| Untagged | 11 Jan 2010 |
| The Irony of Being Paul Buceta by Paul Buceta |
|
When I first started out in photography I would look at the magazines with the beautiful women and dream of one day being able to capture such beauty. I worked hard at improving my lighting, my composition, my everything photographic – To the point of obsessiveness. I can’t count how many nights I have lost sleep pondering angles and lighting or locations and styles.
I have paid my dues and in the long run it has all been worthwhile. Now, I have achieved more success than I had dreamed possible. I fly out to exotic locations to shoot for clients like TAG, Playboy, Body in Mind to name a few. I’ve shot the Playboy twins at the mansion and hung out with Hugh Hefner. I’ve had over 80 magazine covers and get on average 100 tear sheets per month. I frequently have lunch with Robert Kennedy my idol and mentor and proud to call friend. I have published my own book SESSIONS. I have launched models careers and seen them achieve great successes, and still more awaits in the future.
So what do I have to complain about?
After a while, one gets to a point as an artist where one feels stagnant, uninspired. I get about ten requests per day from models to shoot but find my inspirational well has dried up. If I have some time off, (which is sooo rare) the last thing I feel like doing is picking up my camera. It’s almost become a chore. I just had my annual pool party in the Caribbean with over 30 models and I only shot three days. There were soo many models and friends I wanted to work with I didn’t get to.
I’m certain the majority of you photographers that read this will disagree, perhaps even disapprove of what I’m talking about – Hell, I would have killed to be in my position a few short years ago.
Perhaps it’s because I have to shoot. I have contracts with X amounts of shoots to meet any given year, and often times I have to shoot stuff I don’t care for. When your dream and hobby becomes a job – It changes things.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love photography – There’s nothing else I’d rather do. I just don’t know what will be my next big thing. I know it’s around the corner… I can sense the moment is near and you can rest assured I’ll take a picture of it when it arrives.
Comments (2)
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Honest!
But you know it doesn't have to be big... sometimes something small & quiet can be more powerful & the start of a beautiful transformation...I'm sure you know what I mean
. Thanks again!
Have a great 2010!!!
Miss.if
-
- +0
-
-
But I did the same thing with your photos...I looked at every photo you shot and posted. Studied the lighting. Studied the backdrops. Studied the setups. Tried to recreate the lighting and photo editing, especially your high contrast black & white images. I frequently checked your site for updates. Sadly, the frequency of posted images has slowed over the years - obviously as you're getting paid for more work, rather than doing shoots for yourself as you talk about. I keep coming back to see what's new.
As for the stagnation, it's standard in every line of work, but changing things up along the way helps. Chase Jarvis wrote about this a few times. Read his stuff and maybe it'll give you some ideas to bring back the energy.
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2009/08/9-things-to-do-when-youre-feeling-stale.html
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2009/05/shake-your-tree-today.html
Keep posting - your fans want to see your work