Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Perez.
Hi Paul, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised in Jersey City, NJ. My love for the arts started when I was young, spending every possible moment drawing pictures of the X-men, Batman, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My mother also had (and still has) tons and tons of photos in these huge, heavy albums that went back to my great grandparents in the 30s.
Basically, the entirety of my early life was surrounded by pictures, whether they were drawn, painted, or documented my family history. Before I hit middle school, I was taking my mom’s film camera everywhere I went. Pictures of my family and friends, landscape shots during camping trips – it didn’t matter – I wanted to take pictures of everything. As I got older, I fell in love with music and became obsessed with percussion. The deep dive into that world allowed me to experience and appreciate the culture of my Caribbean heritage in the newfound light of dance. While I never danced myself, I marveled at how people studied and moved to rhythms and sounds that I felt in my bones.
Creative writing had already taken a hold of me before I finished high school. From fiction to folklore, it all brought me back to my childhood of comic book characters and pictures. Having picked up the bass guitar, my practice as a musician introduced me to classical music, ballet, and opera. It was all connected by storytelling, and before I realized it, I was in love with nearly everything in the world of the arts.
Life moved on and, in 2021, after many years of overthinking, I decided to take advantage of a Black Friday sale and bought a pro level camera. One Note Photography was born. Art is something deeply personal that everyone appreciates in their own way. When thinking about what I wanted to focus on, I knew quickly that I wanted to work primarily with other artists.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with lots of different creatives so far, from ballet students at my daughter’s school, to seamstresses and leather workers at renaissance fairs, to cosplayers who’ve built and worn 10-ft tall Transformer costumes out of foam and plastic. In almost every case, I’m a fan first, photographer second.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As a business owner, I don’t think business is ever “smooth”, especially at the start. The simple fact of the matter is that, in a photography business, 90% of the day-to-day has nothing to do with holding a camera, which is usually the entire point of a photographer wanting to open up a business in the first place. That’s probably the largest hurdle – forcing yourself to do all of the non-photography things so that you can truly enjoy the creative process to its fullest extent.
After that, being a creative in business opens you up to the loveliness that is “Imposter Syndrome”. No matter how good you are, no matter how many clients love your work and tell you as much, we always fall into a mental place where no amount of external validation will completely shut out the internal monologue that tells you you’re not good enough.
It’s a huge mental hurdle that many creatives go through regularly and most never fully surpass it, but with time you learn to exist in the moment of the process and not let things like that keep you down for too long.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think the thing that I’m most proud of isn’t even something that’s really tangible, at least not initially. It’s my perspective as a photographer.
There are plenty of photographers out there that spend the majority of their time focusing on what I call “normal” photography – families, weddings, engagements, portraiture…these are all general staples of the photography world in general, and they are beautiful in and of themselves. Life deserves and should be documented and cherished for our future generations. What I do is take that same mindset and apply it to other creatives.
I know what it’s like to spend hours honing your craft. I’ve experienced the frustration of putting your tools down because what’s in your mind isn’t what is coming out of you, or finally breaking a bad technical habit, only to fall right into a new one. On the other side of that same coin, I have felt the elation, the pure bliss, of being in the moment when you put the pieces together and it all fits perfectly – where the days, months, and years of never-ending practice marries perfect execution and the story, the song, the steps – they all turn out exactly how you want them. It doesn’t matter if you’re an author, a sculptor, a painter, a seamstress, a dancer, or a musician. Yes, I do the weddings and the events and the engagement sessions. But, as artists, we pour our hearts and souls into our craft, and I want my art to help other artists celebrate that.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One memory immediately comes to mind. I had a small amount of time where my mom put me in a local Boy Scouts club, maybe during the 4th or 5th grade. Towards the end of the season, we went on a camping trip, where the skills we’d been learning would be put to the test for the opportunity of earning badges. I was fully invested in the badges, but more importantly, I’d be out in the middle of nature with my mom’s film camera. I was so excited that, after certain shots, I’d open the back panel of the camera to make sure the camera was ok. If you’ve ever shot film, you’d know that I was completely ruining the photos every time I did that. And, sure enough, almost every single exposure from that roll of film was unusable. I learned my lesson then, but I will always cherish that experience.
Pricing:
- I like simplicity in my pricing model, so I lean into it. Hourly rates for portrait sessions are $250, and that covers everything involved with planning and consultation for the shoot, as well as editing.
- The number of images you get depends on the client. We’ll shoot for the entire allotted time, and then you pick what you want edited from the proofs.
- Digital images are always offered, but I have excellent printers that allow me to offer everything from 4×6 prints to wall mounted frames, custom boxes, and albums. Everything is made to order and very high quality.
- Events are flat-rate $250 per hour, and all taken images are delivered via digital gallery after light editing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.onenotephotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onenotephotos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OneNotePhotos
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@onenotephotography9779
