How Being A Photographer Changes How I See The World

I don't see the world the way you do.

And I'm not just talking about beliefs and worldview. No, I literally don't see things in the same way that you do and it's all because of my job. But my job changing the way I see the world is not unique to photographers. Everyone's jobs change how they see things. Really, any time you study and spend a lot of time with a subject, it changes how you see things.

My brothers used to do parkour. Now, when they watch movies, they can see the parkour moves and they know how well or poorly the moves are executed. One brother is a welder. He sees welds EVERYWHERE. The other brother used to work with cabinetry and would see laminate "joints" in counters and things all the time. It always amused me until I began to see how I do the same things.

I see dark holes and good reflector surfaces. I see the yellow in the grass and leaves. I see the golden tint to evening sun and the blue tint in evening shadows. One evening as I was driving, the world look very pink. I wasn't wearing my sunglasses so that wasn't the cause. What made me laugh was that I thought "I need my green/magenta slider so I can tint this more green. It's too magenta!" I wanted a Lightroom slider to use on the sunlight ! :)

Everywhere I go, I am looking for and analyzing the light. I might not even be aware that I'm doing it. This is what submersion in a craft looks like. If you are trained well and really learning your craft, it changes how you view the world.

Have you experienced this in your work? I'd love to hear about your stories! I'm sure they're very fun :)