Interview with Estevan Oriol. By Tami Shannon

I had the privilege of interviewing Estevan Oriol. He is a internationally known professional photographer, and director from Los Angeles. His pictures have been showcased in the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives Petersens Automotive Museum Mesa Contemporary Art Center and The Museum of Contemporary Art . His Photographs have been featured in GQ, Vibe, Rolling Stone and other publications. He seemed to be quite friendly and eager to help.

What was it, or who inspired you to become a photographer and when was it that you realized that Photography would be your career.

My dad got me into it, at the time he had been a photographer for some years. He saw what I was doing in my life and thought it would be cool for me to document the 2 main parts of my life which were tour managing House Of Pain and Lowriding.

I tour managed House of Pain for 3 years, the broke up so moved over to Cypress Hill. I worked with them straight to 2005. They weren’t tour as much at that point and I only got paid when we were on tour, so i decided to go all out with Photography and video directing. So far it’s been going pretty good.

2.What do you feel makes a good picture stand out from the rest?

Subject, lighting, location, depth of feel, and the framing of the shot.

3.Out of all your works, what is your favorite and why?  

The L.A. Hands photo is definitely done the most for me as far as exposure worldwide , attention and money. I would have never thought the impact that one photo could have on my career. It’s that makes people proud of our city.

4. What has been some challenges you've encountered as a Photographer? 

So many, for one if you are a freelance photographer as opposed to a salary photographer, your everyday challenge is getting a job because your unemployed. 

Showing up to a shoot on location to work with people that you don’t know is also challenging,  getting the person or people to do what you need them to do so you get great photos.

Working with locations and lighting from the sun. Sometimes you show up to shoot a location and the sun is in a different place than you thought it was gonna be and you have to change the way you were gonna use the location to where the right lighting is.

 5. Whats the day of a Photoshoot look like? (Whats your process that you go through in order to get your amazing shots?}

Get up , hit the sauna and ice bath for 3 sets, make a coffee and get ready for the day, try to be early or first to the shoot. Get to know everyone so everyone can get a little more comfortable.  Choose the looks for each location , figure out which location are first to last because traffic and time. Start shooting and keep to a schedule to make sure we get in all the looks and location. Download all the cards or drop off the film at the lab. Go eat dinner, Then Home  to plan the next day. 

 6. What is the best advice you can give to a new Photographer?  

If your trying to do it as a professional, Stay original, no one likes copy cats, work harder than everyone else, stay positive because it’s dog eat dog, theres a lot of haters some of them act like your friends, lot of negative people. Don’t be afraid to charge what your worth. If you don’t set your rate, the customer will.

If you doing it for a hobby , have fun with it. I love what I do so have a lot of fun doing it.

This guy is awesome, Check him out at www.estevanoriol.com

Thanks Estevan!!

Tami Shannon.

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