I can proudly mention the many years of experience I have working with professional cameras
(since 2011), but I’ll never forget where it truly began. Naturally, family is very important to me, and I owe my family an enormous “Thank You” for this one. Truly, I couldn’t have done any of this without them.
For me it all started as a young boy, sometime when I was around 8 or 9 years old. The internet was new and the world was a much different place. My parents purchased a camcorder somewhere throughout the years, and come around summertime, my dad would gather the family and take us on our annual vacation: a 30-hour road-trip deep down into Mexico. Of the many reasons there could’ve been to take a drive that long, I like to think he used to take us down so we could learn about our heritage and know where we came from. It also gave my parents a chance to reconnect with family they hadn’t seen in a long time, for not everyone was fortunate enough to leave their home in Mexico to start a new life north of the border.
Along for the ride came the camcorder, of course, and I made it my mission to take that camera and document whatever I could. From my perspective, this camcorder might as well have been a toy, although it was a big expense. I would interview family and friends, record totally unnecessary things, and try my best to make “movies” with my cousins -- all memories to bring back home with us. I found so much joy peeking through the viewfinder of this camera, recording the simplicities of simply being a child. Little did I know, I was capturing priceless memories, all the while the camera was capturing my heart.
Likely, I did not produce my best work back then, for I was just a growing kid having fun and exploring the world. Fast forward to today, I am still a kid at heart, I am still exploring the world, and I am still having fun with my camera in hand. Almost as if I've been doing this my whole life. The only difference now is that the cameras I use are much more sophisticated and the images I produce are of much higher quality. When it comes to the work I produce, whether photo shoots or video shoots, I know deep down inside when I’ve done a good job. And when I know deep down that I’ve done a good job, I know my clients are going to love what they see...
Priceless memories.
Generally, I like to use the best equipment I have available to me. In today's world, I run around with a Mirrorless Canon EOS R. This camera is an absolute killer in the game and was made to produce ultra-high quality images. With a full frame sensor, I capture the world 30.3 megapixels at a time, which is more than enough to show you a glimpse of how I see the world.
The versatility of this camera enables me to easily switch between photo and video mode, which by the way captures video at 4k quality. With thousands of hours capturing life through the lens, my practice has given me the confidence to shoot in any type of scenario I face.
A photo of me and my brother. He was getting ready to play his instrument at his high school concert band performance, and I was getting ready to record it. This must have been around the year 2002.
Interesting fact about this picture, a lot of what I know about photography I learned from my brother. So truly in this photo is a mentor, and his protégé.