Join us as we chat with TJ Radosa, a self-taught photographer who started his journey with a humble low-budget camera, and has since carved out a unique niche for himself, documenting high-paced action shots and intimate moments alike. TJ's work offers a breathtaking window into his world, and he's here to share with us not only about his craft but also about his experiences, his equipment evolution, and the power of capturing moments.
Lastly, we discuss the importance of having the right equipment, the emotions of a photographer and how to stay motivated when creating something great. So, pull up a chair and get comfy. We're taking a walk through the exciting world of Western lifestyle and rodeo photography with TJ Radosa. You're in for a treat.
TJ Radosa
Instagram:
@radosa_images
https://instagram.com/radosa_images?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
Shoutout to:
TJ Radosa
Poor Boy Podcast
Riley Riddle
Elaine Kimball Photography
PBR
PRCA
Alter Ego Ambassador: https://alteregorunning.com/
Miles & Mountains Promo Code: MMyr2
Join us as we chat with TJ Radosa, a self-taught photographer who started his journey with a humble low-budget camera, and has since carved out a unique niche for himself, documenting high-paced action shots and intimate moments alike. TJ's work offers a breathtaking window into his world, and he's here to share with us not only about his craft but also about his experiences, his equipment evolution, and the power of capturing moments.
Lastly, we discuss the importance of having the right equipment, the emotions of a photographer and how to stay motivated when creating something great. So, pull up a chair and get comfy. We're taking a walk through the exciting world of Western lifestyle and rodeo photography with TJ Radosa. You're in for a treat.
TJ Radosa
Instagram:
@radosa_images
https://instagram.com/radosa_images?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
Shoutout to:
TJ Radosa
Poor Boy Podcast
Riley Riddle
Elaine Kimball Photography
PBR
PRCA
Alter Ego Ambassador: https://alteregorunning.com/
Miles & Mountains Promo Code: MMyr2
TJ Radosa. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm doing all right From Radosa Images. Hopefully I'm like trying to roll the D, but I can't roll with the D man.
Speaker 1:Radosa Images. I get all kinds of names. Everyone says something different.
Speaker 2:I apologize if I murdered it. So you're a photographer and a videographer.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, based in Florida, central Florida area, central Florida, okay.
Speaker 2:Those Florida boys, man, I'm noticing the Florida, georgia and Alabama boys stick together. Yep they do.
Speaker 1:There's a little bit of a crew here. There's a lot of people, but you get in with the right crew, it's pretty good yeah.
Speaker 2:And man, that circle, that circle, we'll talk about it later, dude that circle when you get in those boys, they got you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean it's been pretty fun. It's been pretty fun. I've met a lot of people, that's for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, well, it's going to get bigger. Yeah, talk more about that. So you're saying on Instagram, showing the world through a lens and have fun while doing it.
Speaker 1:Yes sir, yes sir.
Speaker 2:When you say fun, are you saying fun behind the lens or saying fun just as a whole?
Speaker 1:Kind of as a whole. I'm just kind of showing, like what my brain sees. I walk through life and a lot of things that it's like man, that'd be a good picture. That'd be a good picture, that'd be a cool video. I just see random stuff, so I hope it's fun for everyone. I try to not make it so much about what like myself, like that. I take more of high-paced action shots bull riding, horse, equestrian stuff. I do a lot of weddings too, maternity pictures so it's sort of like showing a glimpse of what I can see and make art about it.
Speaker 2:Okay, when did your world behind the lens start? I?
Speaker 1:started during. It was about 2019. I got my first camera 2018. I got this little crappy camera off Facebook Marketplace for $60 or $70. It was like a Canon, it's just a little. I might I have a picture? Where's it at?
Speaker 2:Was it a digital camera?
Speaker 1:Oh, it's a digital camera but it's got a big. If you press the zoom in button, the whole lens pops out and it gets pretty. I've taken a picture of the moon and it's one of my best pictures. Best pictures of the moon.
Speaker 1:And started, started out with that and then during the coronavirus stuff I I got an actual Canon camera DSLR and bought it off Amazon and just had a kit lens and start. I think the first pictures I took was a turtle like a painted turtle somewhere and started with that and moved down to Florida about two and a half years ago and start. I first thing I went to was a rodeo down here I met. His name is Mike driver. He's a very good bullfighter. He's done NFR stuff. He's in the PRCA a lot and he does the Couton Coliseum. He's the bull, one of the bullfighters there and like that that rodeo stuff jumped off after that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, all right, I know you had that neck man for, for you know photography and whatnot, because it's not that easy People think you're taking pictures is like dude, it's easy, easy gig man. No, it's not so. How did you know you had what it takes to be where you're at now?
Speaker 1:Um, that's kind of a tough question because I still get in my mind where I feel like I, if I do something good, like I don't feel like it's that good, or if I make a video, I don't feel like it's the best, or I feel like it's all right, but like it's good, it's good. I'm like thank you I'm so bad for. But then I started out a long time ago doing God. I had to be 2014, 2017. I was duck hunting a lot up in the UP in Michigan and there'd be those sunrise pictures where you just take a phone out, click one and send it off to Instagram and that's. I just would take pictures and videos of my buddies all the time, and I've always had I'm that one with the camera. I've always been taking videos of someone's. Like stop taking a video of me, Like sorry, I just knew what I do, yeah.
Speaker 2:But when do you know to take it to the next level? Cause it takes a certain someone to take it to the next level, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like that. I started out with that little camera and I just felt like you know, I didn't feel like the videos looked right. I was like, and then what could I do? I like to get better footage, better angles, and I just dove in and studied it. I really I know like all this it's a lot in your settings and in your camera and in your lens and like that, when I got that first camera, I just studied everything on. I looked up a lot of YouTube but just tried to figure out everything I could about it. So you're self taught.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm self taught.
Speaker 1:I have influences, like click Thompson and that Randy Cateri and a lot of other people, and I know, um, I know some people that do a lot of NFR stuff, a lot of PRCA stuff and everything around, but like that I've I haven't had someone give me a camera or show me what all to do. I just I really figured it out by myself. Okay.
Speaker 2:All right. So you know I'm not really strictly Western lifestyle, or I know you said maternity, maternity, weddings, that kind of thing, but do you, is your bread and butter Western lifestyle rodeo, yep.
Speaker 1:My go to is Western lifestyle and rodeo. Like I'm trying to get to every rodeo possible I can. I'm trying to get to every jackpot that my buddies are at and then if something comes around where a brand sees it, I could possibly partner with them or like ask them on social media like how I can help out, see if I. So. If I see a pair of boots or something like I could take a picture of those and try to maybe sell it or have them use it for their own brand. Gotcha, I just love everything about the Western lifestyle and rodeo. I love that stuff so much.
Speaker 2:What? What is it about, man? What? What brings you to that just loving it?
Speaker 1:Everyone's just so genuine Like they, everyone in the war or the Western world loves it. It's just something in your blood A lot of people say that and you just get hooked on it. I've I've loved rodeo, pbr stuff since I was a little kid like that. Eight seconds is one of my favorite movies ever. You just get hooked on it. So that adrenaline rush where I have that adrenaline rush and I don't have to be on the bulb but I'm on the back of the shoots, you know like.
Speaker 2:I'm laying down.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've laid down next to my buddies that were bullfighting. I've been on my stomach in the arena with both feet kicking over my head, like that's the adrenaline rush for me, right, dude?
Speaker 2:there's nothing like it man it's.
Speaker 1:it gets your heart pumping, that's for sure. Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2:So yeah, just being Behind the shoe or near the shoe, seeing it firsthand, there's something about it, man. I'm glad you experienced that to me, because I'm trying to like it. For for the longest time I've been trying to just you know, explain the details, what it brings to me. But, dude, I'm glad you're able to say what you can. There is a feeling, man, it's just that it's.
Speaker 1:It's like like that showing up to the road, like you met or you talked to Riley Reddle he's one of my good buddies and like that just showing up to the rodeo and you know he's gonna be there. You know that guy's gonna be a, you know she's gonna be there. You know whoever's gonna be there. I know pickup men, I know the barrel racers, I know the production putting things on. I know, I know about every person that's in there. You show up and it's like it's like I don't know, showing up to Like holiday or like family, get together, family get together.
Speaker 1:It's just like hey, you know what's up, let's do this, yes.
Speaker 2:So you, you bring up riddle right, mm-hmm. And the episode is he the the most stacked Like bullfighter you've ever seen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I heard your, I heard your comment on that and he's big boy. Yeah, like that, I'm like man, you are, bill, you're, you know right, he's, he is, you know, but you got to keep that fitness up to and I know he wants to be one of the best of the best and I know some of the best of the best and he is, he can, he can definitely be up there and he there's a lot of people that do bullfight and stuff like that, but he is one that'll that'll teach someone and he has been.
Speaker 1:He's not yet. And he has been, he's not so. So sent a lot of people get self-centered. But he's so, he's so open and he works at it so much and like that he has a full-time job too. Yeah he's on to the next rodeo and then he's on to the next and trying to get better every time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean he's. There's quite a few people that will reach out, you know. But his episode and the kids in the industry have really reached out and said thank you, man. They, they and have nothing but high praise for Riley and I've had some big names on. It's quite interesting to know how much of an impact he has and some others. Man, it's just unbelievable because you know you think no one listens. You're like dude, yeah.
Speaker 1:Podcast you know, you doubt yourself.
Speaker 2:But then people listen, they, they, they come out of the woodwork. Man, I do. That was a great episode.
Speaker 1:You know, there's, there's. There's one quote from its Cody Jinx song called somewhere in the middle, and he says you never know who you're talking to, but always know who's watching you. And that's. I feel like that a lot because, like how you're talking, there's a lot of people that look up to Riley and like a lot of kids that don't know how to ask, and If you just step up and ask and we're all, we're not, we're not scary, just yeah, we're friendly.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, oh yeah. So so the first camera was a digital one that just zoomed out.
Speaker 1:I wish I could find that thing. Yeah, I have it somewhere. I have a big bag full of cameras and it's. It's somewhere up here.
Speaker 2:I can't figure out, I don't know how how is that compared to your, your other one, your your one, that the one that you have now, the DSLR, is it?
Speaker 1:It's uh canon 5d mark 2.
Speaker 1:And it's a DSLR, it's it's. It's an older camera but it is a professional camera. The $70 one might fit in my hand and correct this this the body of my 5d mark 2 is. It's probably 8. Yeah, it's probably $800 and it's like a brick. It it's got more get, it's got More gadgets on it than the spaceship did when it went to the moon like so crazy. And then and then I have a 70 to 200 millimeter lens and it's. It's just that big white, regular Canon or Canon lens that you know.
Speaker 2:Sometimes those lens cost more than the camera, though, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, I got lucky and I found that on marketplace and it was about $300 when I got it, instead of 1200 like yeah, they are online.
Speaker 2:You really live off marketplace on, I don't trust it man, there there's some bad news so yeah, I mean, but you live by it.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it's good, sometimes there's some fake people on it, but it's worked out for me like that.
Speaker 1:I I'm looking at a new camera for more of the video side, and it's a lumix Um gh5 and that's nice just better, for my camera right now doesn't have auto focus for video and I I have to do it the way I do it To get my videos focused. Sometimes they go blurry, but sometimes pretty cool looking. But this newer camera is what a lot of people in the video world start out on and but the lens is interchange, so it's basically I just get the body and that's all that's gonna be off a website, and that would be more trustworthy.
Speaker 2:But when did you make that switch from old camera to the camera you have now? Man, when and why did you feel go to something else?
Speaker 1:Um, I started noticing I don't explain this I started noticing that my, my pictures were kind of grainy. So when you, when you take a picture, it looks, it looks like it's in focus, and then you, my, I zoom in, I, I, I pick apart pictures like crazy, and when you zoom in, the pixels get so open and it it doesn't show well. And then I, I figured I'd try it out. A new camera and I bought this one and I took my first picture at a rodeo and I caught a fly on the back of a bowl and its wings were spread and I could see Every detail in the wing as I zoomed in and I'm like this I have to make, I have to switch, I can't go back to that camera. It was a good backup camera, but I'm like that Nope, I can't, I can't go back to that now.
Speaker 2:Okay, All right, someone's starting out in the game. What do you or would you suggest they start out with man?
Speaker 1:um, I, I get a lot, I get this question a whole lot and I've had recent messages all over and I, I, I always say, just start out with the camera. You know it, it can be your phone, it can be like any camera that will take pictures, because that starting is it's your mind, showing off what you think, and then you can start out with a disposable and get them printed. You know it, it's what you see, because I tell a lot of people I can't, I can't help out and I can't really help out because I'm not seeing what you're seeing. Like you might be on a hike and see trees and see the sky, awesome in a landscape, and I'm here in Florida Like I see.
Speaker 2:I still have landscape. Yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:This. The landscape is here, but you're seeing it through your eyes, and if you have that camera just to capture what you're seeing, and then it gets better and better and better and better, and then you like that, you switch camera, you know, and then my, my biggest goal right now is to take a picture of a buck and bull spread out. Well, one of my buddies on it kicking out, and I want to take it with an old Polaroid camera, and I have it, I have my Polaroid over there, and I hope it turns out good. It might not, who knows.
Speaker 2:It'd be pretty cool, though you suggest people go to school for photography, or can it be self taught, like yourself?
Speaker 1:It can be self taught. I've, I've thought of going back to school somehow to get you know credentials, but my thing is I don't even know. I wouldn't even know where to start with. What I it's not journalism, it is journalism, but I don't want to be, you know, a sports journalist or or in in the, get a media degree or get a business degree. I already know how to do most of it and it's just. It's just a lot of networking and reaching out and meeting people everywhere in like that. I had a class. I was going through a police academy and we had a class about the crime scene photography and that's mainly where it started and I just that's. One of the only things I remember from that thing is that book and the F stops, the ISO, the aperture.
Speaker 1:And I was one walking around the crime scenes with that camera in my hand and like that it's, it's a lot. It's a lot of networking in, say say, you go to a high school and take pictures and then they give you a link or someone's email to a college and then next thing you're taking pictures for UCF or Florida and then the next thing you're taking pictures for you know. It all just stems off of kind of who you know and what you want to do. Awesome.
Speaker 2:Awesome Favorite part of your gig there's multiple. I think you've already said some, but there's so many you had a pinpoint what's the favorite part?
Speaker 1:Uh, meeting new people and like that. I I just love talking with every. I love hearing everyone's stories from like I don't know if Riley told it, but Ricky Ringer is, he's an older bull rider in our area and like that, just hearing stories of them going down the road years ago. Or like running into Ernie Bob Corson and hearing his stories that he was just fishing and now he's going to a PRCA rodeo or something Like I just love running to everyone and just hearing what they're doing, where they're going. You know what they're trying to do. If they get hurt, like it's always cool seeing them come back. You know, I could just talk to anyone All right.
Speaker 2:While this thing you've ever captured event sport moment, what? While this thing, yeah, Wildest Like oh my God, I got that on camera. Kind of experience, man.
Speaker 1:Um, I got one and maybe we could. I could send it to you and you could put it up. But there's this low speckled bull and, um, it was one of my first rodeos I ever got to and it's all. It's my header on it or Facebook everything. And this bull came out of the gate and spun 360 in the air and all feeder off the ground, the dirt's kicking up, the riders all strung back, kicking out everyone on the back. Shoot. That's one of my favorite pictures ever out of descendant T and maybe, maybe, post that up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, All right.
Speaker 1:That's one of my favorites. It's not too wild, but I'm like man like I got that shot and it was one of my first ones too, okay.
Speaker 2:Why do you do what you do In general? Um?
Speaker 1:yeah, I, you know I I want to show the moments that these riders have, but you know they they don't get to stop that moment in time and I get to. I don't take a lot of pictures of myself. You won't see me with selfies on my profiles or pictures of my rarely get pictures of myself. But if I can get that moment for that kid, guy, woman and anyone, child, anyone in the stands that if they like that moment and cherish that moment and like not even in the stands but say it like that maternity pictures, I love our weddings. I love getting the moments that someone's going to cherish for the rest of their life, because a lot of people don't get. You know, a lot of people look back and I wish there was still photo albums. I wish people still printed out photos because if your phone goes away, that your photos are on and you don't have.
Speaker 1:Mm, hmm.
Speaker 2:It's a lost art.
Speaker 1:I remember going through all the albums as a kid. Your dad had, my dad had stacks of photo albums or the old video tapes, you know, like it's kind of gone away. It really has. And yeah, I like that a lot of people. I wish they just took photos more and showed what they wanted, what they like and yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:It seems like it's coming back, though. Man, it seems like some people are coming, you know, make it come back. I mean through your lens, through, you know, Elaine Campbell, who I have had on and in friends with as well, you know. So it's pretty cool to know that there are people like you out there that love just to show the world through your lens, your eyes, the man behind the camera, you know.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, like that I know a lot of people that are getting into it and it there's tens of them, you know there's so many more than I started two and a half years ago and I thought I was the only one doing it. Now it's like every person has a camera on the stands and I do like. I do like people getting back into like disposables in film and Polaroids. I love all that stuff. I love the old film, I love it all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Ultimate goal man.
Speaker 1:Hmm, I want to be somehow affiliated with the PBR. That's been my goal since I was really young. I know I'm probably not going to be like their main photographer, but I've tried to get with some teams. The new team series has opened up a lot of avenues for many people because there's there's eight more PBRs, basically, and yeah, I know I'm not there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, I know, I know I'm not going to be their main main person. I've actually met Andre Silva and he. I was just walking, walking into the Dickie's arena a couple of years ago for the finals and he was walking out and I'm like, oh, uh, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh hello sir.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hello, sir, you're. You're one of my idols. Yeah, like that something, something for the PBR, you know, if it's a social media videographer, just someone helping out, um, that'd be, that'd be a that'd be a dream. I'm coming to.
Speaker 2:You got challenger series going on, you know, throughout the U? S and they're their regional thing. You got unleash the beast doing the same thing. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, don't count yourself out, man.
Speaker 1:I know a lot of the writers I've met. I mean, I met Luciana De Castro and I've met John Krimber, dinner Barbosa. I met Junior Charisma. He's pretty cool guy. Chase outlaw a couple of times. Um, okay, there's so many, but I bet I'm trying to get to. Um, there's one in Jacksonville and I've been, I've been trying to get credentials for that, so that one's in February. It's an unleashed abuse. Okay, like that.
Speaker 2:Okay, adventures in the future, man.
Speaker 1:I've been talking to a brand to get to the NFR. I'm trying to do some like brand videography and photography for them. I just reached out recently so there's about there's about a month till it and we're kind of working out prices and see what happens and also like that that would be NFR. I'd like to get to Cheyenne Frontier Days. Me and my mom have a pact that, so I took my dad to the PBR finals a couple of years ago and then my mom I was gonna take her to Cheyenne Frontier Days. We've always talked about that since I was little.
Speaker 2:I'd rather go there. Man Forget the PBR finals. Dude Like that.
Speaker 1:I've already went to the PBR World Finals with my dad. That's a pretty wild story. It's pretty cool. And then like went there. So next couple of years go there. I wanna get to Pendleton Roundup someday. I've thought of being a photographer at that. We'll see how that goes.
Speaker 2:That's a journey, though, oh yeah, get behind the plastic barrier.
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah yeah, it's plastic. It's plastic. I got a buddy that I think he was. There was a white bull that went through two years ago and he was one of like the first guys that hit and he like rolled off.
Speaker 2:No, dude, it's crazy. I don't know how they do it, but they do it. Projects in the future you mentioned one which we can talk about. Hopefully we can talk about it and I can give you a lot of pointers. Yeah, but projects in the future? Man Rodeo cards, what?
Speaker 1:I thought about getting into the PRCA stuff, but it's a whole. It's a really big ordeal, Like you gotta pay in, you gotta do so many rodeos, you gotta do a lot of stuff just to get, you gotta get accepted by like a 10 year vet and then they have to go through your pictures. Somebody else has to go through your pictures and I know a couple of them that do it and I would, but I'm not too sure about that. Like that, I'm kind of just going with the flow and seeing where everything goes. There's like that I feel like I've been doing this for 10 years and I've only been doing it for two and a half years and I've met so many people that have all these connections. And one thing I'm trying to get to is the cow town Coliseum.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Like that Riley's been there. I was gonna try and do some videos for him if he went back, and then my buddy, Mike Driver's bullfighter there and it'd be pretty cool to get there and do some good YouTube videos and stuff all that content for him Instead of just like the main video taken videos and stuff.
Speaker 2:Would you say PRCA is more strict than PBR, or I thought it would be the same.
Speaker 1:No, it's. Prca is pretty strict, like if you have stuff, if you're not a PRCA card member or photographer and you're trying to post PRCA, like they can like take you out for they can dismember you until forever. And I don't mess with it much If there's a PRCA event going on. I kind of try to get with the production or the stock contractors to do pictures for there like animals and stuff. But PRCA events I don't mess with it because if I do eventually in the future around the go, I don't want to get any slack for stuff I'm doing now in the future. All right, so podcasting?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you mentioned podcasting man First. What would it be called? I know you already have a name.
Speaker 1:I have a name. I've thought of it for a while, and it'd be called the Poor Boy podcast. Poor Boy, poor Boy podcast. Okay, not Poor Boy, no, no, poor Boy, poor Boy.
Speaker 2:All right. What's the theme? What is it all about man?
Speaker 1:I've thought on it a long time, but it's just gonna be a lot of talking. It's not really centered around anything, but I'm gonna have a lot of my friends on. I have a lot of interesting people that I know. So, like that, riders, western life I have buddies that work on hunting ranches in Texas, professional hunters, professional bass fishermen. I have some buddies that are in, like that, sports players. I just thought of everything and I got a couple of buddies that do music in Nashville so that'd be pretty cool. Like that. I have about 30 people written down so far and it's like that it's just getting people at the right time. Like that, trying to get riders is pretty hard to sit down and if they're going to another town tomorrow and like that, zoom, zoom's gonna be pretty good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, You'd be surprised how much time they have, man and they'll give it's interesting. It's like man, I don't know how you guys do it they're like hey, man, I'm always down. So my question to you is were you born in the Western lifestyle?
Speaker 1:No, I was born into like farming lifestyle. So I'm from Michigan, midland Michigan, and it's a lot of corn fields, bean fields, dairy cows it's not buck and bulls. I knew we have one rodeo in the Midland County Fair and it goes on. I think it's the last week in a July or something, I don't even remember now, but we'd have one rodeo and it was Friday, saturday and that was it for the year.
Speaker 2:Okay, I asked that not to discredit you at all, because it's very interesting on how accepting the Western lifestyle actors are and they love the fact that just regular Joe's like myself I'm not calling you regular Joe, but I'm just saying an example right? Yeah, put them on mainstream, highlight them, you know, and spread the good word of what they do, how they do it and always mention you know they always mention how they are seen in a bad light because of animal abuse.
Speaker 2:You know and yeah, it's amazing how accepting they are and how much they love the fact that we're highlighting their sport, them as people, and just bringing it. So, trust me it's going to get big and they love the fact that we weren't born and we're just putting them on dude.
Speaker 1:And that's my thing is, I see a lot of misrepresentation and that's kind of what I'm trying to show is that it's not all. You know, they're not all. I'm a cowboy. I'm a cowboy. A lot of these dudes have full time jobs. They work construction, they work, they work, they might be, they might work kind of business in a cubicle.
Speaker 2:They're rough next man, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:There are some people are you know they are but a lot of people are just. They're everyone's just regular. It's what you love and what you do, and like that cowboy isn't wearing a hat. Cowboy is how you are, cowboy is how you.
Speaker 2:It's a way of life, it's a way of life, and it's not always people on horseback.
Speaker 1:it's not you know this or that, but it's just you know everybody. Everybody has it in them too. It's the thing like Okay.
Speaker 2:So, before I go to the main question, the staple question what's going to set you apart from the rest, the rest of the big podcast, the radio world as they? Call it now, what's going to set you apart, man?
Speaker 1:Like that. I feel like I have some pretty interesting people to start out with. I know a lot of people just get into it and they kind of sit on the couch and talk and drink and do this and that or watch a sports event. But mine it's kind of be I like that. I like having that aspect of it. I'm not going to be that person. That's? Where'd you come from? Where, what do you do? You know what's this, what's your?
Speaker 2:kind of thing. Yeah, yeah, I just want to have.
Speaker 1:I just want to have a kind of like this right here. I just want to have a conversation with anyone and everyone that just wants to sit down and tell some stories. All right, all right.
Speaker 2:So I'll ask a question, man, and I stick with it. I stick to it, no matter who you are, what you do. Do you eat peanut butter jelly sandwiches? Yeah, sometimes not too much, though, sometimes not even on the go or on the road.
Speaker 1:I'm more like a bologna or like ham sandwich kind of guy. I don't really eat sandwich as much, but every once in a while, you know, I might have a hang ring for a.
Speaker 2:You said sandwiches, a ham cheese, bologna. Do you just eat cheese sandwiches? No, have you heard about that. Have you seen anybody just eat cheese sandwiches? I think I've heard about it.
Speaker 1:I've heard about it now. Yeah, you heard it. On this. It sounds like. It sounds like a ways.
Speaker 2:It's a regional thing, okay.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 2:So PBJ sandwich man, how do you?
Speaker 1:build one and the ratio, oh man, my, my ratio. I have piece of bread or two pieces of bread and just a big glob of both peanut butter and jelly. That's the best 50, 50 split Right. When we take the bread out, it gets.
Speaker 2:Pierre is straight up. Bombs are lookingpunkt view and bonds are lookingproject before the terrible brokeman.
Speaker 1:We must have it soft. It's not gonna leave me because I'm leaking it out everywhere, but it's good, that's it, yeah, what? Kind of bread man White Windows white. How wonder bright Might be some wonderbred. Yeah, must be nice man to afford that. And I haven't been to the grocery store in awhile. So I had my best friends wedding in Michigan so I was back for a week and I'm like I gotta grab some groceries.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what's your go-to beer in Michigan, man?
Speaker 1:Mine now is Michelob. It used to be like bushlight, bud light, but coming down here to Florida it's basically the same thing. And Michelob, that's easy to pick up. You know, easy to grab at the store. Oh yeah, they go down pretty well, michelob.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, especially ultras. Yeah, favorite Adam Sandler movie oh, Probably happy.
Speaker 1:Gilmore OK, that's a good one. Billy Madison is pretty good too. That was just on a little while ago.
Speaker 2:All right, what gets you going, man, day in, day out, as a photographer, what gets you going?
Speaker 1:Um, like that, I have that no quit kind of attitude and like that Sometimes I'll be down. I get down a lot with this stuff in general, like, like I said, some days I'll be somewhere and taking the best shots and then I'll get home and I'm like dang, I feel like that sucked, like, but it was like the best time ever. And then I'm like I go back through everything, I'm like, oh, I didn't do that bad, like it's pretty dang cool. And you know, I kind of get down to myself sometimes a lot, but it's, you know, I got to keep going and keep trying to do do some cool things and show off some cool stuff.
Speaker 2:Well, one thing that reminds me you mentioned it twice. It's almost like doubting yourself One of the things that you got to learn, especially not just in the photography world, but in the podcast world. You're going to think a lot of episodes suck, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I've you go ahead. Yeah, I've had many nights where I've sat. I have two microphones and I have sat going through. I kind of have them all hooked up in my computer right now I don't really have a like big receiver for both of them, but like that, I've had many nights where I've talked to myself for a half hour and about a UFC fight that happened three weeks ago. That has no, no content ever right now, like never gets out. I just sound so dumb but I'm like, hey, it's, it's, it's start.
Speaker 2:Yeah, ok. Well, I'm just letting you know, man, there are sometimes I've, I'm too, I'm sitting on two, two of six, I published two or five and this will be two or seven. Either way. You know, whatever two or seven, and there are some that I'm like man, this really sucks, man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh my God, what I really fudged up. I messed up and then come to find out I publish it right or I'll edit. Don't get too caught up in editing too A lot of people like raw man, so yeah. So what I'm saying is Enjoy it, enjoy it, enjoy it. But yeah, I'll be like, oh man, this is great, this is bad, this is great. Oh no, no, no, no, you know. And then you publish it. You're like a hesitation and then, man, that episode was great. Yeah, nick.
Speaker 1:Man, what are you doing?
Speaker 2:Right, I'm like you liked it and I question I'm like you like it, like I'm Ron Burgundy you know that kind of thing, and it's just yeah it just. It drives you nuts man, so just just enjoy it.
Speaker 1:It's, it's. It's all fun to me too and like I love. I love everything about like all this new technology and like that going into your recording stuff, hooking up these mics, finding, find a new mic and I got one of the zoom mics from Amazon. I got that little bundle, but then I, you know, and I go to a record store or music store and they have an old microphone that sounds just as good, like yeah, it's all cool, the ins and outs of it all too.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, ok. Now how do you know you earned your check? The perfect shot. How do you know, man?
Speaker 1:one second.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's. That's how I know I got this given to me by a very awesome woman. Her name is Miss Verla. She's in Ambrose Georgia, this is nice.
Speaker 1:It's where I'm heading this weekend to go shoot. I asked her if I could come shoot for an event. Had to be. I got this in December, so it must have been. I can't remember now. It was before December. She has. She has events like every few months and it must have might have been in August. So I shot. And then I asked what she was doing for buckles and she made me this up and I thought it was going to be some little chintzy.
Speaker 1:No, that's a nice buckle this thing is I got, I prayed to win a buckle at some point and this is my first one and it's nice like that. I'll always remember that lady and I'm going back there this weekend and I have another one, but I gave that one to my dad and then I don't know if she's like, I don't know if she's making, she just makes them and then I get there and she'll hand them to me and she is one of the greatest ladies ever she's. She's a very nice religious lady and like that her. Her event when I first started was very small and now it's like an actual EBA sponsored event with. It was like a little youth rodeo and they had some good bowls, but then now it's like there's people, actually it's a. There's probably going to be 40 riders maybe and there was when I first started there might have been 12.
Speaker 2:That's nice hardware, man. It's pretty cool yeah.
Speaker 1:That's my first buckle, and this one will be one that's going to be on my belt for a long time, until I don't know what's going to top that.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's nice, man, it's nice. What do you consider? The shot, the it factor? What is it, man? How do you? You're so down on yourself, you know you question what you do. How do you know, or when do you know you have that shot?
Speaker 1:I have a lot of times where, say, a shot all night and I get home SD. You look at it and it says 2000 pictures. I get home and I'm like I start clicking, going through, going through, and you can literally tell that one when it comes up on the screen. It pops up and it's like wow, that one. And then you click to pass. It might not be that good, the bull might have shifted or something in the picture might have shifted just a little bit, but that one, I have one that someone, someone got a picture from another angle and it was just a little bit off, and then I can show you mine and this bull is looking perfect at the camera, these the riders turning at me too, like everything's flowing in the right direction, and it's just that thing that you're clicking through and bang, bang, bang, and then it's like wow, and you stop and now.
Speaker 2:Did it take some time to understand? That was the shot. Yeah it factor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's. There's a lot of I've had. I have a whole other drive. It's an external drive and I don't even know how many thousands of pictures are in there's. There's pictures that I've never used. There's some that have never seen the light of the day. There's a lot of videos and then you go back and you're like that one might have, that one should be used, like, yeah, there's a lot.
Speaker 2:Okay, dj man, it's been a pleasure man, we can talk for a while We've been talking for a while.
Speaker 1:Right, I could talk for a long while. Surprising.
Speaker 2:Yeah, surprising right. Oh yeah, yeah, it goes quick. But, dude, I definitely. I'm glad you got some people on your roll. Adex.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying, I'm just making a joke, but you can add an extra one. You can always add me and I'll be glad to be on your podcast. Share my story, I don't I?
Speaker 1:don't share.
Speaker 2:I don't share my story. I have not shared my story.
Speaker 1:Right, that's. That's exactly how I feel like it is for me, behind the lens. Where you're? You're the curator, you're the director, you're the host, where no one's really asking how you know you're your site and that's. That's pretty cool. I understand that.
Speaker 2:So so, if and when the time comes, you just need a filler, or you want something. You want a story, I got. I got one that will absolutely mine and yeah, anytime you want back on, anytime you want to share your photos, please share, please share.
Speaker 1:I do have one question for you. So you said you were getting into low landscape photography and hikes and stuff, and what, what kind of pictures do you like to take?
Speaker 2:Oh man, I honestly I don't even know how to describe it because you know I'm not a photographer and don't know the language, the lingo. I love the shadows of when the sun hits the mountain and different contours and the way it makes certain rocks, or up close or in the back, pop more than what's around it.
Speaker 2:Like I know, like I said, I don't know I don't know it, but I have a few, a few examples that I can show you. But yeah, I started getting into it, I did Whitney and I'm just like OK and then I show people. I'm like man, that's really good. You did that on your phone.
Speaker 1:Like yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I can show you. You can probably tell me if they suck or not, but they won't yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, these, these, these iPhones now they're these cameras on these things are so in the videos too. I do a lot of. I split in between videos on my iPhone and on my camera for like Instagram reels and stuff, and the cameras now are so good it's weird I'll.
Speaker 2:I'll send. I'll send a couple of year away and let me know but did I, did I leave anything out? You want to add anything? Where can people find you?
Speaker 1:Um Redosa images on Instagram, facebook and YouTube and like that. I got a lot of videos on YouTube just trying to do more, and I got a video Riley Riddle, that's pretty awesome. Yeah, that story is pretty cool. We, I got invited and he's like we're going to this thing at Amway, come on, meet me there. And I'm like, all right, that's how I met him actually. And we get there and it was a. It's his name's Pepe Aguilar and he's like he's like George Straight and Garth Brooks of Spanish music at your grant the grandma's. No one, abuela knows them, everyone knows them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and and they had bucking bowls buck. During the intermission they had six and it was like USA versus Mexico and the Spanish guys were all dressed up in sombreros and there they had like tan jeans and vests on and then our guys were in American flag shirts and Riley was a bullfighter in it. Riley, michael Barber and I got a very bad ass video of that. It's pretty cool, like that most jacked bullfighter out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Who's jacked yeah?
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, man Well, I appreciate your time. Please come back man and, and just having you guys on man, especially photographers, dude, it makes me want to just go out there and just shoot some, you know, bowls and some riders and just you know share the Western lifestyle, and through my lens too. So it's, it's pretty cool, man, yeah.
Speaker 1:Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you so much. I'm just trying to encourage everyone to do it. I mean, you could be 12 years old, just grab a camera and try and try and show people what you see. That's for sure. Right, okay, tj. Thank you so much, man. Yes, thank you, man.