The person behind the lens
Hey, I'm Richie.
Founder of Orlando Photoworks. UCF alum. 13 years making photos worth keeping.
Founder of Orlando Photoworks. UCF alum. 13 years making photos worth keeping.
You've scrolled past thousands of photos. Most of them register as "nice" and disappear. But every once in a while one stops you — and you can't quite explain why. You just feel it.
That's what you're after. Not just technically correct photos, but images that hold something real. Something you'll still want on your wall, in your album, or on your desk five years from now.
That's been my standard since before I was getting paid for this. And it's why I still care as much about your session as I did about my very first one.
She moved here from South America, leaving her family and everything familiar behind. Growing up, I watched how much photographs meant to her — not as decoration, but as a lifeline.
Before FaceTime. Before Instagram. A printed photo was her only way to "see" her family between visits. Each image held a story, a memory, an emotion she couldn't reach any other way. The photo wasn't just a picture — it was proof that the people she loved were real and still there.
That stayed with me.
My first camera was a 35mm at summer camp, where I also learned to develop film in a darkroom. Back home, I practiced on the family's Canon Rebel. At UCF I finally bought my own, and became that friend who always had it in hand. Eventually people started paying me — and I realized this could be a career.
Looking back at those early shoots makes me laugh. I wasn't great yet. But my friends showed up anyway. And I'm forever grateful for that.
Thirteen years and hundreds of sessions later, I still remember what my mom's photos meant to her. It's still the thing that drives me to make every frame count.
The best sessions don't feel like photo sessions. My job isn't to direct you into poses or count down to a "say cheese." It's to make you comfortable enough that the real you shows up — and then capture that.
For business clients, that means images that actually look like you — not a stock-photo version of a professional. For families and couples, it means photos that still make you laugh or catch your breath a decade later.
I truly value every client and remember every shoot. The connections we make during a session, the real moments I get to witness from behind the camera — that's what this work is about for me.
I'd be honored to create display-worthy images with you.
Wouldn't trade these moments for anything.