Name: Dwayne Tucker
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
Hometown: Nassau, Bahamas
Relationship Status: Free for the ladies
Current City: Miami,fl
Occupation: Photographer
“If photography were a woman I would marry her.”
Yes, said by Dwayne Tucker himself. If that doesn't give you an idea of how much he loves what he does then you should probably keep reading this. Even though he has no intentions of getting married at age 22, he would make an exception for Ms. Photography.
The Bahamian-born and now Miami-based photographer started experimenting with Cameras since his High School years, which was when he discovered his passion. From being the president of the Photography/ Yearbook club to now photographing the things he loves; there's no doubt that commercial lifestyle advertising and sports photographer Dwayne Tucker is heading to the right direction and I can't wait to see what 2011 will offer him.
It was tough to find the time to interview him because of busy schedules, but luckily, we found a way to make it happen. Here are some of the questions I asked him:
Olga Briceno: How long have you been living in Miami? and Why did you decide to move here?
Dwayne Tucker: I've been living in Miami for 2 1/2 years now. Before Miami I lived in Savannah, Georgia, where I went to “Savannah College of Art and Design.” I moved to Miami because it was much easier to get back and forward to Bahamas ( was an awesome school though - I studied advertising design).
OB: That’s Great. That’s an outstanding Art School.
OB: Are you currently enrolled in school here?
DT: I'm still enrolled but currently not in. My school is Miami International University of Art and Design. Opportunity is in my face but I still do a few classes here and there.
OB: Are you a self-taught photographer or did you have a mentor?
DT: Both. I started photographing in high school. At that time I was only shooting in jpg vs shooting in raw. Now as well as shooting in automatic than compared to shooting manual now.
I also used to read a ton of websites, watch a ton of “youtube” videos and I took a class about photography at SCAD. The majority to the self-teaching was saying: "Oh, this works when I do this. Oh, that didn't work doing that."
OB: Who bought you your first camera?
DT: A good friend of mine, Enrique Solis bought the first DSLR camera I can call my own - The Nikon D300s. Prior to that I had access to DLSRs I could borrow. It isn't cheap being a photographer; I've been blessed with good support from good friends and family that believe in me.
OB: What inspires you to make pictures?
DT: There are a few things that inspire me to make pictures. I love communicating a message with my photographs, I love knowing that I froze a frame of time that no body else in the world will ever do again at that moment because it happened and just know that shooting more will help me to continue to get better inspires me.
OB: Do you have a favorite photograph you’ve taken?
DT: It's hard for me to single out favorites; I love photographs today but I have photographs in the future that I will love better than the ones today. But, there is one photograph I took when I was in high school that I really loved.
It's a photograph of some flowers outside of the art-room. I was so happy because the contrast looked amazing right out of the camera. The light from the sun had hit the flowers the right moment when I closed the shutter and POW. I was happy because I thought it looked as good as the images that came with the desktop backgrounds etc. I think that was the day I was like: “Wow, I really like what the camera can do”.
OB: Favorite photographer?
DT: My favorite photographer is Scott Kelby. Scott doesn't photograph the type of images/put out the type of work I see myself putting out in the future, but I love Scott as a photographer because he balances it with being a great hustler/businessman.
He did so much to help inspire the photography community and he's an all around ego free, nice guy. I hope to inspire on a large scale like he did. I get to into my work and people sometimes thing I've got a “big ego”, I don't want to come across that way but I just love doing what I do - a little too much, if there's such a thing.
OB: Dream job?
DT: To be a photographer [Laughs]
Within this industry, my dream job is to produce images that companies use to help make them profit from connecting messages with their consumers. I want to make the images that are used in ad campaigns show on billboards, look-books, inside the stores and their websites. When that first campaign comes I'm going to have to take a very deep breath then keep pushing harder.
OB: What motivates you?
DT: Knowing that right now I'm in the mix of the future I'm building for myself. Being able to create what I want to see motivates me.
OB: Who do you look up to?
DT: Scott Kelby
OB: What's next for Dwayne?
DT: Every new photo shoot I try to make better work than the last one. But the next thing for me from here is to create better work and show them to the people that matters the most, and who's going to get me some serious work. It's scary though, but I love it.
OB: What would you tell someone that's trying to pursue a career in Photography?
DT: I would tell them to read websites about photography and watch videos about photography and along with that, practice a much as the can.
OB: Great. Thank so much D!
Extra Note: Even though he said he couldn't pick out his favorite photograph of all time. Here are a few of the ones he "likes the most"
For more photography from Dwayne Tucker go to this website to see his entire Portfolio :
For http://dwaynetucker.com/
Also, Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DwayneTucker
