We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rudy Ortega a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rudy , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I get my resilience from my family. I’ve seen my sister switch career paths many times but she’s always had a great work ethic and is driven unlike anybody I’ve ever seen. She’s put in very long hours to her adventure travel show that she created awhile back. All while working another full-time job as a server that she hated. She did it just to keep her passion alive and it’s led to her current job she loves. She sets up travel vacations for a big company. She works from home full-time while raising a 7 month baby. Fortunately she has a great support system to help her out including her husband.
My mom is another great inspiration. When she was younger, she’d work as a teacher in the daytime and then go to night school to work on getting a higher paying job to support her family. She did this while raising two kids. My dad was working a busy day job but fortunately we got a lot of help from our relatives who would babysit us during the daytime. My mom would come home and help us with our school work until bedtime. She was a hard worker who put her family before anything else. My dad was the same way. They taught us to work hard to enjoy the things we love to do.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a professional photographer that focuses on events. I love to capture people having a good time so this means that I’m usually photographing a wedding or a festival of some kind. I want to capture people in their natural state of mind so I take a lot of candid photographs. I love telling stories with my images. To me, this is the most exciting part of being a photographer.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Even though I went to school for photography, I’d say that I acquired most of my skills from my mentors and close friends who are also in the industry. My first real photography job that I had was from another wedding photographer that saw my potential. He took me under his wing as I shadowed him at several weddings. He taught me everything I know today about how to photograph a wedding along with some business skills.
I learned some valuable tips and tricks from friends of mine who are also photographers. We quickly became friends from our shared passions and we have similar values on life.
My biggest advice to new photographers would be to look for like minded individuals and form relationships with them. You can learn a lot and also form strong bonds together.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
I’ve dealt with many challenges in my personal life and during my career. For example, during the big recession in 2007, I was forced to hustle to earn money in a city where I had just recently moved. I found myself bravely going door to door selling oil change cards in areas that were often dangerous. I had to make money to support myself so I was willing to do whatever it took to survive. Throughout that experience I learned some valuable sales skills that I still apply today. I also learned that if you’re passionate about doing something you love, you’ll do whatever it takes.
Again, I had a strong support system that includes my parents. They helped my get through some tough times. They believed in me and kept pushing me to keep going. You have to believe in yourself though or it won’t matter what other people believe.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rudyortegaphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rudyortegaphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rudyortegaphotography
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudy-ortega-a1893018/
Image Credits
I have to thank my immediate family that includes Monica, Carole, and Carlos, my mentor; Ray Anthony from Ray Anthony Photography, and my photographer friends; Jenna Dosch, Jacob Kepler, Jack Kendrick, Joshua Bergeron, Eddie Gilbert, and Liam Gordon.
