It sounds simple, but it has become one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in my 20-year career as a photographer.
People often ask me how to take a better photo. They usually expect an answer about cameras, lenses, lighting or settings. Those things matter, but they are just tools to use. A much bigger part of photography is learning to pay attention to what is actually happening in front of you.
Have a plan. Know what you are trying to create. But leave enough room for something to happen.
A good example comes from our work with the Edmonton Stingers. Infinite Eye has been their official Team Photographer for the past six years, photographing Media Day’s, in-game action and events for the Edmonton-based CEBL (Canadian Elite Basketball League) team.
During this past season’s Media Day, we were creating a flare shot — the kind of images they use on the big screen to hype up the crowd — with Taye Donald, Guard for the Stingers, when our main light did not fire. Instead of the image we had planned, we ended up with a dramatic silhouette.
Technically, something had gone wrong. But the image worked.
The shape, posture and energy of the athlete were all still there. We could have dismissed it as a mistake. Instead, we paid attention to what was actually in front of us and saw something worth keeping.
That same idea applies well beyond photography.
In business, in creative work or in life, we build systems because systems help us become efficient. We have done this with our youth sports photography. After photographing tens of thousands of athletes, we developed ways of working that help us move teams through quickly and consistently.
That efficiency matters. Parents are busy. Players have games to play.
But several years ago, we started hearing occasional feedback from parents: “That doesn’t look like my kid.” That made us look more closely at what we were doing.
Sometimes we were guiding athletes toward the pose that worked best for our system instead of leaving enough room for their own personality to show through.
So we adjusted.
Today, we still have a plan. We still guide people. We still use the systems and experience we have built over the years. But observation comes first. Our job is to see the person in front of us and create an image that shows something real about who they are to the person eventually viewing that photograph.
And sometimes the opportunity is even simpler than that.
At the recent 2026 Alberta Summer Games, Infinite Eye was covering the very high-energy opening ceremonies, and while I was focused on a few VIPs on the stage, I noticed someone standing beside me with their phone raised high to capture an image of the group in front of them. I turned, took the shot, and ended up with what I think is an amazing image that wasn’t really on the shoot list.
The lesson is not to abandon the plan.
It is to stay open while you are following it.
Mistakes can become ideas. Feedback can improve a system. A moment beside you can become the photograph you remember.
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