HOW I PLAN BEFORE I PRESS THE SHUTTER - The creative process behind
The photograph usually exists in my head before it exists in the camera. When I walk through a city, I often notice people before I notice anything else. A face that makes me stop. Incredible eyes. Freckles. A particular expression. A style that stands out from everyone else. Something different. Something that makes me turn around and look again. Sometimes I even walk up to the person and ask if I can photograph them. And already, while I’m talking to them, something starts happening in my head. I’ve seen thousands of photographs in Magazines, Vogue, Fashion editorials, Portraits, Images from photographers I admire. I remember pictures unusually well. So sometimes I look at someone and immediately think: „I know what could work for you.“ Not the exact photograph. But the feeling. The direction. The visual language. The beginning of an idea.
01 – I don’t start with the camera
By the time I arrive at a shoot, the creative process has usually already started. I might have built a moodboard. I look at the person. I think about what they need. Maybe it’s a model who needs new images for a portfolio or sedcard. Maybe they need something that can help them get better jobs. Maybe they need a completely different visual direction. I ask myself: „What kind of photographs make sense for this person?“
Then I start building around that. The clothes. The colours. The location. The mood. The light. The entire visual idea. This is the part where most of the creative decisions happen. The camera comes much later.
02 – Then I go looking for the place
Once I know what I want to create, I need somewhere to create it. And this is where natural light becomes important. I walk. I look. I search for the spot where everything could come together. Maybe it’s a street. Maybe a café. Maybe a wall. Maybe a reflection in a window. Maybe something completely ordinary. I’m not looking for the most beautiful location. I’m looking for the location that makes sense for the photograph in my head. And then I look at the light. Where does it fall? What does it do to the face? Where are the shadows? Is there movement? Is there wind? Does the environment add something? I keep adjusting until the pieces start to fit.
03 – I’m not trying to make a thousand photographs
I don’t want to photograph a thousand frames and hope that somewhere inside them there is a good one. That’s not how I like to work. I want four or five photographs that hit. That means I have to do the work before I press the shutter. The look has to work, the clothes have to work, the location has to work, the light has to work. The person has to fit the idea and eventually the atmosphere has to feel right. When all of those things come together, something changes. You can see it. You can feel it. And then I know: „Now it’s time to press the shutter.“
04 – The creative work is mostly finished by then
This might sound strange, but when I’m actually shooting, I don’t want to be inventing everything from scratch anymore. The creative planning has already happened. Now I’m watching. I’m reacting. I’m filling the plan with what is actually happening in front of me. Maybe the weather changes. Maybe the light moves. Maybe something doesn’t work. Maybe the original idea suddenly doesn’t make sense. Then I have a Plan B or C, or D. That’s part of my job the plan gives me direction. It doesn’t put me in a cage.
05 – I see the photograph before I take it
Sometimes I know exactly what I’m waiting for. A particular expression. A movement. The way the hair catches the wind. The moment the light falls perfectly across the face. The second when the person stops thinking about the camera. And sometimes it’s much simpler. Everything just feels right. The face, the light, the clothes, the location, the atmosphere. The energy. There is nothing left to fix. And that’s when I press the shutter. Not because I hope the photograph will work. Because I already know it does.
06 – The camera is almost the last decision
That’s probably why I don’t think photography starts with the camera. The camera is actually quite late in the process. First I have to see the person. Then I have to imagine what could work. Then I have to build the idea. Then I have to find the place. Then I have to find the light. Then I have to make all the little things work together. And only then do I take the photograph. The shutter simply records the decision.
07 – What I see before I press the shutter
I see a face, I see possibility, I see references I’ve stored somewhere in my head, I see light ,I see colour, I see movement, I see what could become a photograph. And then I look again.Because sometimes the photograph I imagined isn’t the photograph that is actually there. And that’s okay. The important thing is not to force the idea. It’s to recognize when reality gives you something better. That’s when photography becomes interesting. Not when you control everything. But when you know what you are looking for — and stay open enough to see something else.
08 – Maybe that’s what seeing really means
A lot of photographers talk about learning to see light. I think that’s only part of it. You have to learn to see people. You have to see character, what makes someone different, what belongs to them and then you have to see how everything else can support that. The photograph is already there in fragments. Your job is to put the fragments together.
And then, when everything is right: Press the shutter. Not a hundred times. Not because you hope something works. But because you saw it. You SEE LIGHT. You DIRECT PEOPLE. Your CREATE. And sometimes the most important part of creating the photograph is simply knowing when you have already seen it.
