We had the good fortune of connecting with Anna Tello and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anna, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
I am inspired by the complexity and intimacy of the human experience. I love capturing the little details or emotions expressed through the way that I aim to draw out rawness and authenticity from my clients during our photo sessions. I want to capture the essence of my subjects – their candidness and range, not just a forced smile for a photo. I want to capture lasting feelings and memories.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am most proud of the fact that I self-taught myself photography and editing during the Covid-19 lockdown. I got let go of my typical 9-5 office job because of the pandemic, and found myself with a lot of free time on my hands. A friend of mine was selling her camera and I thought this would be a great chance for me to dive into something creative. I have always loved taking photos; I remember setting up our family dog in different outfits and scenes around my home as a kid and always begging my parents to buy me more disposable cameras – getting the prints back was always such a treat!

I bought the camera from my friend and immediately started taking as many online courses and workshops that I could to learn all about camera settings, shooting in manual mode and how to edit in Lightroom. I set up free shoots with friends and was honestly proud of the natural talent I seemed to have with capturing unique and intimate photos, versus the typical smile for the camera shots. I started building my portfolio and posting on Instagram, and started responding to Craigslist ads for people that needed photographers. Eventually strangers reached out asking for shoots, my work spread through word of mouth, and I also started reaching out to brands that I WANTED to work with. A lot of them said yes!

The best, most simple advice I read somewhere during the start of this was to – simply START. And keep going. Make your creative instagram, make a post. Keep posting. I did that, and here I am.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to Mystic Mocha in University Heights for an iced John Wick (lavender + honey) latte, half sweet and the chilaquiles. AMAZING. Then we’d head to the shops in North Park (Pigment, Verbatim, etc!) and take cute instagram photos with the murals. I’d take them to see the view from Kate Sessions and Palisades Park in Pacific Beach, then watch the sunset at Sunset Cliffs, of course, followed by dinner at the Joint in OB, ordering the Joint Roll!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate this to all my friends that were just as stoked as I was on creating together when this was just a new hobby for me! They supported me and cheered me on and inspired me to keep doing what I love, as it made them happy as well!

Website: www.annacaptured.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/anna_captured

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.