Are you impressed with my photo of Jack Sparrow? The way you get this photo is no different than shooting any concert tour or theater production.

Set the white balance, get good exposure, and then wait for a great moment.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/200

Just like everyone else at PhotoShop World, I most likely took the photo above and this one below.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4, 1/450

Someone else found all the props, the model, and the backgrounds and then even set up all the lights for me. All I had to do was set the white balance and the correct exposure. The models would even stay in a pose for minutes to help anyone figure out a “moment.” So there are no “kudos” for this photo if you show it as your work.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/105

Everyone with a camera is going crazy shooting photos that, if they showed to any art director and hired to shoot the same photo themselves, they would most likely have no clue on how to make it happen.

Photography is writing with light, and when you have nothing to do with the light, you do very little with the photograph, especially in these situations where without the lights, there is no photograph.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/250

What can you learn from these setup situations?

• Find interesting subjects
• Find interesting settings
• Use light creatively by not lighting everything equally in the photograph.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5, 1/140