Meet Rudy Bonifaz | Fashion & Commercial Photographer

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

Hi Rudy, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I started doing photography it was nothing but a hobby. I’ve always had an artistic background coming from the music industry and photography caught my eye because of the myriad of possibilities that could be captured with a camera. Particularly as a beginner, I started discovering the world of photography and started enveloping myself in it. After getting comfortable enough with my skill, I decided I could take it to the next level and start formulating my own photography business. With a little help from my friends from the industry, and the guidance of my mentors I was able to satisfy my business plan logistics and thus, I started my photography business.

I can definitely say that the thought of starting your own business sounds scary. But after getting started everything starts slowly falling into place. The difficult bit is done. The business came together over the years through trial and error. It’s a learning curve that I personally had to learn through just getting things done. Some times things went great and other times things failed and were a lesson.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started photography when I was in high school as a hobby by doing simple portraits and photographing anything and anyone that I found interesting. I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist and as we say in gamer lingo “a completionist.” This means that when I decide to learn a new skill, I like to learn it quite well enough that I can add it to my skill belt should I ever need it. This is how my jump from hobbyist photographer came to be into full professional photographer.

One day I came across the works of Tom Leishman in a book. I was captivated by his stunning work and I decided I wanted to shoot images exactly like that. I reached out to Tom on social media and he was very lovely and over the time we developed a friendship. This friendship pushed by boundaries into being more comfortable with networking and developing not only my photography skills but also my business skills. It was definitely a challenging learning curve or trial and error, asking questions, trying things out of curiosity and a mix of investing time and money into it.

My personal philosophy is: one may think that the monetary investment is the most difficult challenge when it comes to what we do. It plays a big part but the real challenge is the time investment. In order to improve and become better and better every day, it is important to keep learning and practicing the craft. It is time consuming and at times redundant but it pays off and among a very competitive industry, it will set you apart from the rest.

One lesson I truly believe and I reiterate is that the fancy gear will not make you a better photographer. You could have a $20,000 camera and still be mediocre. I have personally shot beautiful editorial images on point and shoot cameras and other less than ideal cameras and have gotten lovely results. It’s all about learning the craft well enough to know what you are doing and how every decision you make will affect the image.

I was always worried that because I could not afford a full frame expensive camera that I would not be able to be “professional”. Little did I know, that camera I did have is all I needed to launch my work to the next level. This is when I realized, unless a specific job required something else, the gear I already owned was more than enough to get the job done.

Despite not having achieved yet my bigger goals I am quite proud of where I am and what I have achieved so far. I have had several magazine publications. I have received awards and earned the trust of many clients over the years. What’s more, I would have never imagined to have the opportunity to be in some of the places I have been because of it. For example last November I was just in Ukraine shooting a jewellery campaign for our brand Ferruva. I love the ability of being creative and being able to translate the ideas in my head to a visually pleasing experience.

I’m always open for interesting collaborations and creating art. If you see me my work and want to shoot with me, feel free to send a message! I’d be happy to hear your idea out!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
It’s funny that this questions comes about because I just had a friend from Germany come visit California for the first time and we had quite a fun weekend. First of all, you cannot come to California and not smash an In n Out burger. It’s almost a must.

Allow me to structure this as a local guide (in my eyes) of what are non typical must visit places in San Diego:

Breakfast and Brunch:

SEA180 in Imperial Beach
Great Maple
The Cottage at La Jolla
Morning Glory
Farmers Table (right under morning glory)
Breakfast Republic
Wayfarer Bread & Pastry
Hash House a Go Go
Agave Coffee & Café

Casual Eateries:

Spiro’s Greek Cafe
Rubicon Deli
Tacos El Gordo
In N Out
Little Lion Cafe
BUONA FORCHETTA
the crack shack
Las Cuatros Milpas
Shakespeare Pub
94th Aero Squadron – San Diego
North Italia – Fashion Valley
Northside Shack – Point Loma
Phil’s BBQ
Board & Brew – Del Mar

Dinner:

Addison
Barbusa
Mimmo’s Italian Village
Eddie V’s – La Jolla
Mister A’s
Oceana Coastal Kitchen
Tom Hams Lighthouse
George’s at the Cove
Rare Society
C Level Lounge
La Dolce Vita Ristorante

Places to see:

Balboa Park
Gaslamp District
La Jolla Cove
Coronado (Go for a bike ride it’s great fun)
USS Midway Museum
San Diego Zoo
Torrey Pines Trails for Hiking are fantastic
Catch a baseball game at Petco Park
Point Loma Cabrillo Monument
Seaport Village
Old Town
Maritime Museum
If you’re a Top Gun fan especially because of the new Top Gun film, you can check out some of the filming locations for the film such as the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetary or the Naval Air Station North Island (One can’t actually access the base but still.)
If you are an aviation fan the San Diego Air & Space Museum is for you
Belmont Park
Sunset Cliffs
Drinks and Sampling Food at Little Italy
Drinks at North Park and Hillcrest
Merchant logo
Rooftop Cinema Club Embarcadero
If you want a nice chill place for fantastic drinks look no further than KINDRED

These would be my personal recommendations for a visit to San Diego.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Two people in specific deserve a big shoutout for helping me become the photographer and creative I am today. The first one is my cousin Alida Bonifaz. After I started shooting a bit more seriously, I dragged her into photography and she stayed with me all the way. She’s also the one who put up with me during long nights of editing and retouching and occasional rambling. The second person is photographer Tina Eisen for being a close friend, mentor and supporting me throughout the journey. There have been more mentors along the way but these two hold a special place in my career.

Website: www.rudybonifazphotography.com

Instagram: www.instagramcom/rudybonifazphotography

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudybonifaz?trk=public_profile_samename-profile

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rudybonifazphotography

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOEyOyVmY-cWZlMe0pQgcUg