Today we’d like to introduce you to Tatiana Rodriguez-Vera.
Hi Tatiana, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Hi, I am Tatiana Rodríguez-Vera! But everyone calls me Tati!
I was born and raised in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. In 2019, I decided to move to Maryland in search of better job opportunities along with my dog & cat (Luke and Oreo).
I come with 8+ years of experience in Marketing and Sales and worked with international brands like McDonald’s and IKEA. To tell you the truth, it wasn’t what I wanted to do in life. Four years ago, I bought my first camera, and ever since I’ve been taking landscape photography. Little by little and after spending long hours watching online tutorials and reading articles… I can say I fell completely in love with photography and self-taught myself. Wholeheartedly, it has become my passion – what I wanted to do 24/7! I never thought something that was just a hobby could turn into a business that would make me the happiest I’ve ever being. After the pandemic happened, I had to reinvent myself and made the hard decision to change my career. It didn’t take long for me to decide what I wanted to do, so I made my hobby my career.
I started by doing Product Photography at home since a lot of online stores needed high-quality images to sell more, and the purchase behavior changed to 100% online because of the pandemic. So, I started to build my portfolio by taking products I had in my home like perfumes, jewelry, skincare, and even food to start offering my services to small business owners all around the US. They will send me their products and I worked from home creating fun and creative images. Since then, I haven’t looked back! Later on, I started also working with companies as a freelancer that offered mini sessions and wedding coverage photography services and that’s how I fell in love even more with photography. Photographing families, couples and even pets have been so much fun and exciting! Now I have my own clients and keep growing the business! My marketing background definitely has help me a lot so I don’t regret where I’ve been and my past experience. I’m really grateful and have not regretted to have made that difficult and scary decision of changing careers because it has taken me to see more of the DMV area meet great people that I can call friends in the photography community and great clients which I’ve help capture important stages in their life.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It wasn’t all smooth at all! When I started doing product photography, I was still learning about photography. Something that they never tell you, is that with photography, you learn by doing! You can read books and articles, look at YouTube tutorials, etc. but it is not until you have the camera on hand and put yourself in situations where you have to make decisions with your gear. So, I was working 24/7 trying to master as much as possible! At the beginning, no one wanted to hire me since it showed my lack of experience, but little by little and working hard in getting more in my portfolio I started getting hired!
Also, gear is SUPER EXPENSIVE!! So, I started with my camera Sony 7AII with one lens and some cheap lighting equipment I bought on Amazon, and all the money that was coming in was all for new and better gear, I knew that if I invested in the business I will grow more. Now I have a full closet of gear that I use almost daily and still can’t believe I’ve earn all of it with hard work and persistence.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I specialize in wedding photography, headshots, lifestyle portraits, and commercial product, often traveling to your destination to capture the perfect moment in the perfect place. From the Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, and beyond. I will be there with you every step of the way to guarantee your special moments are captured for all time, telling your story.
For me, photography is about capturing real people being their real selves and then letting us freeze that moment to remember it forever because this is the story that matters most: real people, real stories, real moments.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
It is important to get involve with the photography community, knowing other photographers has help me grow in skills, gear knowledge, and even marketing strategies. I’ve met great photographers through the companies I’ve work for as a freelancer like Shoott and Orion Group Photo.
Contact Info:
- Email: veraphotography2020@gmail.com
- Website: www.veraphotography.site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veraphotographyart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeraPhotographyArt
Image Credits
Vera Photography
