We recently connected with Luis Rodriguez and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Luis , thanks for joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I’ve always been into photography I remember cell phones starting coming out with cameras on them That’s what I would use for the longest time I just used to take pictures of my kid’s destinations we went to stuff like that. I remember one day I was walking through Costco with my wife and I saw the NIKON D3400 Bundle set which came with 2 kit lenses so I made the purchase, the next day I started shooting with it and I never stopped. I remember driving around vista looking for some places to take pictures of during that time the new “paseo Santa Fe” was just put up. I drove by it I had the idea to take the picture of the sign so I remember I went down the street in the middle of the intersection and I crouched down to put the camera as lowest to the ground as possible and boom got that shot I wanted. I went home that night and edited the picture as best as I could cause I didn’t know how to edit the picture so I did my best and I uploaded on to Instagram and tagged the city of Vista sometime later the City reached out to me and asked me if they could repost the picture I said sure not thinking anything about it. The next day they contacted me again this time was to see If I could meet with them they were interested in my work they took that chance on me even though I didn’t have much work to show. Shortly after the meeting, I started working for them. I remember they helped me get my business license and I never looked back since. I’m very disciplined in this business I am my own worst critic. What sets me apart from other photographers I’m not sure, to be honest, I never compare myself to anyone I have my own style. I’ve been doing a lot of drone photography as well I was hooked on it for the longest I remember not picking up my camera for a few months when I purchased my drone. One of my proudest moments was being featured on major platforms It was featured on NBC7 FOX6 The Eater Magazine The City Of Vista Magazine The SD voyager as well. Hard Work pays off. That’s been pretty much my Journey so far Just know that I give 100% dedication to any project I work on and I wanna thank everyone who has supported me! Since the last time I was here I launched a podcast with me and my partner Gilbert which is available on all major platforms Spotify, Apple Podcast, iheart Radio. We have recorded over 60 shows so be on the lookout for us The Dos Chunkys Podcast
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
This is a good question one of the biggest things I had to unlearn was to not give in to the lowballers I remember people reaching out for quotes I’d give them quotes and after that, they would respond with that famous line “I found it cheaper somewhere else, immediately I would ask how much and I would lower my price right away. I’m at the point when they say I’m too expensive I just reply back ok thank you very much for inquiring and I go on with my day. Never sell yourself short!!!! Remember yesterday’s prices aren’t today’s prices so value yourself and work!
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I don’t have a business partner in my photography business. I do have a podcast which I started out alone but it was getting nowhere. I interviewed a legendary rapper/mc from San Diego GPA it turned out to be a great show a 3 hour show. After that I asked him if he would join me on running this podcast he never said yes but we are about 70 shows in we got good chemistry me and this guy Gilbert we been through some Sh*^# in life similar situations we relate 200% on the stuff we been through that’s why the show is a massive hit. It’s gonna continue to be a hit shout out to my brother Gilbert Aka GPA aka Chowder. Check out the Dos Chunkys Podcast formally know the ARL_GPA PODCAST
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Doschunkyspodcast
- Instagram: instagram/a_lrphotography
- Other: The linktree link will direct you to all our social media platforms
Image Credits
all images by alrphotography except the Dos chunkys podcast logo that was created by RJV_ARTS