When Trevor Castillo, now 21, was about seven or eight years old, his grandparents bought him a Cannon point and shoot camera. This was his first time experimenting with a creative medium and he became overjoyed with photographing anything and everything he could. His passion even led to him showcasing his work in art competitions at his elementary school.
As Trevor grew older, so did his love for photography, evolving alongside new technology at his fingertips. With the gift of his first smartphone, he frequently experimented with different angles and compositions which led him to taking landscape photos. He also taught himself how to use different editing techniques to further enhance his work. “I made super bad over saturated photos for a while,” Trevor reminisces with a laugh.
Through this period of exploration and learning, a friend took notice of his love for photography and recommended that he meet the photography teacher at their school. His friend, already in the class, encouraged him to enroll during his second year of high school. Embracing the opportunity, Trevor enrolled, marking the beginning of a journey that would shape his future in profound ways.
Guided by the wisdom and mentorship of his teacher, Trevor took the leap into buying his first DSLR camera for his photography, finding solace and expression in the art of portraiture. "I think that was kind of my first creative outlet that I had because I've never been able to draw or play music…" reflects Trevor, acknowledging the significance of photography in shaping his identity and channeling his creativity.
For years, portraits remained Trevor's specialty, each frame evolving his skills and artistic visions. However, it wasn't until 2022 that his journey took an unexpected turn, throwing him into the heart of Reno's music scene.
It all began with a simple inquiry from a local music artist seeking a photographer for an upcoming concert. Despite having never experienced a local show before, Trevor seized the opportunity and found himself at The Holland Project, a local venue located in Midtown.
A photo of Noah Linker at the Holland Project.
“That made me feel really cool and I really enjoyed taking the photos, even though it really wasn’t a show that I would go to normally” says Trevor after the music artist graciously thanked him for his photos.
Intrigued by the music community and the joy of capturing moments in time, Trevor found himself drawn back to The Holland Project, this time not just as a photographer, but as a volunteer eager to immerse himself in new experiences that would help him improve and adapt his skills.
For the next three months, Trevor frequented The Holland Project, attending every single show the venue announced. Armed with his camera and fueled by his passion for music and photography, he captured memories and moments unfolding on stage.
As Trevor's presence at The Holland Project became recurrent, he began to form deeper connections with the local music community, befriending musicians and bands who sought his creative eye. What started as a simple inquiry from a music artist blossomed into a symbiotic relationship, with Trevor becoming an integral part of Reno's vibrant music scene.
Through the friendships he made he gained new opportunities to travel outside of Reno and explore other music scenes, bands, and experiences. He toured with the local band, Charity Kiss, as well as others and took photos that would help launch him into another new opportunity, photographing music festivals.
Photos of Charity Kiss.
“Getting to travel for it is really cool and getting to tour and meet other people and other photographers in other scenes is just…it's an awesome time and something I’ve really enjoyed doing these past couple of years” Trevor says.
His journey reached a pivotal moment in May of 2023, when he attended his first music festival as a photographer. Entranced by the environment and sounds, Trevor knew he had found his calling. Eager to continue his newfound pursuit, he set his sights on photographing more festivals, beginning with Sacramento's Aftershock.
“I figured that one was close enough. It was an easy drive” says Trevor as he immediately began looking for smaller music artists he could photograph in the small fonts that were posted in Aftershock flyers. He first read over the names, in search for one that sounded familiar when he stumbled upon a band from Colorado named Fox Lake.
Surf Curse band.
He enjoyed listening to their music and had discovered them only a few months prior. Motivated to fulfill his goal of photographing another music festival he found their Instagram and sent them a direct message asking if they needed a photographer for their upcoming gig. Sure enough, they did, and Trevor drove two hours to Sacramento to get his “artists pass.” This pass would give him access to the smaller stages at Aftershock as well as the opportunity to photograph multiple live bands. However, he wondered if his pass could get him into the bigger photo pits.
“I felt like I was going to try to push those boundaries a little bit” he said as he anxiously tried to think of a way to convince security to let him in. His main concern was having to push past thousands of people waiting to see bigger bands in order to get to the very front. However, Trevor got lucky and with only ten minutes until showtime he found a spot next to the barrier and waited there. Security saw his artists pass and allowed him to enter the designated media area.
Photos of local clothing entrepreneur Bella McMinn.
There, he got to work alongside other experienced photographers and capture breathtaking moments only ten ft away from some of his favorite bands. One of those bands being Turnstile. He was grateful that his luck allowed him to push the boundaries of his media pass and gave him the opportunity to expand on his skills. Trevor says that’s what you have to do, push the limits and chase after your aspirations.
When he first started sharing his work with the community he created the Instagram username, shotbytrevor which was inspired by his friend who was also a photographer at the time. He says the social media account initially started as a way to post his pictures and tag them for potential clients to see. “It’s something that’s sort of turned into a brand” Trevor says with a shocked expression.
He never would have imagined that his username would become a title of recognition around Reno. Trevor says that people may not know him directly, but once someone mentions his Instagram handle, it sparks recognition in the community because so many people are familiar with his hard work.
“I think it’s really cool that people can recognize my work outside of recognizing me,” Trevor says. He says that Reno has been a real home to him. It has fostered him throughout his passion and allowed him to grow into the photographer he is today. While many people are eager to leave Reno in pursuit of bigger cities such as New York, or Los Angeles, to help grow their art, Trevor says that he is more than happy to stay in the Biggest Little City.
Dog Dog
This is because Trevor believes that there is a lot of untapped creativity in the local community. He says that there is an abundance of creative and talented people who, if they worked together, could eventually put Reno on the map as a space that can produce incredible music, photos, digital art, really any creative medium you can think of.
Reno has significantly influenced his creativity because of the unique art style the city holds. “There’s no pressure and there’s no real style to where we’re at” Trevor says. He further explains how you can tell if an art piece is from Los Angeles or a bigger art city but Reno is far more eccentric. Trevor says that a lot of people in Reno do their own thing. Meaning they create art that’s individual to them leading to an undefined art style in the community. Therefore allowing a breath of fresh air for anyone seeking inspiration for new and creative masterpieces.
Trevor’s photos can be different from others but still appreciated for that very reason. When he first began his photography journey he didn’t pull a certain influence or style from anyone around him. He experimented and created until he found a style unique to him and his visions.
Trevor has also started more and more work in video, including working on music videos for Worm Shot, helping produce a vibrant pink-themed video for the band’s new hit song, “Dream Girl.”
He expresses that videography is very different from photography but nonetheless he wanted to give it a try.
It’s been a super big transition from photos to film Trevor shares, but he says teaming up with talented and experienced people certainly helped.
As far as other local bands go, Trevor says he owes a big thanks to Charity Kiss for being some of his first real friends in the band scene as well as Wyatt Ziegler from the band, Dog Dog, who is also an audio engineer. “We’re not in it for the money, but for the passion of it” Trevor says. Which is why Trevor is happy to be a part of Free The Youth. A D.I.Y. music collective that aims to give smaller music artists a chance at sharing their talent to the world.
Behind the scenes of a Worm Shot music video.
The collective originally started in California. Specifically in Santa Cruz and Los Angeles but it reached Trevor’s radar about two years ago. He met the guys who ran it because they had booked a show for Charity Kiss. Trevor was intrigued and said that he really liked what they stood for as well as their D.I.Y. approach to music as a whole. He started collaborating with them and began making “tiny desk concerts.”
Essentially, videos of live music in places you wouldn’t typically expect to see a band perform. This gave viewers and fans a more intimate one on one experience with the band they were viewing. However, Trevor eventually grew bored of this idea and pitched something new and refreshing. He talked to the band Mom Cars, who agreed to play music on the side of the highway. Initially Trevor wasn’t sure if this idea would pan out, but he says it came out a million times better than anyone could have ever imagined.
He shares this story with pride as he is happy to help Free The Youth’s mission statement of helping small bands, such as Mom Cars, with 20.9k monthly listeners on Spotify and 59.8k followers on Instagram, share their music and personalities with new people and music scenes.
Trevor encourages anyone who is curious or interested in getting involved in the photography scene to just do it. Go shoot pictures and videos of anything and everything. Bring any camera you have access to, whether that’s your phone camera, a disposable camera or a more professional one, and have fun. He also says that local shows are a great place to adapt your skills. Just remember to be respectful of the band that's playing and the people that are there.
When immersing yourself in local shows Trevor also recommends talking to the people around you. Approach other’s with a camera and ask for advice. Really take advantage of the resources the biggest little city has to offer. “It’s a very welcoming community, I've found out. Even though it seems a little intimidating and standoffish, I promise it’s not” says Trevor who shares that the community is always welcoming new people who want to create the same art that they do.