How It All Started: My Passion for Photography

Photography has always been a passion of mine. Ever since I can remember, I've always loved cameras, taking photos and making videos. I have a very distinct core memory of my childhood and how we always used our family's old video recorder and film camera. We had a huge vintage suitcase filled with hundreds of negatives and photo prints with handwritten names, dates and locations in the back, and I always absolutely loved to open that luggage and look at all of them. Sometimes I would wake up to my mother flipping through those photos herself, and I loved to join and ask who those people in the photos were, hear their stories and how we were related to them.

Prints and negatives were so fun to interact with, but the new technology era came, and with that came our first family digital camera. Oh my God, how I loved that digital camera. That little Kodak piece of technology was so cool to me and I wanted to take it everywhere and capture everything. I took so many photos with that camera in the early 2000's. Photos of me, my family, my friends in school, and mostly of my cat, I must admit.

I didn't have an actual "professional" camera until later on, around 2013. Someone I was close to at the time got a red Canon PowerShot that looked like a DSLR, but with no detachable lens. I went absolutely bananas with that camera. I started taking pictures of everything everywhere all the time, and I could not get enough of it. The concept of freezing a moment and saving those memories forever has always had a big impact on me. I finally asked for my own camera for my birthday, and I was gifted the Nikon D3100, with a 18-55mm lens. It is a very entry level, beginner camera and lens kit, but as my friend Ally always says, it's not the camera that makes the photographer, it's their vision and their creativity. You don't need the most expensive piece of equipment to start, and that is okay.

My sweet Nikon friend has served me for 10 years, and has seen and lived through so much. It has gone through many of my niche phases, and with my new 50mm prime lens (the famous nifty fifty every photographer loves) I started taking photos of women, newborns, families, couples, architecture, food and more. I've tried all the niches (at least that's what I thought), and honestly, I never fell in love with any of them. I enjoyed the fun of it and the pure feeling of freezing a special moment, but when I saw myself having to photograph things I didn't want to when I didn't want to do, it was all too hard and I crumbled.

The tipping point for me was during a female portrait session. I had found this amazing female portrait photographer and I was just so in love with his work, the feeling behind the photos, the emotions, the editing, the colours. I even took a very expensive course with this photographer, and tried so hard to like doing those types of sessions. I lied to myself and tried to fake it until I made it type of thing. But because I didn't like it, I never actually tried to get clients and practice. Because of that, I never properly grew my work, and it all made me feel like I wasn't good enough.

I eventually concluded photography was just going to be that thing that I did in my personal life, at home, with my pets and my family, during trips, special moments and simple daily moments as well. I completely gave up trying to make it a business because the pressure was too much for me. By the time I immigrated to Winnipeg, Canada in the end of 2018, I had decided I was never going to try working with photography again. And that's what happened for the first 4 years I lived here. I definitely used my Nikon here and there, but I was so disappointed with photography I barely took any photos during that time (apart again, from the millions of photos of my cat).

I finished college as a Business Administration graduate with a Major in Marketing, and started working at a content marketing company. After a couple years at it, I started to feel a void and being really unhappy. There was something missing, and I couldn't figure out what is was. It really started to impact my mental health, and I felt stuck in that job with nothing else to show for myself. I finally turned back to photography and my Nikon companion, mostly taking it outside on trips and capturing moments with loved ones. But I wanted more. I thought "I love it so much, why can't I work with it?". I was always very shy with people, so I thought maybe photographing food and products would be a good transition for me. That didn't last very long. My sparkle was still missing and I couldn't figure out why. Eventually I understood the missing piece was emotion. I couldn't see it in products and food, and it was all too static and boring to me.

I don't know how, but I stumbled across a Canadian pet photographer called Keegan, from Floofy Studios, and her story inspired me. She was unhappy at her 9-5 job, and took a chance with dog photography. She was able to become a full time pet photographer and I just had one of those "aha moments" right there and then. I immediately grabbed a black blanket, put it up and grabbed my 2 cats Maple and Barney to photograph. They were the first models of Isa Pacheco Photography, and the photos above were the photos I took that day!

Our First Event in October 2022! Halloween Themed Photoshoot at Pet Valu Transcona

After that, it all happened so organically and naturally, I still can't believe it's true. Nico, my partner, joined me in this journey and we started calling rescues to ask if they needed volunteer photographers. We wanted to practice, build a portfolio, and if we could help at the same time, that would be the perfect scenario! One of the rescues we contacted was Penny's All Breed Animal Rescue, and they were actually looking for a photographer to help with their Halloween event and fundraiser. That was October 2022, and our first ever work as pet photographers. I worked really hard to create a website before the day of the event, and everything worked out for us. That day at Pet Valu Transcona, where the event was taking place, was so much fun I immediately new this was it. I had found it.

The end of 2022 was crazy, but it was a good kind of crazy. We decided to open sessions for the Christmas season, and absolutely all the spots were taken. We couldn't believe it. The season was a success and from that moment on, we have been capturing images of dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and more around Winnipeg. Animals have such a particular energy to them that is so pure, that even though it is a very tiring job after a long day photographing multiple pets, it is so incredibly rewarding.

We have since had the pleasure to work with many amazing clients and their wonderful pets or, how I like to say, best furry friends. We have also had the honour to volunteer with other rescues, such as Tails of Freedom Rescue, many times through multiple events at Pet Valu Transcona, Rivergrove and our most common location, Pet Valu Osborne. And there is definitely more to come! Volunteering our skills to help our pet community is very special.

In the end, I finally found my photography niche. Something that doesn't take energy away from me, but instead fills me with incredible excitement and love. Being a studio and lifestyle pet photographer mixes everything I love: animals, and the art of freezing moments forever. I truly feel honoured to be a part of multiple family's photo albums, and maybe one day, years and years from now, our clients' children will go through the photos we took and fall in love with the art of photography just like I did when I was that little kid flipping through the negatives in our family's photo suitcase.