Unfiltered Story #294154

I used to work for a company in the photography industry. We did a lot of editing, but also a bit of shooting as well. My boss ran the business and had a pretty good eye for photography, but didn’t shoot that much. At that point, I had a decent amount of photography experience. One day, we are going to an event to take pictures.

While we’re setting up, my boss asks me what settings he should have on his camera. It’s a loaded question, because shutter speed, aperture and ISO all depend on how bright the room is and what kind of lighting you have (which we brought and were in the process of setting up). It also largely depends on the look you’re going for (the amount the background is blurred, grain you’re okay with, etc). I wasn’t sure what he was going for, and I’m also not able to look at a room and instantly know what adjustments I need to make to my camera. Before taking any official shots, I always fire off a few pictures to see how they look and adjust accordingly. It’s such a fast adjustment that I never worry about what settings to use for the first picture.

I ultimately respond that he would have to take a picture first and adjust from there. He responded, “Hmmmm …” and frowned. “I don’t like that!” he said.

We went back and forth a few times, and he kept frowning and saying “hmmm” and “I don’t like that.”

The event went fine, as he had no troubles with his camera or the settings, and the pictures also turned out fine. Maybe he was just nervous??