Meet Annie Ortega | Portrait Photographer

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

Hi Annie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wanted to be able to say “I love what I do”. It took a couple of twists and turns and a serious confident boost but I’m thankful for where I’m at now.

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 started my career as a photographer, when I was 15. Instagram had just come out and I loved being able to share my art on a platform with friends and family. Slowly, I started picking up more jobs and growing little by little. I ended up making a life decision to move to Kansas when I was 19. I was excited at first to explore and photograph in a new area but it turned out to be a little more difficult than anticipated. Over the next 5 years I lost my joy with photography. I lived in a small town where it became impossible to find decent paying jobs and slowly I became discouraged. I knew this was something I wanted to do with my life because when I would book a session, I would feel so happy and I wanted to feel like that forever. Fast forward to about a year and a half ago, my husband and I decided to move back to Dallas and I found my joy again. There are so many talented photographers in this area, many are friends that I admire. I have to admit at first I was intimidated, even though I had years of experience and this was my hometown I felt like I was starting from zero. I took a chance on myself and invested in some courses to help me find my style and to help with imposter syndrome (where even though you’ve done it for years you still don’t feel like you’re good enough). The courses really helped me and I feel more confident in my work. It took me a long time to get to where I am and I only regret not doing it sooner. I would have saved myself so many feelings of feeling inadequate. I put all my love into my work, I want people to love how they look in their images. Because I deal with my own insecurities, I take the time to find my clients best angle and make an effort to hype them up during their session so they can feel as confident as possible.

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 definitely take them to Margaret hunt Bridge so they could get a great city view. We could rent scooters and ride them through deep ellum to check out the amazing art down there and stop by at serious pizza and get emporium pies for dessert. I love going to the farmers market in Dallas to walk around and shop with our local vendors. The Mexican food trucks here in Dallas are amazing, still trying to try them all.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband. He’s always supported me. He bought me an upgraded camera for our anniversary, I cried. I had my eye on this camera for a while, but I didn’t believe in myself enough yet. I didn’t think I deserved it. He believed in me, even when I didn’t.

Website: www.winterlustphotography.com

Instagram: winterlust_pv

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