Focus Mode
How photography has change how I see the world
I don’t look at the world the same after discovering my passion for photography. I have always loved looking at design and products and how they affect people (One reason I love being a PM), but photography helped me take it to the next level.
With photography, I can look at photos/videos more critically. I often look at photographs and try to determine how they got the photo and what I would have done differently; I’m often on Google Maps or looking at photos on Getty/Imagn. I’m always reflecting on my own photos and sometimes go back to photos I shot in the past.
What am I photographing?
The question determines how I go about photographing. To get the best photograph, I need to know what I’m photographing and understand its behavior and their idiosyncrasies.
People: What differentiates these people?
Athletes/Artists: Understand if they’re a lefty/righty, how they celebrate, their ticks to anticipate what they are going to do, their coaches
Family/Couples: What are the family dynamics, what’s the feeling of public display of affection, how to calm children down, do they need help posing
Weather/Sun/Moon/Sky: What phase is the moon, what time is sun/moon rise/set, where is the moon and sun, is it cloudy, what is in the background or foreground
Animals: Are they small/big, are they far or close, what season will they be there, where is “there”, interactions between animals, when will they move and where
Events: Understand the who/what/when/where of the event, things change so know who may have updated information, take charge if you have the ability to
It’s important to acknowledge that you may not have the proper equipment on hand to do an adequate job. If I’m photographing a couple, I probably don’t have the proper equipment to photograph an eagle.
Always keep in mind what you can control and what you can capture with what you have.
Why am I photographing the subject?
Many photographers don't ask themselves this enough. And it’s completely fine to do it for fun and personal satisfaction. For me, that wasn’t enough. I wanted my photos to mean more.
The “Why” changes how I’m photographing a subject.
For people/couples/family/friends, photos are for memories, sometimes for important milestones. I’ll focus on the people and how to create joy whenever they see the photos.
News: These photos need to tell the story of the event.
Marketing: This depends on the client. But this usually includes having clean backgrounds, space for copy, specific look, specific shots of branding.
Myself: This is what saves me from burnout. I can be as creative as I would like to be. This photography is at my own pace, unlike the other types of photography (which is usually fast-paced).
As you can see, I don’t talk about the settings used. The “what” and “why” determines what settings I’ll use.
Outside of Photography
I’m constantly asking myself, “What am I looking at?” and “Why am I looking at it?”. This helps me determine what is appealing to the eye. However, my sense of style is often not aligned with the mainstream, so I ask myself, “What are they looking at and why?” This helps me build my intuition for design and product.
I’m even more sensitive to social dynamics now that I’m constantly looking, even if I don’t have my camera. Because of that, I’m more empathetic and can navigate situations better.
I pay more attention to lighting; though, not just to understand how it will affect photos. It also affects how people behave and what they feel. With LEDs becoming more prevalent, the environment can be lit in many different intensities/colors/temperatures, and the mood can be set accordingly.
I like to see if I can anticipate what will happen next using what I have seen in the past. I did this before, but I feel more accurate since I’m looking more closely and know what to look for. This is particularly true for sports.
Photography trained my brain to focus on the subject, but it also helped provide context and perspective to the world. It’s seeing two seemingly independent items/events and connecting them. I’ve found that is particularly true with passionate people; they draw inspiration from entirely different industries.
Note: After rereading what I wrote, I realized that much of what I wrote was very basic. There are so many idiosyncrasies that would take so much more time to describe what I’m looking for during various scenarios.
I’ve been trying to improve my self-image of being a photographer, and I think the speed at which I see something and capture it properly has been a strength of mine that has been built over the past several years. This is something I need to be more conscious of when people hire me as their photographer; they are not just paying for X hours of my time but the ability to capture something using the skills I have built over many years. (Similarly to my PM skillset but somehow I’ve struggled to transition the same mindset to photography)