t given the right to not learn it. That is just an excuse. Realize you need to learn more and take steps to continue your learning. If it feels like a monumental task, then break it down in smaller pieces. When I was learning about the exposure triangle in photography, I’d focus on one portion (shutter speed for instance) until I felt comfortable and then expanded that into the other two sides (how it impacted my ISO and aperture settings).
The other big item I learned is not to get absorbed with likes or reviews of your work. It is wonderful to receive praise and the kind words when your work “touched” or made an impact to someone. But remember, you will never satisfy everyone and there are people out there that well, just lack common courtesy and will say things that may cause you to question your skills or even if you should be practicing your art. Don’t absorb their negativity. Remember, you always have a choice in how you respond and no response is adequate as well. It took me a while but I now look at some of these comments in a more positive light… I don’t have to agree with them and my work caused a reaction in them to say something. It’s like that saying that “bad press is still good press”.
So, I would say the three items that I would recommend to anyone starting in on their passion… give yourself the patience and grace that you aren’t an expert (yet), go out there and learn, and don’t put your self worth in the hands of others. Do this because it sparks the fire in your soul.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
It seems everywhere around me there are forces in actions trying to bombard and overwhelm oneself. Think about all the to do items one has to stay on top of whether at work or in personal lives, pressures we have to get these to do items completed, always a lack of time, lack of sleep, poor eating habits, information overload and not to mention any emotional feelings one may have… it’s no wonder we can tend to feel overwhelmed at times. When I start to feel this way, my first reaction is to take a step back… really look at the situation and try to figure out where the big stressors are and then work on a prioritization schedule. What are items that I have to get done vs those that I can push off to a later date? This helps me start to breath with deep breaths. I’ll notice that when I feel stressed or overwhelmed, I’ll start to take shallower breaths… not intentionally, it just happens. This then creates a cycle where I’m not bringing in the deep levels of oxygen needed to work through the tasks at hand. So I start to remind myself to take a few deep breaths. This will then start to “turn my dial” down some where I can feel a bit more reasonable in looking at what is overwhelming me.
The next step I look at is my health… I know when I’m about to get sick, every small task feels like a mountain to climb. It took me years to realize this and stop the negative talk. If I’m not feeling well, are there any items I can do now and push other items to when I feel better? Or do I just need to stop and rest now? Just like your car, you wouldn’t run it out of gas intentionally, then why would you do that to your body? Take some time to take care of yourself and you will find that you have more energy to tackle some of those mountainous tasks.
Then there are just times where I just need a change of scenery. Vacations are a great option here but sometimes the scheduling just doesn’t work out. So I change my perspective… maybe take a day or weekend and play local tourist, find a community calendar and pick an event that you wouldn’t normally do, go do something physical… go for a walk, hike, bike ride, etc. The key here is to create some separation between yourself and what is overwhelming you. For me, this centers around spending time with my family and dogs, my photography, and biking. By changing some things up, even if for a short time period, it helps provide your body and mind a shield to prevent that overwhelming feeling turn into burnout. Because coming back from burnout is much more difficult and time consuming than preventing it in the first place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.robdevenutophotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robdevenutophotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobDeVenutoPhotography
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rob-devenuto-photography
Image Credits
Rob DeVenuto Photography
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