Story & Lesson Highlights with Ted Rigoni of Central Orange County

We recently had the chance to connect with Ted Rigoni and have shared our conversation below.

Ted, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
I recently attended an astro photography class hosted by Cody York and Dreamland Safari Tours to the Kanab, Utah area. Our group completed imaging of the Milky Way for the night and agreed it was time to head back via the somewhat difficult trail to our transport vehicles. I was interested in shooting star trails featuring our dramatic geologic formation in the foreground, and of course, with star trails in the back. I convinced one of the host drivers to stay behind for the few hours it would take me to collect my images. Anybody who’s familiar with imaging star trails knows it is often a solitary pursuit, as any superfluous light can ruin an imaging sequence. Since it was just me, I found my composition, set the timer, did roughly 2 hours of star trail photos, a long exposure foreground image, and then we hightailed back to the vehicle. This was by no means my first star trail imaging attempt, but after post, I realized it has become one of my favorites. All because I was willing to ask for something out of the norm and to trust my technical knowledge and emotional intelligence to carry it off. And I did!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a retired engineer of nearly 40 years of crunching numbers, preparing for meetings, working on multiple projects, dealing with the uncertainties of politics and all of the attendant stress. I loved the people I worked with and considered them my day family, spending 10 or more hours a day with them. I also enjoyed the creativity of the work and the challenge of finding the fastest, best and cheapest solutions for sometimes daunting issues, problems and projects. All that set me up for my second career, one of landscape and sports photography. I remember pursuing images of our family dogs as a young teen, in the days of black and white film, using real point and shoot, film cameras, where light was controlled by the time of day, environmental conditions and ISO (ASA) of the film. I never stopped photographing, yet it lost its importance in my pursuit of the almighty dollar. As I neared the end of my engineering career, I ramped up my sports imaging and had my ‘aha’ moment while covering a cross country meet at sundown. I remember thinking, “Wow, this is so cool, this is art!,” and that significantly changed my focus and altered my photography path. I love to travel by car, and I began attending landscape workshops, taking in-person and online seminars, and traveling throughout the western US, sometimes as much as 90 days a year, which I still do to this day.

My calling card is, “Imaging in lonely, forgotten and abandoned places;” and, “The American west is my studio.” I believe this and I live this. But I don’t just do landscape imaging. For a number of years, I averaged about 140 prep sport events per year, although I’ve cut back on this excess lately, as it limits the amount of traveling I can do each month. I’m also dabbling in abstract, minimalism, street and event photography as well. And, as my landscape aesthetic matures, I find my images and my ideas about imaging is maturing in parallel.

I am always pursuing new ideas for my personal brand of photography and trying to flesh out old projects to get them to the state of public showing. I’ve been fortunate to have three different projects that have shown as solo exhibitions in public venues, including Oxidized!, Bygone Patterns, and Emotive Dominion, my current project. My Emotive Dominion project has already shown in two venues and will be exhibiting at the Los Angeles Art Association in June/ July 2026. This represents a seven (7) year study of the emotions of athletes as expressed by the actions of their hands. I came to realize while working on Emotive Dominion that absent the obvious size, strength and physical differences, there really is no difference between premier athletes of any gender when it comes to their efforts, passion, talents and will to win. In fact, the gender of the athletes in many of my images cannot be decisively determined, by intention; by my view, the essence of competition is fundamentally gender neutral. I am looking for future venues to display Emotive Dominion, so if anyone reading this knows of a potentially good fit, please reach out.

I’m also working on expanding my website by adding additional collections, fleshing out several books I’d like to self-publish, and new projects that address our changing environment using atmospheric conditions to highlight those changes. And travel, yes travel, hopefully at least one week a month until my vehicle runs out of petrol. Whew, plenty to do!

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Blindly pursuing personal or selfish goals can often deter one from the collective efforts or needs of a team. As a former Division Manager, I learned the value of individuals and teams working together to achieve a common goal—the sum is almost always bigger than its parts. I also learned that success is not guaranteed and that a genuine expression of apology backed by tangible efforts to rectify an issue is the first step in restoring trust and bonds—whether at work or in our personal lives.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering in the form of failing at a task, a service, a deliverable or relationship can be a great motivator insofar as the individual is willing not to experience that event again. Further, failure can also help to educate an individual if they are willing to be circumspect, discerning, and to look inward, be honest, and recognize why failure occurred. I learned this lesson in a hard way when I held onto a job/ position longer than I should have. And it wasn’t until after I left that I had the clarity to realize that perhaps I was not well-suited to that particular endeavor at that time, and moving on was a good thing, granting myself a chance to reset, to re-align my future goals, and to achieve a form of harmony which was then missing in my day to day life.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I am hard-wired as a goal driven person, and when I set my sights upon an endeavor, in almost all cases it will be done. I am introspective enough to admit that while the goal may be the ultimate destination, the process and day to day accomplishments are just as important to the overall success of any endeavor. Maybe not as envisioned or on the original timeframe, but when I decide to pursue a photographic project, I will complete it—unless of course, my direction is changed in the pursuit by superseding information or a newer project. I’m not being disingenuous here, there are so many things I want to do that I have to occasionally parse my time and say no to requests or opportunities that arise. Changing direction and resetting the zero may be temporary setbacks but often lead to a better outcome.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. When do you feel most at peace?
This is an easy one to answer. When I am in the environment, usually solo, walking around my destination, open to whatever photographic opportunities come my way. I feel so free and alive in these moments and I strive to repeat the conditions and locations that lead to such feelings as often as I can. Whether capturing a stunning sunrise over the Mojave, strolling through the fog-shrouded Redwoods, walking along our gorgeous Pacific Northwest beaches, pursuing solitary milky way and star trail images, all give me inner satisfaction and fill my creative cup. It’s like I have sole authority to do whatever imaging I want, where I want, when I want, for as long as I want and within reason, no one can tell me otherwise. That’s what I strive for and what I seek.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tedrigoniarts.com
• Instagram: @tedrigoni_photography
• Linkedin: Ted Rigoni
• Facebook: Ted Rigoni; Ted Rigoni Arts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP-X6NjG37w&t=7s

Image Credits
No external credits. All images are the sole intellectual property of myself, Ted Rigoni.