A Sunny Boating Night




So many memories. The wind blew into my eyes, and the afternoon heat warmed my skin, as the night took the day away from our eyes. It was all fun until the mosquitos came out! However, I've got a feeling my skin will become used to those blood suckers again.

I've been flying in and out of the Bahamas ever since I've left after graduation in 2006. My stays have grown short, until recent, because I've been booking more gigs to photograph for the fishing community. The first was to shoot baseball player Johnny Damon for a celebrity comedy fishing show, about six months ago. It was a blast; being on the water with great people made me feel like a kid again.

These photographs of moments from that night, takes you into an afternoon of my childhood lifestyle. Somedays after school, and most evenings of the summer, my friends and I took the boats out to sea to photograph. In the Bahamas, the water is all we have, we spent most of our time on the water; it's how we had fun. I feel fortunate, blessed and I'm thankful that I can still photograph on the water with friends as a part of my career. The best feeling is doing something that you love for work.

The power of photography is so amazing to me; you weren't there but my photographs takes you there, I hope you truly enjoy them. It's possible for you to do the same; my only advice to you remains the same: to hustle hard with your photography! If you love it then stick with it as I did. You'll be surprised to know how far it will take you. I'm still astonished of the great things my photography continues to do for me.

















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Follow Dwayne on Twitter: @DwayneTucker
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Teaching You How To PhotoHustle

I've added a new label (Photographers Tips To Learn - found on the
sidebar) of my blog. This collection builds a series of how to hustle and make money with your photography.

In my last post Camera and a Kayak I shared a photo exploration/ told you I go on photo-walks to prevent becoming overwhelm. It's a little ironic that I take pictures to get away from my photography. As a photographer you must always be shooting and always have a camera with you. Shooting more will help you become familiar with your camera and it will definitely improve the way you see things. However the most important thing for a photographer (other than composition development) is to learn mind control; controlling your own mindset.

Kevin's, Bruce Wayne by Day, Batman at Night, about routines segregations and tips for major success inspired me to write this article; from a photographers point of view.

Before I serve recipes that work for me, here's the appetizer: You must be a hustler in the photography industry and it's a must to hustle hard - if you want to make it big!

The Fork In The Road and Making Your Name

For starters, being a photographer is tough, but, I say the same about being a professional basketball player. The last three years I've read the gossip in our photography community (mainly the older photographers), talking about too many people are calling themselves photographers because of the affordability of SLR cameras. My logic remains: anyone can buy a basketball used in the NBA but it's what you do with the basketball that makes you the LeBron James and the Kobe Bryant; it's what you do with your camera that will make you the photographer you'll become.

If you are thinking about becoming a professional photographer you must really think about it and decide if this is what you want to do. Decisions are to be made from: I'm I willing to put the amount of time in that's needed (based on how quick you learn), I'm I willing to cut down other expenses to invest in my career (ended my long distance puppy love relationship; became expensive if you're coming into this game as broke as I once was) and is this something I'm really passionate about and want to making an awesome living from.

The decision were made now what?

From Kevin's article.

If Bruce Wayne had a clone with a camera, in the day, here's a list of things he would be doing and why: reading books and blogs, commenting on blogs, writing proposals, sharing your work and networking; shooting for 'overwhelm-symptom' prevention or shooting on set of your own photo shoot.

Reading books and blogs: You've made a decision of the lifestyle you want to live. My decision was to travel to tropical locations and photograph commercially for clients and photograph commercial lifestyle advertising for clothing brands (I'm writing this write now from my room overviewing the beautiful waters of the Bahamas - where I am from; here's a photograph I tweeted using Photo Booth and TwitPic for you to see). Most of the things I read are to help me stay updated of what's going on in the industries wether it's about business deals that are being made, events that's going on, books and blogs to help me photograph better for these clients, books and blogs to help me write better proposals/ pitch better to clients etc. Read books and blogs that will add value to your career. (Follow my blog now.)

Commenting on blogs: I comment on blogs for two reasons, it gets my name out to other photographers and it shows other photographers that I really care about the community. I think work should be critiqued. When I critique I leave detailed comments and I encourage people who are trying to keep trying to become better. (When you follow the blog, you'll see, when I share, sometime in the near (I didn't rhyme intentionally), a beautiful story about the best life changing comment I left on a blog. You never know what can happen in life. Explore (smartly) until you figure out.

Writing Proposals: You've decided that you want to make a living at being a photographer, you can make an easy living quickly if you became a wedding photographer. I have nothing against wedding photography (it's just not for me because of personal reasons). I said you can make an easy living quickly because people are always getting married. I wonder if there's such thing as a divorced photographer. If so you'll probably become a billionaire photographer very quickly now-a-days. Shout-out to all wedding photographers! Jasmine Star I see you!

Back to the proposals shall we - practice formatting your proposal to make deals (big deals = big money), I'm constantly pushing and editing proposals to help me explain myself clear to make deals quicker (show tell and show your client your vision; it's in your head now get it in theirs). If you want to make money you must communicate with your clients. (I'll post about in this new Photographers Tips To Learn section as well; look out for it when it comes.)

Sharing Your Work and Networking: In order to share work you must create work first. The best way to make a name for yourself is to let your work speak for itself. The only way to make your work say good things about you is to keep on shooting, practicing and editing; perfecting your photography. Networking for me all falls under: commenting on blogs, creating better work that people will spread word of mouth on and writing/sharing images via social media (if you're reading this now then I must be doing something good in my networking department) and finally attending events to Network. Photoshop World is coming up, I went last year but I'm not able to attend this year if you see Scott Kelby tell him I made you sign up and send a hello for me. (Click here for more information and to sign up for PSW)

If Batman had a clone with a camera; in the night, here's a list of things he would be doing and why: editing proposals for shipment and editing photos for shipment to appropriate destinations.

Daym we're back to proposals! It must be really important for a photographer. Yes it is. After you've edit your proposal, go back and edit again. I spend time writing my proposals making sure that I explain the value of my service to my client. I don't want my client to become less interested in my service because of silly grammatical mistakes. It takes a lot of work but we're all human, therefore we make mistakes. I make them here all the time on the blog and other places I write. I even make them in my twitter tweets at times. The simple answers to correcting your mistakes are: one, get someone to read what you write and the more you practice the better you'll become. (I make my computer read back to me as I follow along; explore the speech section if you have an Apple computer. It's in your system preferences.)

Both day and night you should always be thinking of new ideas and writing them down. On that note I'll end this with - Keep On Hustlin', stay creative, and I wish you the best of luck being a PhotoHustla!
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Follow Dwayne on Twitter: @DwayneTucker
Follow This Blog: Follow We Have Fun

Camera and a Kayak


My good friend Kevin Fleming, and writer of the blog ChangeTheWorld.me, wrote an article that inspired me to share this photo post of my adventure, kayaking in the Bahamas. Kevin's article was about routines that helps him succeed further as a serial entrepreneur. He shared a few pointers that helps him balance his lifestyle, in order to succeed, further, at being successful. 

The article also inspired my next article that will be sharing pointers/ going into detail sections of my operation as a photographer; the things I do to help me succeed further/ motivate my hustle. I hope you'll find my second article interesting, inspiring and motivating for you to continue hustling and exploring new ways for stacking and relaxing. You know how we do #TeamDT. We Hustle Hard and We Have Fun! 

At the end of the article he asked a question and I'm asking you, my readers - the TeamDT. players/ my top-sider riders/ my PhotoHustlaz the same, "Do you have a routine that you use to manage your life and daily workload?"

 I like to go on Photo Walks or little exploration adventures like these ones to escape/ avoid becoming overwhelm. 

Climb down the ladder with me and let's explore this canal with my camera and kayak. 


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Follow Dwayne on Twitter: @DwayneTucker
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GG - A Friend and Painter


GG is an awesome friend and painter living in Miami. I've photographed him a few times for personal portraits, press-release etc. These are some new images of GG for the new blog.

GG's always pushing and striving to become better at what he does; he along with my other friend Greg (another painter, from London in Miami). We're workaholics because we love doing what we do. The three of us feeds off of each others energy, passion and desire to grow within out industries. Surround yourself with great company is something you want to start/ continue doing; don't forget to have fun either! That's my best advice to you.

Do you have people you surround yourself with that motivates you and wants you to improve?

I hope you enjoy these photographs of my friend. I became a collector of his work, I own a few pieces for my condo; if you want to see his paintings visit: GGArtwork

DT. Tha Hustla

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Follow Dwayne on Twitter: @DwayneTucker

Somethin' Bonefishy


Andros, Bahamas' Mount Pleasant Fishing Lodge asked me to photograph for them. The task was simple; my project was to photograph images that illustrates a fishing experience at the lodge via still photography. Now that the project is done, their potential clients are able to see what a fishing trip is like at Mt. Pleasant Fishing Lodge. They also asked me to capture images for print advertising. The photograph above and the photographs below are images I photographed for you, my blog readers, showing you the early morning travels from the car, plane to an island, an island to a plane, to a taxi, to a boat all to photograph one project. The images shows you a sample of my trip and allows you to shadow my assistant and I getting to, and finishing a project for Mt. Pleasant Fishing Lodge. At the very end of the post are final products for the lodge's advertising. (Click the link if you'd like to sample a Mt. Pleasant Fishing Lodge Fishing Trip Experience.)

 Shout-out to all of my #TeamDT. players shooting their shots wearing Sperry Top-siders! They are my favorite shoes to hustle in because they are comfortable and classy. Get you some foo'! This wont be the first time you spot a Sperry on the blog!

From 11th grade (2005) I've been exploring the world of advertising and the mind of David Ogilvy. I started my photography because I liked the photography I saw used in advertisements. I still get excited browsing advertising photography (I usually browse adsoftheworld.com). I'm more excited now that we are producing advertising photography of our own; PFYDT. and #TeamDT. standup! 

If you are a young photographer out there, or a TeamDT. player reader, or a PhotoHustla, here are few tips for you how I handle photography deals to make the process of making these images easier (remember the goal is to work and have fun and not work and be stressed/bored). I operate in three production stages. Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production (follow this blog and you'll notice that I'll be mentioning these a lot); I'll explore the topics briefly for you.

Pre-Production: Plan with the client the objectives via proposals and contracts. Do your personal planning what gear you'll use, how will you get to the location, who will you take, what will you need etc.

Production: This is the actual shoot, stick to the objective/ photo-brief; make-sure you get what the client wants and experiment with your own ideas after the goals are met. Most important to making great photos - have fun. The day go by better when the clients and production members feels your positive energy. It's something's bothering you before the shoot put it in the FTSB (Funk-That-Shyt-box).

Post-Production: Here's where you do your editing and delivery, make sure everything you've proposed is completed. Here is where you want to make your client smile.



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Follow Dwayne on Twitter: @DwayneTucker