Welcome to Week 25 of 2025!
In today's e-mail, you'll get:
TIP OF THE WEEK: Ditch the Checklist. Follow the Story.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: This Photo Wasn't on the Shot List
RESOURCES YOU MIGHT LIKE: AI-Generated Photo Prompts for Creative Shoots
TIP OF THE WEEK
Ditch the Checklist. Follow the Story.
What you shoot is just as important as how you shoot.
Sometimes we can focus so much on the technical aspects of how to take a good photo that we forget to put just as much effort in choosing what to shoot.
I've been photographing weddings since 2006. Some of the best photos I've taken happen when I follow my clients' love story and invest in fully feeling the emotions of their day. I rely on my own intuition and creative flow to interpret their story into images that sing a 1000 words.
On the other hand, the times I struggled the most to take good wedding photos is when the bride hands me a long and very detailed shot list. The stress of following it perfectly weighs heavy.
What if I can't create the shot she's asking for?
What if the moment she wants captured doesn't actually happen?
What if I miss a good shot while I'm busy trying to follow the shot list meticulously?
I start approaching the wedding story mechanically, hoping to check off the list, fulfill the goal, and make my bride happy.
That is the fastest way to kill creativity and to turn into a robotic photographer.
The same happens on a smaller scale, when we take photos of everyday moments with our phone cameras.
For example, let's say I'm taking photos of my flower garden in bloom. If I sat down and wrote a list of all the exact shots I wanted to capture before doing the shoot, I'm going to show up in my flower garden with strict expectations that might not even apply to real life.
What if a bee lands on a flower I hadn't planned on doing a close up of?
What if the way the flowers are positioned creates an interesting composition that isn't on my shot list?
What if the sun is hitting the garden from an angle that requires adjusting?
What if the rain drops on the leaves are much more interesting than the big red flower in bloom?
Following a shot list could set myself up for trying to fit real life into an idea that just isn't realistic (or even good). I get way better results when I follow my creative intuition and the story unfolding in front of me.
DO THIS INSTEAD
Instead of having a technical shot list with exact details of what you need to shoot, go with a mindset shot list. This means being guided by the overall purpose, emotion and story rather than a list of rules to follow.
It's important to note that I'm not throwing away the idea of a plan before a shoot.
Having a plan is important! But having a strict list of specific photos to capture is limiting.
Instead, you want to have a list of questions that will become your new shot list.
Ask these questions:
What is this?
Who is it for?
Why does it matter? (Ie: How does it benefit my viewers?)
What do I want them to feel?
How can I use creativity to make it more interesting?
Let these questions lead you and your results will be much more impactful than following a dry set of shot instructions.
To see a real life example of how I apply this mindset to my professional photo shoots, watch this.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Square Format
Speaking of my flower garden, I had an impromptu photo shoot of my peonies this past week. And this photo was created with my no-shot-list mindset.
Example:
When I saw how symmetrical this flower looked when shooting from above, I suddenly had the inspiration to create a square photo. I rarely create square photos! But in the moment I saw an opportunity that would fit it perfectly, so I shot it.
This is an example of how intuition guides my results. I approach my subject with the question "How can I make this flower look more interesting to my viewers?" -- and suddenly, I see it. A perfectly symmetrical square composition. And the photo is born.
To see the full series of photos from this shoot on Instagram, click here.
RESOURCES YOU MIGHT LIKE
A Prompt to Boost Motivation
I encourage everyone looking to improve their photography and creativity skills to self-assign low-stakes, fun photo shoots on a weekly basis.
But sometimes we need a bit of inspiration and motivation to actually go out and do it!
I recommend using this prompt in ChatGPT (you can change the details to match your liking):
I'm planning on taking photos at 7:30pm today in my city (Winnipeg). I have an iPhone 14 and I feel like being outside, in nature, taking abstract photos of plants, flowers or other nature-related subjects. Give me 5 locations ideas that would be great for time of day, direction of sun and creative, abstract results.
It will spit you out a few location options with reasons why you would choose each one. This is a great way to get motivation to go out and practice shooting with your phone!