Today we’d like to introduce you to Roberto Rivera.
Hi Roberto, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
To be honest my journey started when I was just a little kid growing up in Philadelphia. My creative journey started off with a little wagon full of big lego bricks. I would spend hours creating a world with my active imagination. Then I was introduced to a game called Minecraft in the 3rd grade. It’s a popular sandbox game that allows you to do whatever you want in it and that became a place where my creativity grew further. I would watch YouTubers such as SSundee, Skydoesmincraft, and more. In the 5th grade, I wanted to become a YouTuber myself and make gaming videos because I thought it would be fun. I didn’t understand how to record my desktop screen or a gaming console at the time so for the longest time about 2-3 years I would be doing my research on games that are popular to play, how to record my desktop screen, how to build computers, what are a capture card and many other questions that I googled. In the 7th grade, I moved to Florida and while unpacking one of my boxes my dad secretly put an Elgato capture card in the box. He told me that he was listening every time I spoke to him about the equipment it took to be a YouTuber and he invested in me.
Around that same time, I began to learn to edit simple 15min videos within the Elgato software on my laptop which wasn’t that crazy but it was a start. In 8th grade, I got introduced to video editing. More specifically I was exposed to Sony Vega pro 13, an editing software that I began to learn. My weekends/my spare time would be watching editing tutorials. As I soaked in the knowledge like a sponge I began to develop an eye when it came to video editing. An eye that looks at the smallest details. I also took some digital design classes in middle school that taught me how to use a website called Pixler which is a website that allows you to do stuff that photoshop would do. That’s when I learned how to create thumbnails for my videos. I would continue to be a YouTuber for the next couple of years specializing in gaming content specifically on a game called Splatoon. It’s game by Nintendo that I got hooked on and enjoyed playing. This would eventually lead me to milestones such as my 1st 100 subscribers on YouTube and which quickly grew to 458 subscribers today. But in the middle of all of this content creation, I started going to a church in Kissimmee Florida. My mom wanted me to go for a couple of weeks and in 2019 I finally went. My mom said to me, “If you don’t want to come to the church after this I won’t ask you to come again. Just give it a try.” So with that in mind I went to this church service that was in the auditorium of Osceola High school. It was very different. That day January 6 2019 I gave my life to Christ. My friend who I knew at the time went to that church and he invited me to go to that church’s youth service that took place on Wednesdays in the cut of Kissimmee. I should probably mention this the Church is called New Birth Church.
It’s located in Kissimmee Florida 2898 Michigan ave. Anyways, I went to the youth service and enjoyed it. So much so that I went week after week. During my 1st night though at New Birth’s youth service a guy named Dale came up to me and asked who I was. I gave him my name and the hobbies that I do on the side. One of those hobbies was that I was a video editor. I held back telling him that I was a YouTuber since back then it was kinda weird saying that you’re a YouTuber. He then introduced me to a guy named Matt. I told him who I was and that I’m a video editor and he told me to show him some of my work. I showed him something real quick on my phone and he said to come to church on Sunday at Osceola High School and talk to a guy named Jeffery. Jeffery at the time was helping run media and production. Jeffery said to me that Matt told him who I was and invited me to stay in the booth with him during the service. At the end of the service, Jeffery said, “if you want to be a part of our media/creative team we would love for you to join. Come be the Hope center, the place where youth is held, this Saturday and we’ll plug into the team.” I went that Saturday and became a part of New Birth’s Media/Creative team. Little did I know, after that Saturday I would start my journey into becoming a videographer and photographer. My first ever camera was my phone, the iPhone XR. I was confused as to why I was the one shooting with an iPhone and others were shooting with Sony cameras. But I took that phone a started sharpening my videography and photography skills. I was capturing Sunday services, youth services, and our church’s youth camp with my iPhone.
I promise you this isn’t me promoting an Apple product but simply telling you my origin. My family saw the work I was doing during the summer and on my 16th birthday they got me my first-ever camera. The Camera was the Cannon SL2 and from then on it was over. My pastor called me Peter Parker without the web when I got that camera. From then on the content I made on YouTube began to dwindle but the editing become more high quality, and the content I started making was slowly shifting to capturing church events like outreach for the homeless, Parranda, and other events like sweet 16’s, gender reveals, travel videos, etc. I eventually lost my Youtube channel to a hacker in 2020 and I took that as God pushing me in another direction in terms of content creation. I dropped being a YouTuber and focused on being a photographer and videographer.
I actually enjoy being a photographer and videographer more than being a YouTuber. I only had 458 subscribers and about 20% of the people were actually active. So honestly I wasn’t losing much. I grew more and more with every church service I attended. I took Digital Media classes in High school to get certified in Adobe Premiere Pro and to learn about the art of filmmaking. I never looked at movies the same ever since. We fast forward to today you’ll find me as Creative Director at New Birth managing their YouTube channel, posting sermons, doing live streams for their services on Sundays, doing podcasts, and outside the church you’ll find me recording weddings, capturing sports like baseball, and making short films with an upgraded camera this time. This is just the summary version of my full story of being a creative content creator.
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 definitely wasn’t the smoothest of rides. It was long hours learning editing programs, trial, and error while editing, sitting with creative block sometimes, financial problems, dealing with being patient with cheap equipment, and trusting God in the process. The greatest things are found in valleys and are found on the other side of risk.
To be a creative photographer and videographer these are some of the things you may need to face along the way and to be honest it’s for your good. Every struggle/roadblock has rendered me better. So whenever I face a struggle or trial, yes I roll my eyes in annoyance, but I press on forward knowing that this struggle is going to make me wiser, a better creative, and more patient human.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in both creative photography and videography. I’m mostly known for videography since that’s what catches people’s eyes the most and what many people tend to enjoy. I’m most proud of my videography work.
That’s not to say that my photography work is trash but over the past few years my skills as a videographer and video editor have grown immensely. My work has a way of touching people’s hearts in a unique way. Some say it’s powerful and creative. Others say it’s simple yet intriguing, and that’s because I try my best to invoke emotion in myself when creating. I know that if I the creator feel what I want others to feel when viewing my work, they will feel it.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
It isn’t people, money, a gold medal, or a pat on the back. It’s knowing that what I’m doing and creating as a creative is impacting someone’s life. I give people the chance to experience Jesus through the videos and photos I take. With a simple press of a button, I can reach millions for Christ.
Just doing videography and photography for the Kingdom of God brings joy and happiness because I know someone out there is about to experience/meet the best person to ever walk this planet and his name is Jesus.
Pricing:
- Videography for Conference capture & recap $700
- Sports game video highlight reel 1-3 min – $200
- Wedding videography rate $3500/8hrs
- Gender reveal photos $175
- Graduation photo’s $250
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onetake.pro/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Onetake0/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFMAm78EsJj7-0F3J11CeAA
Image Credits
Roberto Rivera Jr.
