Ep. 5 - Stories Over Gear: What Makes a Photographer Great

The obsession with expensive equipment is a massive profit and creativity leak in the photography world. Too many aspiring creators delay their potential because they believe a new lens or a higher megapixel count will suddenly give them a voice. In this episode of Kidz N Cameras, host Brandon Watts breaks down why real artistry has absolutely nothing to do with what you are holding in your hand and everything to do with how you perceive the world.

We get into the critical mechanics of visual storytelling and look past the marketing hype of major camera brands. Brandon shares tactical insights on mastering ambient light sources, understanding the role of environmental shadows, and developing the deep patience required to capture raw, authentic human emotion. We sit down to analyze why a technically flawed, grainy mobile phone photo can completely outperform a sterile, high-resolution commercial file that carries zero emotional substance.

The reality of the craft is that a camera is a passive preservation tool, not a creative engine. Buying top-tier mirrorless setups will only blow up your technical mistakes into larger file sizes if you haven’t done the unglamorous work of training your eye. Real growth requires consistency, practicing on the ordinary details of everyday life, and building a reputation based on genuine human relationships rather than transaction volume.

If you care about visual storytelling, building creative confidence in youth, and mastering composition over consumerism, you’ll get a lot from this. Hit Subscribe and share this with an emerging creator who needs to hear this message. What is the most meaningful story or unexpected moment you’ve ever captured on a basic camera or phone? Let us know in the comments below.

Transcript

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Hey, welcome back to another Kids and Cameras episode. I am your host, Brendan Watts, and I am the founder of Kids and Cameras. If you don't know what Kids and Cameras is, Kids and Cameras is a nonprofit where we teach kids how to use cameras and how to express themselves emotionally through photography. We really believe that expressing yourself, your emotions, telling your story is what really matters and really helps with character development. On today's episode, we're going to get into something that I really, really been wanting to talk about. Something that's been on my mind, something that just recently came up in the summer camp. And it is what makes a great photographer. And let me tell you something. It's not the camera. It's definitely not the camera what makes a great photographer. So to get into it, before you know some of y'all get mad, let me explain a little bit. I love cameras. If you know me, if you see me talk, if you see me in person, if you see one of these episodes, I love cameras. I love seeing the new cameras coming out, the new technology coming out. I love Nikon and Canon and Sony, Fuji. I love them all. So uh I get really excited, just like everyone else. But there's something, there is absolutely nothing wrong with loving cameras, first off. So nothing wrong with loving cameras. But I think somewhere along the way, we started asking the wrong questions. The question I hear the most is, Brandon, what camera should I buy? Or what camera should I try? And I'm like, nobody never asked me how to become a better photographer. Because when you really think about those two questions, it's two totally different questions. People always want to know what camera I buy, and I do it plain and simple. It might sound cliche, but I'm gonna always say the best camera is the camera that you have in your hand. The one that you have access to. It's gonna be the very best camera. The way I always looked at it, there's several people in this world that shoot it with Nikon, Cannon, Sony, Fuji as a full-time career and doing well. It's not the camera. It is never the camera, it's the photographer with the camera. Have you ever taken a photo of somebody and they'd be like, oh yeah, that's a great camera? Like, no, no, it's not. It's me. Like, yeah, the camera's good, but I created this side. I can give you this camera, put you in the same spot with the same settings, and you won't be able to create that. So it's definitely not the camera. I can't express that enough. You can spend thousands of dollars trying to buy something that you think makes you better. Is it the thing that actually makes you better is the skills and the work that you put in in your eye? That sounds like one of those little sayings that people say on Instagram that they posted up, but it's just more than that. Uh, the longer I've been a photographer, the more I realize how true of a statement that really is. Life doesn't say, hey, Brandon, go get your Nikon and your favorite lens, and I'll wait. It doesn't work that way. The best moments happen unexpectedly. A child's laugh, your grandparents sitting on the porch talking, your parents laughing together, a kid looks up at you and smiles, a rainbow appears after a storm, um, the sunlight starts peeking through the clouds. All of those moments is just life happening. And you might not have time to go get your camera to set it up on a tripod or set up the settings. Sometimes the best camera you have to capture that moment while it's happening is your um your phone, your phone camera, or whatever camera you have access to, that's the easiest to grab. Life is not gonna stop and wait for you to go grab that camera. So, so you know, maybe it's your phone that you have, maybe it's a pointing suit, maybe it's a DSLR, or maybe it's the newest, most expensive, mirrorless camera on the market. It doesn't matter because the camera doesn't create the moment, the camera simply preserves it, and that's an important distinction. I think one of the biggest misconceptions in photography is believing that expensive gear creates great photographers, and it doesn't. Here's something I want to really think about. You can hand two people the exact same camera. I said it earlier, the exact same lens, the exact same memory card, same camera setting, same location, same time of day, and they come back with two completely different images. And the reason for that is because they're not photographing with the camera, they're photographing with their eyes, their experience, their curiosity, their emotions, their creativity. The camera is just recording what they decided was worth photographing. That's why I photograph as personal, not two photographers see the world exactly the same way. I need to have a friend, I still have that friend, but uh we need to photograph and we need to have my studio and maybe I have a model come to the studio, we'll both photograph the model. And the way I would photograph the model, I'm more like portrait direct. I love this photographing the person real direct. He's more outstrapped, he's more getting these different type angles and stuff like that. That's why we actually um binded is because I had more of a portrait style and he had more of a street photography style. So we ended up collaborating a lot of times. He would show me his street style, I would show him my portrait style, and then we would just mess it up. But the thing was that was really fun is like I could go photograph this person in the same location, and he could too. And we have images that look totally different, and I love that. I love that we can photograph the same thing, and he still had his style, and I still have my style. And the reason my style was mine is because it's what I personally felt. I love looking into the gateway of the eyes to show us a straight-on picture, a portrait. I want you to get lost in that person's eyes and facial expressions and stuff like that. He was more outstrapped using the environment around to help showcase the photograph, letting the background and the person all become one together where I wanted my person to stand out from everything and completely focus on the person. So I think that's just something that you should realize. So it's not the photographer that's making that image, it's just capturing that image, preserving that image. But it's us with our own creativity and our own experiences that makes that photograph happen. So my favorite camera, which everyone helps me tell the story that I want to tell, because that's what photography is: it's storytelling, not equipment collecting. Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying cameras don't matter. They do. Professional equipment absolutely has advantages, better autofocus, better low light performance, higher dynamic range, weather shilling, sharper lenses, those things are real. Those things make certain jobs easier. If I'm photographing a fast-paced, a fast-paced sports event, I would much rather have a professional equipment than a 10-year-old entry-level camera. If I'm photographing a commercial campaign for a client who's gonna print images on a billboard, yes, I want resolution I can get, or they know to print them out or have product designs and stuff like that. I'm probably gonna I might want that higher resolution. Um, the crazy thing with billboards though is you know, billboards have been around for forever, and they saw a lot of billboards with lower end cameras too. You don't gotta have a lot of mega pixels to put things on the bit board on the billboard because those megapixels are just so huge. I like the the when you look at a billboard, you actually got really close up on it, it's it's really big, it's just spread out a lot. So you don't gotta have you know a super high megapixel camera to sit here and blow something up big because you're so far away from it that you can't tell anyway. So, billboards that's making those with cameras from back in the day that we definitely have better ones now. So, to create these images, don't get so hooked on just the camera, even though, you know, depending on what you're shooting, sometimes it does help. But like I say, professional gear has its place. But here's what it doesn't do: it doesn't make you creative, it doesn't teach you how to see light or use light, it doesn't teach you composition, it doesn't help you connect with people, it doesn't teach you patience, and it doesn't help you notice emotion, it doesn't tell stories for you. And what makes images great are the stories behind it. It a camera just simply records wherever you point it at, and you can point that high expensive camera at anything you want. It doesn't mean it's gonna make it a good photograph. Um, when I worked at a camera store, people used to come in buying all these cameras that I wanted. Having the money just about the most expensive thing. Something new came out, they like, oh no, I want this one because it's better. But then I see photos printed out and they're missing focus. It's blurry, or the color's wrong, or something like this. Like, they're getting a more expensive camera doesn't mean it's making you better. You're just taking a bigger file size, more information in one photograph that's still not done right. You're blowing, you can blow up a bad photograph, you can have you know more megapixels. Uh so you can have all these better things in that camera, better noise reduction, stuff like that. Doesn't mean it's gonna make your image great. It's just we can blow it up bigger and see the mistakes. But you learn, you learn, and that's the most important thing. Like it's a learning curve because I definitely been one of the people where back in the day I was buying stuff that I was just like, oh, I want it. I got hooked on to the hype of it and stuff like that, and I want it. And then I was like, I don't even use it. Oh, it was an unnecessary buy, it was money wasted for something that I truly didn't need. It wasn't enhancing my skills, it wasn't doing anything. I just got caught into the moment. So don't, I'm not saying all this stuff like I'm not also guilty of it. I think everybody at one point in time has been guilty of buying equipment over hype or over oh, it's the newest thing and stuff like that. And it happens, but you learn. So I learned, you can learn, or maybe you already know, but a camera that gear, it won't tell stories for you. You can take a photograph with the most expensive camera in the world and it still be boring. See, it can be a bad photograph. The only difference is now bigger foul size, like I said. But because expensive equipment doesn't automatically create interesting photos. What creates interesting photographs? The person behind the camera. I seen incredible photographs taken on phones. I even had a photo contest last year where I had kids take photographs, and some of the best photographs were taken on phones because they also were an artist statement talking about the emotion in these landscape, nature, and route like photos. And some of the best photographs were phone photographs mixed with that story because it just had more emotions there, it had more of an understanding, it was more relatable than some photographs that was like, yeah, it was technically sound and it looked great, but it didn't tell a story, it didn't have nothing there. The artist statement wasn't there, and the phone pictures, some of the phone pictures with the stories just became that better storytelling image. And I also seen um photographers carrying $15,000 worth of equipment who couldn't tell a story if their life depended on it. The camera wasn't the problem. The photographers simply haven't learned how to see it yet. And I don't say that to criticize anyone. We all been there before. I know I have. I remember thinking if I could just buy one more lens, I'd become a better photographer. If I could just upgrade my camera, my work would finally look professional. Then I'll buy the lens, and guess what? Three months later, I'll be looking at another one. Because here's the truth there will always be another camera, there will always be another lens, and there will always be another feature. Technology never stops. If your happiness as a photographer depends on owning the newest camera, you will never be satisfied. Because next year there will be another one, and the year after that, another one, and soon, three months after that, another one. So instead of asking yourself what's the next camera you should buy, maybe start asking yourself a different question. How can I be a better observer? How can I become a better storyteller? How can I become someone who knows this beauty that other people walk past? When I just had my summer camp this summer, I had the kids photograph um inside of the Fairville Square. I had them photograph um something that people will walk by every day and never pay attention to. Find the beauty in it, find the angle in it, figure out how to create this photograph that when people see it, they be like, I walk by that every day. And I never noticed how beautiful it was. Tell a story with it, make it emotional. So I think that's something that even now I still practice on. Trying to take photographs of stuff that people walk by every day and show it to them in a way they never seen it before. Um, I think I realized that when I was learning photography and somebody took some street photography, and it's just it's an incredible photo of a building. A building that I see all the time. All the time. Never noticed the beauty in it until I saw this person photograph it. And I was just like, wow. I walk by that all the time. They composed it correctly, they made it an emotional picture. So when I looked at it, it told a story in the simple fact that I walk by it every day, and I was learning how to be a photographer, and I just never seen that sock. So yeah, always ask yourself how you can observe better, what story you can tell. Um these are the qualities that make a great photographer. Because but anyway, that's just what photographers do. They notice, they slow down, they pay attention, they see stories hidden in ordinary moments, and that's where I want to go next. Because if a camera doesn't make the photograph, the photographer, then what actually does? So let's figure out what actually makes a great photographer. So if a camera doesn't make somebody a great photographer, then what does? I think that question we should be asking more often. Instead of asking what's the best camera, maybe we should ask what habits make someone a great photographer. Because here's the truth: every photographer you admire has something in common. It's probably not that they all use the same camera. They don't. Some shoot Nikon, some shoot Sony, some shoot canon, some shoot Fuji, some even shoot film. Some of the best photographers in the world still use this equipment that's older than what many beginners have today. That's older than me. And I'm 39, maybe 40. So, yeah, it's definitely not the camera. Because I tell people that all the time. There's great cameras out there that they were shooting in the 70s and the 60s, that's still known as some of the greatest pieces of photography today. So you definitely don't need the most expensive camera to create, you know, some of the most breathtaking, best storytelling images out there. So all these photographers that shoot Nikon, Sony, Fuji, just all the different cameras, what they have in common is how they think, it's how they see the world. So today I want to share what I believe makes a great photographer. The first one is curiosity. When you're curious, you go out and find stuff, you you look for things different. Curiosity is like your imagination. It's one of the greatest gifts that you have. And I honestly think curiosity is the foundation of photography. Great photographers are curious about everything, they're curious about people, they're curious about places, they're curious about light, they're curious about emotions, they're curious about stories. When most people walk down the street, they're trying to get from point A to point B. A photographer is looking around. They're asking questions. Why is the light hitting that building like that? Why did that person stop and look across the street? Why is that little kid smiling? Why are those birds all sitting on that fence? Why does this old house feel so interesting? Photographers don't just look, they observe. Curiosity slows you down. And slowing down is one of the greatest things photography teaches us. We live in a world where everyone's in a hurry. We're rushing through dinner, we're rushing to get schoolwork done. You know, we're we're rushing just to go have fun. So we're rushing through conversations. Sometimes we're even rushing through life. Photography tells you to slow down, look around, notice things. You'll be amazed at what you see when you actually pay attention. The second thing that makes a great photographer is observation. Curiosity and observation aren't exactly the same thing. Curiosity makes you ask questions. Observations help you find the answers. Observation is learning to truly see, not just looking, seeing. There's a difference. When I teach photography, especially to young people, one of the first things I tell them is that photography isn't really about cameras, it's about learning to see. I can hand 10 students the exact same camera, send them to the same park, and every single one of them will come back with something different. One student notices the flowers, another notice the reflections in a puddle. Someone else is photographs a dog running through the grass, another focuses on people sitting on the bench talking. Same part, same camera, different eyes. That's because every photographer noticed something different. Observation means paying attention to light. Where is it coming from? Is it soft? Is it harsh? Is it warm or is it cool? Observation means paying attention to shadows. Sometimes the shadows tell a better story than the subject itself. Um, a couple of years ago, when I did a summer camp, I told all the kids to take a self-portrait. And you know, some people standing in front of a mirror, some people put the camera behind them. You know, you got all these different self-portraits. But you know, the one self-portrait that stood out to me? It's the one who took a picture of their shadow. Because that's a self-portrait, and that's great. I loved it. Even when I gave them that idea, because I took a picture of my shadow before, and I was curious to see what kid would take a photograph of their shadow. Because there's not a lot of things that people think about. We'd be like, oh, self-portrait, selfie. I'll take a picture of myself, take a picture of this. But how many take a picture of their shadow? You know, but everybody did it differently, and that's incredible. But that's the thing, you can pay attention to shadows because shadows can tell a different story, and sometimes a better one. So photography literally means drawing with light. Without light, there is no photograph. I don't care if you're using a phone camera that costs tens of thousands of dollars. If you don't understand light, you struggle. Light creates mood, emotions, directs our eyes. Think about watching a movie. The lighting tells you how to feel before anyone even says a word or how. Horror movie isn't usually bright and colorful. A romantic scene often has soft and worn light. A dramatic scene may have deep shadows. Photographers use light the same way. Light isn't just something that helps you see, it's part of the story. That's why I encourage people to spend less time learning every button on their camera and more time learning how light works. When I teach my summer camps, before I even go into all the buttons, I keep us in auto. Because all I want you to do is go out, work on composition, work on trying to see the photograph first, work on composing and seeing the light and seeing the shadows and all of that stuff. All I want you to do is just focus before knowing all the buttons. Because I can teach you all the buttons, but you don't understand what creating a photograph is or how to tell a story with a photograph and really sit down and think about it, then you might know how to use a camera, but you're not gonna know how to take a photograph or tell a story. So and I really believe like when I tell them, it's like, oh, go look at the lights, look at the shadows, look at all of that stuff. So um it's real important before even learning the buttons, just take time learning how light works. Go outside at sunrise, go outside at noon, go outside doing golden hour, go outside after it rains, stand next to a window, watch how light changes, watch how faces change in the light, watch how color changes. You don't need a specific equipment to study light, you just need to pay attention. Another thing that separates great photographers is patience. This one's hard, even for me. But we want everything now. We want the perfect photo immediately. But photography doesn't always work that way. Sometimes you have to wait, wait for the clouds to move, wait for someone to smile naturally, wait for the right expression, wait for better light, wait for people to stop looking at the camera. You know, when I see a lot of events, some people they always try to notice me when I'm trying to take the photograph so then they can smile and look at the camera, and it's unnatural. And I'll be like, no, just keep doing what you're doing, don't pay attention to me. So I think one of the biggest compliments to me when I go photograph an event is what when somebody says, Brandon, you got all the sights, you got everything that I need, and even some that I didn't even think about. But the thing is, I never even noticed you were there. That's the biggest compliment. Because when I'm photographing an event, I want to stay in the background. I don't want people to know I'm there. I want to see them naturally enjoying themselves. Some people don't like being in front of a camera, some people get shy, some people start doing awkward smiles. A lot of people just start being unnatural when they know a camera's on them. So even right now, I got cameras on me, and I try to just be myself, but I can't help it. There's one, two, three, four cameras in this room right now, all angles, and I'm the only person. So me trying to be natural, trying to help myself flow through this, where it's more relatable and it just seems more comfortable. It's the same way with events. I want people to be comfortable and just feel you know that shell. So the biggest compliment when shooting an event is they didn't even realize I was there. Yeah. So wait for people to stop looking at the camera. Some of the best, some of the best photographs I ever taken happened because I didn't pack up too early. I stayed five more minutes. Sometimes that's all it takes. Five more minutes. Patience also applies to learning photography. Everyone wants to be amazing after buying their first camera. It doesn't work like that. Photography is a skill, and like every skill, it takes practice and more practice and more practice. Nobody picks up a basketball for the first time and especially play in the NBA. Nobody learns the piano on one weekend. Photography is no different. Give yourself permission to be a beginner. Learn from every photo, celebrate small improvements, keep going. Another quality I think makes a great photographer is having consistency. Photography isn't something you master by shooting once a month. You get better by making photographs regularly. The camera becomes familiar, the eyes become sharper, you begin noticing things automatically. You make mistakes, you learn from them, then you make new mistakes and you learn again. That's called growth. One thing I tell photographers is this: don't just photograph exciting things. Photograph ordinary things. Photograph your backyard, photograph your family, photograph your dog, photograph your neighborhood, photograph your dinner. Because if you can make ordinary things look interesting, you'll be you'll be able to make anything interesting. Consistency also means looking back at your work. Don't just take pictures, study them, ask yourself what worked, what didn't, what would I do differently next time? That's how that's how you improve. Finally, before we move into the next part of the conversation, I want to talk about something that I think is often overlooked. Empathy. Photograph is about people. Photograph is meant to make another person feel something. The best photographers care. They care about the people they're photographing, they care about the stories that they're telling, they care about representing others honestly. As you're photographing a family, they're trusting you with memories that they will treasure for years. As you're photographing someone's wedding, you're documenting one of the biggest days of their lives. As you're photographing a homegoing service, you're preserving memories during one of the hardest moments a family will ever experience. That's a responsibility. That camera is important. But how you treat people is even more important. I always believe that people may forget exactly what the camera you used, but they remember how you made them feel. I always believe that people may forget exactly what camera you use, but they always remember how you made them feel. A great photographer isn't just someone who takes beautiful pictures. A great photographer makes people feel comfortable. They listen, they respect others, they earn trust. And when people trust you, they allow you to photograph the real version of themselves. That's where the magic happens. Because at the end of the day, photography isn't about pressing a button, it's about seeing people, seeing moments, seeing beauty, seeing stories. And once you learn to truly see, your camera simply becomes the tool that allows everyone to see it too. So far, we talked about why the camera doesn't make the photographer. We talked about curiosity, observations, light, patience, consistency, empathy. But now I want to talk about what I believe separates a good photograph from a great one. But now I want to talk about what I believe separates a good photograph from a great one. You ready? You know what it is? Waiting? Alright. It's a story. I believe stories beats gear every single time. Now, before I explain what I mean, let me ask you a question. Think about your favorite photograph. Now your favorite photograph that you take, your favorite photograph you ever seen, and maybe it's hanging in your house, maybe it's sitting in an old photo album, or maybe it's one your parents took. Maybe it's one of your grandparents, maybe it's one you found online. Now ask yourself, why is it your favorite? Is it because the camera had 45 megapencles? Probably not. Is it because the photographer used the sharpest lens ever made? Probably not. Is it because they had the perfect dynamic range? Absolutely not. It's your favorite because of how it makes you feel. That's what photography is. Photography isn't just someone, something we look at. Photography isn't photography is something that we feel. And that's what separates a snapshot from a story. Anyone can point a camera and press a button. That's easy. Your phone can even do most of the work now. It can focus, it can expose, it can brighten shadows, it can remove noise. Technology has become incredible. But here's something technology still can't do. It can't decide what matters. That's your job. Every time you raise a camera to your eye, you're making a decision. You're saying this moment matters. This person matters. This story deserves to be remembered. That's why photography is so powerful. Because one clip freeze is something that will never happen again. They're literally documenting history. Once when you take that photograph, it's going into history. That laugh, gone. That hug, gone. That sunset, gone. That little kid who's five years old today, tomorrow, maybe five years in one day. You never get that exact moment back. Photography gives us the opportunity to preserve something that time is trying to take away. That's about that. Think about that. Every photograph begins history the second after you press the setter. That's why a story is everything. I seen technically perfect photographs that left me feeling absolutely nothing. Perfect exposure, perfect lighting, perfect focus, perfect editing, perfect everything. And yet I looked at it for two seconds and kept scrolling. Why? Because it didn't say anything. I didn't see the story. There's no emotion, no connection, no purpose. It was technically impressive, but emotionally empty. Then I seen photographers that weren't technically perfect. Maybe they had a little emotion blur. Maybe they were grainy. Maybe they was, maybe it wasn't perfectly exposed, but they made me stop. They made me smile. They made me think. Some might have even made me cry. Those are the photographs we remember because emotion lasts longer than profession. Here's something I tell students all the time: people don't remember perfect photographs. They remember photographs that made them feel something. Think about some of the most famous photographs in history. Many of them aren't technically perfect by today's standard. Some are grainy, some aren't perfectly sort, some were taken on cameras that would be considered ascent today. Yet we still remember them decades later. Why? Because of the story. Now let's make this personal. Imagine a parent, a grandmother, a sibling, this anybody who will pull our old family photo album inside our photographs from 40 years ago. Some are faded, some have scratches, some aren't short. Some were taken with inexpensive cameras, but nobody sitting around that table is talking about the camera. Nobody says, I wonder what lens they use, what equipment they use. I wish they had more megapiscles. I remember that day. I forgot he used to smile like that. I can't believe how little we were we all were. Remember when we lived there? That's the kind of things that people remember. That's the kind of things that people feel when they look at these old photographs. The photograph becomes a doorway into a memory. That's just the job of photography. Not impressing photographers, connecting people. I think sometimes photographers get caught up in trying to impress other photographers that we forget who we're actually making photographs for. Your client doesn't care about your histogram. Your grandparents don't care about your autofocus tracking. Your parents don't care what brand camera you own. They care that someone was there, that someone captured the moment, that someone preserved the memory. That's what matters. I want to challenge you with something. The next time you get ready to take a picture, just pause for a second. Before you press that sutter, I want you to ask yourself four questions. What is the story? Why am I taking this photograph? What do I want someone to feel when they see it? And will this image matter five to ten years from now? If you can answer those questions, you're already thinking like a storyteller. Another thing I learned is this not every not every photograph has to be beautiful. Sometimes it needs to be honest. Life isn't always beauty. Life isn't always beautiful. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes it's heartbreaking. Sometimes it's joyful. Sometimes it's quiet. Sometimes the most powerful photograph isn't the prettiest one. It's the truthful one. As photographers, I believe we have a responsibility to tell honest stories. Not perfect stories, honest ones. Sometimes that means photographing celebrations. Sometimes it means photographing struggle. Sometimes it means documenting history. Sometimes it means preserving someone's legacy. Every photograph has the potential to outlive us. Think about that. 100 years from now, someone can still be looking at a photograph you took. They won't know what camera you used. They won't know what lens was attached. They won't know what editing software you used, but they know the story. They see the people, they see the emotion, they see a piece of history that you decided was worth preserving. That's incredible when you think about it. Photography gives ordinary people the ability to preserve extraordinary moments. And that's why I believe story beats gear every single time. If you become a storyteller first, the gear becomes the tool. If you become a gear collector first, you may never become a storyteller. So don't chase equipment, chase moments. Don't chase perfection, chase meaning. Don't ask yourself how to impress other photographers. Ask yourself how to make someone feel something. Because at the end of the day, people won't remember your camera. They remember your photographs. And more importantly, they remember how those photographs made them feel. The longer I've been a photographer, the more I realize that photography has taught me a lot more about people than it has about cameras. When I first picked up a camera, I thought I was learning photography. Now I realize photography was teaching me how to see people. It's funny how that works. You think you're learning one thing and life ends up teaching you something completely different. One of the biggest lessons I learned is this everybody wants to be seen. Not photograph, seen. There's a difference. Anyone can point a camera at someone, but no one ever makes that person feel like they matter. I think that's one of the greatest compliments someone can give a photographer. Not that these pictures are amazing, but you make me feel comfortable. You made me feel confident. You made me feel like myself. Because when people feel safe, something changes. Their smell becomes real, their body language changes, their eyes change, they're no longer posing, they're simply being themselves. Those are the moments I chase. I have did several photo shoots, and during those photo shoots, we pose, we create these images. But my favorite ones is when I get them talking, when I get them telling a story, when I genuinely get them to do, to laugh, to be caught in a moment. During those moments, that's when I'm photographing the boast. That's when I'm trying to capture those moments because every single time, those moments right there are better than any post shot that we did. Because in those moments of laughter, sadness, in the moments of them feeling comfortable and relaxed, it's the moment they're truly being themselves. They're not posing, they're not trying to have their back straight or sorry, head completely towards the camera or something like that. They lost themselves for a moment. They forgot they was in front of a camera. And during those times when they feel the most seen, is when we capture those moments because you capture those reactions from them that are just natural, things that they do every day. So I think in those moments is when they feel seen the most. And it's always the photographs that they love the most are the photographs, the off guards, the ones when they wasn't posted, the ones where it was just naturally there. So like I said, they're not saying the pictures are amazing, but so like I said, the biggest compliment are not these pictures are amazing, but you made me feel comfortable. You made me feel confident, you made me feel like myself. Because when people feel safe, something changes. Their smile becomes real, their body language changes, their eyes change, they're no longer posing, they're simply being themselves. Those are the moments I chase. I also learned that confidence is something photography can help build. I seen it happen over and over again, especially with young people. Sometimes the students also to one of our kids in camera's workshop and they're quiet. They don't know anyone, they're nervous about touching the camera, they're afraid of doing something wrong. They apologize every time they ask a question. Then something happens. You hand them a camera, you teach them, you teach them a few basics, you encourage them, you celebrate a photograph they made, and suddenly they're standing a little taller. They're excited, they're showing everyone what they created, they're asking questions, they're proud of themselves. The camera didn't change their life. The camera didn't change their life. Confidence did. The camera was simply the tool that helped help unlock it. That's why kids and cameras exist. Yes, we teach photography, but photography isn't really the end go. Photography is the vehicle. The real mission is helping young people discover confidence, creativity, purpose, and their own voice. If they leave our program loving photography, that's wonderful. If they believe in themselves a little more than when they walked in, now that's even better. Another lesson photography has taught me is that relationships matter more than transactions. I photograph commercial campaigns, corporate events, families, portraits, concerts, community events, homegoing services. Every assignment is different. But every assignment has one thing in common. People. People trust you with moments that never get back. That's not something I take lightly. When someone hires me to photograph their wedding, they're trusting me with one of the biggest days of their lives. A day that, you know, will only happen just that one day. Every moment matters. So when someone invites you to photograph a wedding, a homegoing service, they're trusting you during one of the greatest days or hardest days they ever experienced. When parents trust you to teach their children photography, they're trusting you with something even more valuable than a camera. They're trusting you with their child. That's a responsibility. And I think every photographer should remember that. Your reputation is built one photograph at a time. Your reputation isn't built one photograph at a time, it's built one relationship at a time. People might forget exactly how short the photographs were, but what they will remember is whether or not you cared. Another lesson I learned, photography has made me slow down. Before photography, I don't know if I really noticed sunsets or reflections or the right light came through the windows, or the little expression people make when they're think, when they think nobody's looking. Now I notice those things every day. I notice if a person's nervous, visiting, excited, like I notice things when I look at people. I noticed things when I walk down the street. This coming down in between these buildings with some fog and this street light. And I took the photograph just because I caught the light reflecting off the building and stuff. And it was this, you can see the rays of light. So I took that photograph. And that's the only reason I took it, because I noticed something that, you know, everybody who's on the street, they're just looking straight ahead, walking while I looked up and I noticed this light. So it makes me slow down, it makes me pay attention to every single detail. And it also that kind of helps me be a better person because since I'm more aware of the subtle things, the things that you might not realize, or when a kid wants to come ask me a question, or maybe they're too nervous to ask a question. So I initiate it. I initiate the conversation. I made them feel comfortable about coming to ask the question about photography or about maybe something they don't know, or maybe they're struggling and they're too afraid to ask because they feel like everybody else understands it already, and they're the only ones. And I let them know that a lot. It's okay to ask these questions. It's okay to come up as if you don't know something, ask because that's the only way you're gonna know. You just gotta ask. So um patience just with everything and observing patience with people. Um, it really just improves you as a person and how you relate to others and how others can relate to you. So photography teaches gratitude because when you start looking for beautiful moments, you begin finding them everywhere. Sometimes beauty isn't the grand moment, sometimes it's the ordinary life. A father helping his daughter ride a bike, a friend laughing laughing over coffee, an elderly couple holding hands, rain on a window, a child looking out a car window, those moments matter. One thing I always tell young photographers is this don't wait until something exciting happens before picking up your camera. Photograph your everyday life. One day, your everyday life becomes your history. The pictures you almost didn't take may become the ones your family treasures the most. And and really thinking about that, back in the day, you know, maybe not for y'all, the kids out here, but back in my day, you know, we all had them throwaway point-you shoot cameras. And the best thing that I appreciate about those days is that you photographed. And after you photographed, you didn't know what the images looked like. You wasn't saying, like, oh, this person wasn't smiling, oh, this kid was crying, so you delete the photo or something like that. No, you just had all those images on those pointy shoot film cameras. Then you turned them in, and then you got four by sense prints of all of them so you can see. So regardless, if the photo, the photograph was blurry, out of focus, somebody wasn't smiling, somebody didn't look right, whatever the no matter what it was, you still had the photographs, so you kept those photographs. And maybe some of them wasn't your favorite, or maybe you would have been like, I would have deleted that one now, or whatever. But since you didn't have that option back then, you kept all the photographs. And when I look through my old photo albums, a lot of my favorite photographs, I feel like are the photographs that people would delete today, or even the ones that they wouldn't print out just because you got everything printed out. So it was just so nice and so awesome. Like photograph of me and my family doing photo suits, and then I'm over here crying, or I'm over here mean mugging, like I like this straight face. Like, I don't want to be in this photograph. That's not a photograph you would print out today, but since we did print them all, now we have them, and now that's the funny photograph. Like, look how I was looking. How we got all dressed up for that day, and I wouldn't act right. So, you know, that's something you think about. Like photographs back then, we just always had them. So I also learned that comparison is one of the quickest ways to lose joy. Social media makes that easy. You see, photographers traveling the world, buying new equipment, working with celebrities, landing hues campaigns, winning awards. It's easy to think everyone else is ahead of you. But here's what you don't see: you don't see the years of practice, the failed sights, the rejected opportunities, the mistakes, the self-doubt. Every photographer has those moments. I had them. The photographers you admire have had them. Growth isn't about comparing yourself to someone who's been doing this for 20 years. It's about becoming a little bit better than you were yesterday. When you're working on improving yourself and not worried about what others are doing, is when you become the best you. That's when you become the best photographer. That success right there of just becoming a little bit better than you were yesterday. That's success. That's another lesson. Never stop being a student. I don't care how long you've been photographing, there's always something new to learn. I learn stuff every day. I practice on stuff all the time. There's always new techniques, new ideas, new ways of seeing. The moment you believe you know everything is the moment you stop growing. Stay curious, ask questions, watch other photographers, read books, visit museums, study paintings, watch movies, travel as you can, talk to people. Everything you experience has the potential to make you a better storyteller. Because photography isn't just about cameras, it's about life. The more life you experience, the more stories you have to tell. Finally, here's probably the biggest lesson photography has ever taught me. Moments don't last forever. That's why photography matters. I photograph celebrations, I photograph milestones, I photograph beginnings, I photograph endings. Life changes quickly. Children go up, parents grow older, friends move away, communities change. People we love aren't here forever. Photographs become reminders, they become conversations, they become memories we can hold in our hands. That's why I believe photography is one of the most meaningful art forms in the world. Not because it's about creating beautiful images, because it's about preserving life. And every time you press the shutter, you're making a decision. You're saying this moment deserves to be remembered. That's a powerful responsibility. Never forget that. Your job isn't just to make photographs. Your job is to preserve the stories. And if you can do that, you're already becoming the kind of photographer that the world needs. As we wrap up today's episode, I want to leave you with one challenge. For the next seven days, I want you to, and when I say next seven days, whenever you watch this, then the next seven days. So for the next seven days, I want you to take one meaningful photograph every day. Not the prettiest photo, not the one you think will get the most likes, just the photograph that tells a story. Before you press the shutter, ask yourself four questions. Why am I taking this photo? What story am I trying to tell? What do I want people to feel? Will this photo matter five years from now? As you start asking yourself those questions, you be you begin thinking like a storyteller. You begin thinking like a storyteller instead of just someone taking pictures. And speaking of storytelling, that's exactly why we created the kids and cameras annual photo contest. This year's theme, journal. Terrible journal. Maybe they can add something in there for me. But this year's theme is my community. When most people hear community, they think that they think of buildings or places, but community is really about people. It's about the places you love, the people who inspire you, and the moments that make your hometown unique. Maybe it's your grandparents sitting on the front porch. Maybe it's your favorite t-shirt. Maybe it's kids playing basketball at the park. Maybe it's a firefire, a local business owner, or your best friend. Or maybe it's just a space. It could be a space where people gather to come to come together. Whatever community is to you, it's that's a gathering place, and you want to take a picture of the building where people gather or the Fairville Square or just anything like that. No matter where these people gather, it's your community. So whatever your community looks like, tell a story. Remember, don't worry about what camera you're using. In today's episode taught you anything, I hope it's this the best camera is the one in your hands. A great photographer isn't defined by the camera they own, they define by how they see the world and the stories they choose to tell. So if you're a young photographer here in Northwest Arkansas, I want to encourage you to enter the Kids and Cameras Annual Photography Contest. I can't wait to see your perspectives and the stories only you can tell. You can learn more about the contest, the rules, the prices, and how to enter by visiting www.kidsandcameras.org. Last year's photo contest, we had over 70 submissions. Last year's contest was the emotions in nature and route life competition. We had 70 submissions. We had 150 people attend the award ceremony at Crystal Bridges, and we gave away three brand new mirrorless cameras. So we're going to do the same thing this year. We're going to give away three cameras, plus a lot, a lot more other stuff. So make sure you sign up, make sure you tell your story through the community. There will be an artist statement that you have to write about that to help tell that story. Because you learned something today, you understand that what makes a photograph really great is the story behind it. So make sure you go to kidsandcameras.org, check out the photo contest. Submissions are about to open up. They close out in October, and then we'll be having the award ceremony in November. So it's from third through the 12th grade. So make sure you sign up if you want a chance to render camera, or if you just want to be able to tell your story and just enter the contest and let people see it. So anyway, thank you so much for spending this time with me today. If this episode encourages you, share it with a young photographer, a parent, a teacher, or a friend who loves photography. And also, if you're out there creating images today or in the next seven days, if you will help the talents, make sure you tag Kids and Cameras on Instagram. Tag us in the photos. Let us share it. Send it, send it to us. We want to see it. Tell your story behind it. But um, but until next time, I'm Brandon Watts, and this has been the Kids and Cameras podcast. Keep learning, keep creating, keep serving your community, and most importantly, keep telling your stories. I'll see you on the next episode.