In 2010, William Orsua moved to Vancouver from Prince George to pursue his career as a respiratory therapist. And like any significant move, it required packing, purging and cash.
As part of the move, William put his car up for sale. He found a buyer, but there was a snag.
“The guy buying the car was short $500,” William says. “And he said, ‘How about if I pay you with a camera?’ And then I said, “Uh, I’m really not into photography. So, let me think about it.’ Because I needed money to move. So, I checked out the camera he was selling, and to my surprise, it was almost $2,500. So, I said, ‘Okay, I’ll take it.’ And the rest is history.”
Growing the hobby
William’s move to Vancouver was for a job in his field of respiratory therapy. Previously, his education and work have carried him from the Philippines to Australia to Canada. But in coming to Vancouver, now with a high-quality camera in hand, William found the opportunity to try something new.
He started to play around with his new camera, learning about it and shooting everything he could. He took classes, joined up with other people and learned online.
“I just found it a passion that I fell in love with,” William says. “I had a few hobbies before, but just kind of start and do it for a while and it just subsides, right? But when I found photography, I was just very excited every day to follow with my camera and do photography.”
Going for a walk in his neighbourhood or getting away into nature brought William closer to landscape photography. It became his time to get away from the business of life and reflect.
And others started to take notice.
He entered his photographs into contests and won more than a few. And from there, he started to take a hobby and turn it into a profession.
“My name started to get known in landscape photography,” he says. “I post quite a bit of my photos on social media and get contacts like that. Sometimes, my photos get featured. So, that’s how everything started into landscape. And then, I met a friend, and they ran a photography company. They named me one of their photographers.”
Two full-time jobs
While landscape gave William an outlet for creativity, the inclusion of portraiture and wedding photography truly helped it grow into a business.
William started Soul Mate Productions, his own photography studio that brought his aesthetic landscape eye to photographing people.
But he is never far away from his passion for landscape.
“I do landscape on the side. In order for me to continue photography, I needed to earn money because I have three kids, and it’s expensive in Vancouver. I wouldn’t be able to sustain it.”
But he has also found a way to make landscape profitable in addition to art shows and contests.
“Almost every season, I do a photo tour where I immerse myself in the landscape. I bring people with me on photo tours. They pay me a certain amount, and I get to do my landscape. I get to share my skill. I get to meet a lot of amazing people. And then I create amazing shots.”
William’s photo tours have taken him to far places such as Norway and Bolivia. He has also toured extensively throughout North America and Asia. It allows him to continue exploring his love of landscape photography while passing down his knowledge to others.
By Nathan Durec
William recently showed his work at Art Vancouver 2024. Further examples can be found on his website, https://soulmateproductions.ca/about.
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