These few incidents taught me a valuable lesson about photography. At every corner, everywhere, there is a story waiting to unfold. You just have to be ready. Open. Observant. Attentive. Because when it happens, it happens. Sometimes, you don't even get time to react. But why do unplanned shots seem to resonate so much more with me?

It is the same with committing yourself to something without a clear direction or purpose. When we don't understand why we're doing something or where it's supposed to take us, it's easy to lose interest, give up, or completely miss the bigger picture. Photography taught me that.

So how did I define “the best photographer”? For a long time, I looked at the views and likes they had on Instagram. That was how shallow my definition of success was. That was how I decided who was the BEST PHOTOGRAPHER EVER. Then I noticed something strange in the neighbourhood.

Sometimes, we need something to look towards or someone to remind us of what we're capable of. Something that cuts through all the noise, gives us a little push and reminds us to keep going. For Jackson, it happens to be anime. And honestly, I think we can all find something similar in the things we love.

A lot of it came down to things that happened before I even picked up the camera: content strategy, pre-shoot Zoom calls, meetings, brainstorming and, of course, the final deliverables. In some cases, clients were even perfectly happy with a simple photo straight out of the camera because it captured the right moment. Wait… is it really that simple?!