Today we’d like to introduce you to Philip Ortiz.
Hi Philip, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I began at the age of 15 when I was gifted a Sony digital camera. I would always go around my neighborhood and take photos of plants, insects, animals, landscapes, etc. One day my grandpa and I woke up at 5 am just to go take photos of a lake with the sunrise and at that moment, I knew that I loved taking photos. At the age of 17, I received my very first DSLR camera (Nikon D3500) as a Christmas gift from my sister Kelly. I began shooting more plants, landscapes, and insects overtime until August came around. My best friend at the time reviewed my photos and told me that I was taking amazing photos and that I should start taking photos of people. At first, I was extremely afraid until she said she could be my first model. We went to downtown Orlando, went to a top of a parking garage and began taking portraits of her which came out absolutely amazing. I remember the shock on her face when she saw the photos, and at that moment, I knew I would like to begin taking portraits of people. On September 23rd of 2015 was when the brand “PVPITO” was founded. I began by asking a couple of friends if I can take photos of them and continued doing so until I began growing a small clientele.
From then, I would work my part-time job at Universal to raise money to begin purchasing equipment for my camera such as new lenses, some lighting, and a home made studio. From that point forward, I continued shooting for Graduations, headshots, portraits, weddings, and so on. I realized that I was missing something from my photography but I wasn’t sure what, and then after a couple of months, I noticed where I wanted to take PVPITO which was the more creative side of photography. For years I would edit on phone apps mainly because I wouldn’t be able to afford any software (and I was also intimidated from using softwares) until the beginning of 2019 which I challenged myself to push my editing skills. I began watching YouTube videos on photoshop and learned on my own how to use the software. I will say it was very frustrating to teach myself how to use this software, but over time I began to use it more and more until it became one of the only softwares I use to edit my photos. My all-time favorite time of the year to get creative is Halloween, I have always loved horror films and the challenge of trying to create those characters or films in my own photography excites me. I am a huge horror fan, I have always watched horror films growing up. In 2015 I was reached out to by the great BriannaRuizMakeup to do a horror shoot at funspot and every year since then, we have always done some type of Halloween shoot together, and I must say her makeup always impresses me.
Since then, I have always worked with her for not just Halloween looks, but portraits, editorial looks, etc. and she has always been by my side pushing me, encouraging me to not reach my limit of editing, but surpass it and continue creating. Brianna has been my closest friend since then and we always have continued to create together and I couldn’t be more than thankful for her, without her I feel like PVPITO wouldn’t be what it is today thanks for her pushing me through my fears of editing, and always encouraging me to reach for more. For example, Brianna and I would always go to these photography meetups around Orlando, I never would want to attend them since growing up I’ve always had very bad social anxiety (especially from big crowds) and she would always be by my side telling me who to network with and introduced me to different models who I still work with today. I will say in order for me to have gotten this far in photography, I had to face all of my fears and push through them while hiding it, and I am very thankful I did that in my past and built the brand I have today.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I’ve definitely had my ups and downs, but thankfully majority of the time, I have been able to work my way through it and find different solutions. Sometimes my equipment wouldn’t work the way I would like it to, other times I would show up to a shoot and be left there since a model doesn’t show up without communicating, other times SD cards would break and I would have nowhere to store photos. My main struggles were more so internal struggles, such as having to mentally prepare myself for a shoot thanks for my social anxiety, find ways to store my equipment when I couldn’t afford to purchase the correct equipment holders, or just hit a low point where I would compare myself to other experienced photographers and be harsh on myself. I have had many obstacles throughout my journey and I am glad I was able to manage to stay calm and figure things out.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in Portrait Photography, and I am mainly known for my work during the Halloween season. I am known for majority of my photoshoots and trying to find ways to create some type of story through my photography that can be believable to the viewer or generally aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I am most proud of my recent Halloween photoshoots mainly because of the amount of time and work I put into one photo and how great they turned out. Some photos have taken me a total of 72 hours to edit, but the turnout was well worth it. I always try to preplan the shoot out before executing it, and I always picture in my head what I want the shots to look like and work my way towards bringing those mental photos to life. What sets me apart from others is definitely my editing style. Many photographers edit mainly lighting or just tones of photos, but I tend to edit lighting, tones, skin retouching, adding objects or animals into the photos that originally weren’t there, and mainly just trying to create some type of surrealism in my photos.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I do not really have any advice on finding a mentor mainly because I never found one myself. I will say if you do find one, definitely take their advice and put it to use especially in a field that can be so competitive with creativity. I will say my advice for networking is attend as many social events you can, talk to different people and see who you can network with. Orlando is a big city when it comes to the creative world and networking plays a huge role here. Attend different meet-ups if possible, don’t be afraid to reach out to people to see if they would like to collaborate in some way because the worst somebody can say is no. Hand out business cards, show off your work and be proud of it, that is my main advice.
Contact Info:
- Email: pvpit0images@gmail.com
- Website: www.pvpit0.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/pvpit0
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/OG_philip
