We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rocky Arroyo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rocky, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I was just like anyone else. I had jobs after finishing college that were “OK.’ I didn’t see myself doing those jobs as a career. If a job was just tolerable then that meant a lot. A friend of mine that I used to work with was in the same boat. She once told me “We really just have to stop doing jobs that don’t excite us and instead just go for what we really want to do.” That line couldn’t sit with me better today.

Easier said than done though. It took some time to find what I would like to do as a profession. And doing photography doesn’t happen overnight. I still had to have a day job to make ends meet and took on photography first to learn how to do it better and then to get work. Over the course of the years I had so much photography work coming in that I just could not do a full-time job during the week any longer and instead did a switch. I left my full-time job (on a good note) and did mostly photography work. Then on the side I had a flexible part-time job that allowed me to focus on my freelance photography work.

Again, to think that you can pull something like that off overnight and become a rock-star photographer tomorrow, is pure fantasy. Likewise, the type of work that I do is sometimes considered a lifestyle job. I enjoyed taking photos but half the work, if not more, is the adventure of actually getting photos. When I walk out my door and head to work, it’s “Go Time.” Planes, trains and automobiles, plus helicopters and motorcycles and whatever other methods it takes to get to and take a photo that just cannot be replicated again. I’ve really had to sacrifice. Job stability in this field is a rarity so you’re going to have to realize that you just won’t have some things that people that have a stable 9-5 job have. Benefits and healthcare? You have to work that out on your own. You may have to live in a tiny apartment for a while. You may have to eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Kids? That may have to wait too. Was it worth it? YES!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I used to participate in endurance races. Namely running, cycling and triathlon. When I started doing photography for work I never really thought that covering endurance races would become my main genre. Steadily, I started getting more and more working covering endurance races but at the bottom level. I steadily worked my way up on being part of a small crew that traveled for work nearly every weekend. Plus I started being assigned to more of the promotional coverage rather than the cookie cutter work. I was able to cover the stuff that I wanted to. Race starting lines. Race finish lines. Helicopter (aerial) coverage. I was allowed to have more elbow and leg room to be creative and do what I wanted to do.

With that work I was able to show other potential clients. From there it keeps snowballing into something bigger. I was able to travel to, obtain access to and cover races I’d never be able to do on my own. I was able to make more and more contacts and be a familiar face at the races. Meet more race crew members who worked at other races too. And before long they would move mountains to help give amazingly rare access. I became, essentially, the staff photographer for a race. “Only Rocky is allowed in this location” I remember hearing a few times. That helped me get photos that were extremely difficult for anyone to replicate.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The goal is and always has been to create a full-time, stable job using my experience as a freelancer. As I get older I definitely do want stability. I honestly don’t mind having a five day a week, 9 to 5 job. But I definitely want it to be something that I really enjoy doing. And whoever hires me to recognize the work that I’ve been doing for the past twenty years. And with benefits. And more stability.

Have I made that happen? The answer is yes. In addition to my work, I do aerial photography and videography. Likewise, my photography experience has garnered technical experience one could only obtain by doing it day in and day out for so many years. I currently have a full-time position as a drone pilot for a research and development department at a commercial package delivery service. Luckily, that job still provides the flexibility that I need to still take important photography assignments when I need to. My employer recognizes what I do and knows that it’s important to me to still have that on the side.

I have both worlds. A full-time job that I enjoy going to each morning and a part-time job as a freelance editorial and commercial sports photographer. I could NOT ask for more. And it’s still evolving. My drone pilot skills continue to expand by the day and I’m still taking on photo assignments that can be really challenging at times.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I wish it were a prettier picture but this is how the thought started. My last week of college, just before graduating, I made a snarky remark to my dad saying “Now I have to face a job that pays me to do nothing.” Me, thinking he’d laugh at me or say “Good luck with that,” there was a long pause and he said to me “Well, that’s the point. You have to find what you like to do and a job that you really like so that when you’re at work, it’s not like you’re really ‘working.’ You’re enjoying it.”

Those words hit the spot for me. And they still resonate through my head each and every day. Now? I’ll go into work early and I’ll stay as long as I have to. And you don’t see me complaining.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.arroyophotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockyarroyophotography/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rocky-arroyo/

Image Credits
Rocky Arroyo