Today we’d like to introduce you to Fernando Nevarez.
Hi Fernando, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
This is a pretty long story, but I guess the best place to start is where it began. I grew up in a very small town in Idaho called, “Ashton”. The population is about 1,000 people. To give a general location, it’s a town in-between West Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Beautiful area and the best place for any type of photography. I had grown up with friends skating, snowboarding, or any activity. I knew I wanted to capture the moment with my friends so I borrowed my family’s handheld recorder.
It took tiny VHS tapes and from there I would use a converter to transfer any type of video to our laptop. I didn’t have any idea what I was doing but I knew these were the moments I wanted to capture. After high school, I didn’t take the traditional route of going to college to study. Looking back would have made sense especially since I was starting my interest in content creation. Instead of that, I decided to go into wildland firefighting for the Forest Service. I did about 2 seasons with a type 2 I-A hand crew and in between seasons I worked at Bear Mountain Resort in California on their park crew.
During my season at Bear Mountain, I was severely injured. I ruptured my spleen. Some might think I hit a tree or ran into someone but it was actually on a down rail doing a very basic trick. I slipped out of the trick and fell onto the rail. Better known as a “taco” where you fold completely over the rail making it look like a taco. When I gathered myself, I knew something wasn’t right so I rode down to the base and took my snowboard off. I lived right across the resort so I started making my way to my studio apartment. As I walked, I began to feel a little off. I felt nausea and a burning in my stomach. I’ll skip this part to save those who don’t like bodily fluids. Anyway, once I gathered myself, someone, to this day I have no idea who they are or their name but they came over to see if I was okay. They knew I wanted and took me to first aid.
From there it went downhill, no pun intended, very fast. I was transferred to the hospital where I was given the news, that I had lacerated my spleen. A type 4 laceration meaning I was slowly but surely internally bleeding to death unless taken care of. From there, I was life-flighted to a trauma center. Fast forward a bit I never went into surgery once I landed as the surgeon saw that my injury could heal on its own. I was in intensive care for about 3 days and on my last day, the hospital and doctors deemed it was okay to let me go as they saw no need for me to stay. Disclaimer again, this is a pretty rough story so I understand if people skip ha. Trust me all of these are key moments to where I am today. Since I was being let go or discharged, I began to prep my stuff to get out.
My mom and dad were there with me so I did have a ride out. As I was getting ready, I started to hear a ringing in my ears. Almost like a dog whistle. I called for my dad and when I saw him, I went out like a light. The next thing I remember is waking up on the hospital bed and being rushed into surgery. After that, a mask was placed on me, and was told to count from 100 to zero. If you’ve ever had surgery no one ever gets passed 98. About 1 week later, I woke up. I was placed in a medically induced coma. After waking up, I was told what had happened and that I had flat-lined, or died, on the table for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. This was a major shock as I don’t remember anything but being in a dark room. A very dark room where I could only see about 1 foot in front of me. I was in the hospital for about a month before being let go.
My recovery was 6 months which placed me in time for the start of fire season. I did go back but was not on the same crew. I was on a fuels crew, which is still a similar job but without being on a fire. Since I knew some people, I was able to detail or get on a few fires. During that season I had talked to a lot of people who have been in the game a lot longer. I asked the same question every time, “Is it worth it to stay in the long run?” A lot of responses were yes, one person I talked to said no. He knew me from my first season and he said, “This job isn’t for you Fernando.” In no way did he mean it in a mean way but he knew I had potential. Potential to do great things and go to great places. Once I finished the season, I went back to Bear Mountain. It was almost like I had unfinished business. Well, push comes to shove and I had more complications internally.
I was put back into the hospital, not due to an injury but because of my previous injury. It had created complications inside of me so I was out again. I was beyond sad and mad. To the point where I questioned everything in my life, my faith, my choices. I just couldn’t understand why me. I was only a 20-year-old kid. With all this questioning during my recovery, I spoke with one of my childhood best friends, Josh who lived in Ogden and was going to Weber State. Quick shout out to him because honestly if it wasn’t for him talking to me, I would never have made it out to Utah. During our conversation, he told me to come visit him in Ogden and take a tour of Weber. I had never been there. I’ve only ever driven past it.
During a weekend I came to visit and he gave me a full tour of Ogden, Weber, and all that it has to offer. I was honestly inspired. A cool town that has everything that I enjoy, Snowboarding, Skateboarding, fishing, and so much more. It only made sense to move and go to Weber. With that, I had to figure out what I wanted to study. I originally applied to the Athletic training program. I did not enjoy it one bit. I learned a lot but it just wasn’t my thing. I would talk to Josh on campus as he was in his final years during my first year. He mentioned, why don’t you go into what you loved to do growing up? Film and photography. So, I looked into the programs that Weber offered and I applied. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Communication with an emphasis in digital media.
This is pretty much-tying videography, photography, and anything within this realm. During my time at Weber, I joined the snowboard club and became their photographer/videographer. I was on the athletics film crew, filming all the basketball games, football games, and other sports when I could fit the time. I also helped fellow friends and classmates with their film projects. As I continued, I met many more people who enjoyed my content and style of content creation. One door closed and another opened. I was growing and learning so much! Once I was established, I knew I had to continue and so I did. With all that, this is me today. Thank you to those who helped me along the way, you know who you are.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Ha, a smooth road? Not one bit…with every door closing and another opening means that the in-between that door is a very unknown type of road. I never knew what was going to hit me next or if I was going to fall into a hole and never get out. I had my fair share of falling or struggling. Being a full-time student, a full-time employee, and pushing to be a full-time photographer/videographer burned me out very fast.
The biggest struggle was being confident and finding the motivation at the end of the day to create. I would have a bad day at work and that would just not make me want to go out and create. Same if I had a bad day at school. It was just tough because it felt like I was falling back into the questioning of why me? Or should I even do this anymore?
It’s what we call life.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Well besides the obvious. I am a photographer & Videographer. I specialize in landscape, portraits, products, & action. I’m not sure what I am known for yet in my work. Scratch that, I had this conversation with my wife the other day. I think the best thing I am known for is my originality in my work. Whenever I take a photo or video, I make it my own. It has its spice I would say hahaha. I would say the thing I am most proud of is how I created myself to be the photographer/videographer I am today.
I am unique to me and those who have ever worked with me. I think what sets me apart from others is how much I care for my work. I’m not just capturing another image or video. I’m capturing a moment in time that my clients will forever have with them. It’s the emotion that was there that day and the feeling. I want everyone who ever works with me to remember that day as if was happening again right in front of them.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Not being scared. I wouldn’t say I have reached success just yet. But to not be scared is what is going to push me to get there.
Also, I know that within myself I am original to who I am because, in my own opinion, those who are successful are those who are true to themselves and original.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nandonevarez221.wixsite.com/nevarezstudios?fbclid=PAAablVMxDVVj8WsY18rUFu9tcKezIoFMt6MozZAphl72fwVKHidWahYIf2p8_aem_AWHhM6XzFn0lnJ6xqkaY3RWuLDutnPCTMJjnH49jI5nIxwRDxUo5cDci9Y3jgtZsqw0
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/_fernandonevarez?igshid=MzMyNGUyNmU2YQ==
Image Credits
Noah Gelfman and Tristan Sadler
