Carlos Cortes was born the only son of single mother Dominga Cortes. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois in the late 70s and has one older sister. His desire for story telling peaked his interest in cameras at a very young age. In third grade he carried a Kodak camera to school everyday. He later convinced the schools principal to allow him to take the class photos for the entire school. He went on to manage his high school television department that was responsible for broadcasting all sporting events for the school. He attended Southern Illinois University. After receiving an undergraduate degree in Television Production, he accepted an offer from Cable News Network, and moved to Atlanta, to work at CNN headquarters. After a couple years, he moved to Los Angeles to become an independent contractor. Since then, his client list includes NBC, DISNEY, TRIBUNE, EXTRA, MTV, THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL, US ARMY, FOX, and the NFL Network. As a photographer for KTLA in Los Angeles, he captured his first Emmy in 2012, and won two more in 2013, and a fourth in 2016. After 10 years in Los Angeles, Carlos accepted a Network job at CBS NEWS as a National Photographer.  He is a proud father of 3 boys and one gi