Lessons from Photography: Parallels Between Framing Shots and Solving Engineering Problems

This is not the usual kind of writing I post, but here goes..

As an engineer who also enjoys photography, I’ve often found myself thinking about the parallels between capturing the perfect shot and solving complex engineering problems. The way photographers at the top of their niche take into consideration all the important bits and meticulously craft a flawless picture, successful engineers often do the same with the systems they build.

It’s like someone saying photography is just about pressing a button and having the best gear. Absolutely wrong there, buddy. Similarly, being an engineer isn’t about just churning out designs, lines of code or whether you have a couple of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and a dozen adruinos at home.

It’s about seeing the world differently, anticipating challenges, and making creative decisions under constraints. I believe, in those aspects, they are in fact quite similar.

The Art of Composition (Or, How Not to Make a Mess)

In photography, composition is about arranging elements within the frame to create balance and guide the viewer’s eye. The rule of thirds, leading lines, and foreground interest are tools photographers use to make images more engaging. Pro tip: Ignore the rules sometimes — it’s how you get that * accidental * masterpiece!.

It is also about making the person feel something, but that’s not relevant in engineering. Although, just make sure that after they have read your code, they don’t feel like they need to come pay you a visit. 🥶

In engineering, I see composition as structuring our designs for clarity and functionality. Just as a poorly composed photo feels cluttered, a messy design can confuse collaborators (and the future you) or lead to failures. We can think of our components and subsystems as elements in a frame: placing them logically, using clear documentation as our “leading lines”, and ensuring each part serves the overall purpose.

For example, when designing a new system, we consider how to compose it like a well-framed shot. Isolate the core functionality (the primary objective), use modular principles as our “lighting” to highlight critical parts, and avoid overcrowding with unnecessary features.

Picture this: You’re building a bridge (or a software system, same diff). If you cram too many bells and whistles in, it might look cool at first, but one gust of wind (or a user complaint) and boom — everything collapses like a Jenga tower in an earthquake

Keep it simple, folks, or you’ll be the engineer explaining why your “innovative” design turned into a viral fail meme!

Mastering Light - because who doesn’t love a good spotlight?

I once read or heard this somewhere, “Light is a photographer’s paintbrush”, or something of that sort. Kind of makes sense. It’s what reveals texture, mood, and depth. Without good lighting, even the best composition falls flat. Bad lighting can make even a supermodel look like a ghost.

It’s the same with our designs. In engineering, I guess we can equate “light” to analysis and troubleshooting. Just as photographers scout for the best light, engineers must illuminate their problems with data, prototypes, proper monitoring and analytics. Poor “lighting” leads to issues hiding in the shadows, much like underexposed areas in a photo.

And remember, sometimes the best solutions come from changing your perspective — examining a problem from a different angle, like shifting from a top-down to a bottom-up approach.

I once spent hours debugging a circuit because I forgot to check the power source. Stupid mistake, right? But hey, that’s engineering — half the battle is realizing you’re looking in the wrong direction.

Golden hour for photos, golden insights for problems.. LOL 😬

Break the Rules, Have Fun

Creativity in photography means breaking the rules when they don’t serve the vision. Experimenting with angles, filters, or unconventional subjects leads to unique results.

Who knew a blurry photo could be art? Not me, until I tried it. It was also because it was the “vibe” that the subject of my shoot liked. It’s all about having fun and being adventurous in your approach.

Basically, the old overused saying we all have heard so many times - “thinking outside the box” (or frame)

In engineering, creativity means innovative solutions to problems. When stuck on a design challenge, we can think like a photographer: zoom out for a broader view, or try a different “angle” like an unconventional material or method. Because sometimes, duct tape really is the answer.

Drawing from my monochrome gallery, where I embrace simplicity, I’ve learned to strip away complexity in designs. I tried monochrome shots because they focus on composition a lot and it helped removing colors from the picture for me to practice composition better.

What I’m trying to say is.. that sometimes, the most creative solution is the simplest one.

Wrapping up

Photography taught me that constraints breed creativity. No fancy lens? Use what you have. Stuck on a project deadline? Hack it together.

It’s like that thing — “necessity is the mother of invention”, and sometimes the wildest ideas are the best. And hey, some of those ideas work!

And let’s be real, engineering is full of those “aha!” moments when you realize the weird hack is actually genius.

Happy Hacking!