Page 6 - Winter Breeze 2

A Moment

In Time by Joe Pier

ur cover artist is probably one of the
most well-known people in San Felipe.
O
You’ll find him at government functions,
holiday parties, Quinceañeras, charity functions,
festivals, parades, sporting events, you name it!
He is our very own Paparazzi, Victor Rodriguez Ratliff! He is everywhere with camera in
hand to do an extensive coverage of the subject he is photographing. He is a big supporter
of many of the charities in town . He was born in San Diego, CA. but he spent very little time
there as his mother moved the family to Ensenada soon after he was born, and it was there
that he spent his childhood. At the age of 7 he received his
first camera, A Kodak box camera, and he was off to the
races. Influenced by his grandfather, who was an avid 8 & 16
mm film aficionado, and his father, an amateur photographer,
Victor found he was very good at photography and enjoyed
taking pictures. At 17 he decided to make photography his
profession and would shoot a variety of subjects, primarily in
black and white. He learned to process the film, make prints,
and sell them. At 19 he went to University in Mexico City and
while going to school, he got a job as a freelance newspaper Victor with Municipal President
photographer & on the weekend, he would shoot for a sports Jose Luis Dagnino
magazine. Since he was the young guy on the roster he would get the assignments no one
wanted, but he enjoyed the challenges. When he graduated from college, he decided to go
to The Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA, one of the most prestigious
photography schools in the world. There he studied photography to become an accredited
master of the medium. He recalls that there it was a total immersion, there was no time for TV
or any other activities. He was introduced to the 4x5 large film which he found slow and
cumbersome due to the size
of the camera, but this pro-
cess of shooting, gave him
some amazingly sharp imag-
es, specially when working
in nature. He also bought a
35mm Sony film camera. A
lot more versatile, and easier
to work with. After finishing
school in Santa Barbara, he
moved back to Ensenada
and opened a photography
studio called “Luz y Arte”.

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