WHY TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS CAN STAND IN THE SAME PLACE
AND see COMPLETELY DIFFERENT IMAGES
We were walking through Manhattan one day when Hayley suddenly grabbed my arm. "Wait."
Before I knew what was happening, she'd pulled out her camera and was pointing it at something that, to me, looked completely ordinary. I remember thinking, Why on earth is she taking a picture of that? She took a few photos, looked at the back of her camera, then handed it to me.
"That," she said. She zoomed in. I couldn't believe we had been looking at exactly the same thing.
What I had dismissed as just another part of the city had become something completely different through her lens. The light. The shapes. The colours. The tiny details I'd never even noticed standing right beside her. It was stunning. Even though we were looking in exactly the same direction, I never would have seen it.
That's when it hit me. I'd always known Hayley was talented. I'd seen her photographs. I'd watched her work. But standing on a busy street in Manhattan, looking at exactly the same thing she was looking at, and then seeing what she had created... It was one of those rare epiphany moments.
I just stood there, looked at her, looked back at the photograph and could only say, "Wow." It wasn't just the photograph that amazed me. It was the realization that I was standing beside someone who genuinely sees the world differently.
Photography isn't just about owning a great camera. It's about seeing.
SEEING WHAT OTHERS MISS
Hayley is the founder and lead photographer at Not Normal Photography, a creative portrait photography studio based in Langley, British Columbia, and this is how she has always seen the world. She has been looking at the world through a camera since she was about ten years old. Years of learning, studying, experimenting and creating have shaped the way she sees the world. She doesn't switch creativity on when a session begins—it's simply how she experiences life every day. Most people see a location. Hayley sees a photograph waiting to happen. She notices light before she notices people. She sees reflections, textures, colours and interesting lines that many of us walk past without a second thought. While most people see what's there, she's already imagining what it could become. That's a very different way of looking at the world.
It Starts Long Before the Camera Comes Out
Here's another perfect example... One afternoon Hayley looked at a pile of old CDs. Most people would have seen clutter. She saw light. She saw reflections. She saw a backdrop that didn't exist yet. I wasn't quite as convinced. Before long, I found myself sitting on the studio floor with scissors, tape, string and more than a hundred old CDs, wondering if this crazy idea was actually going to work. Piece by piece, it started coming together. Then we hung the first half in the studio. Standing there, it still looked... interesting.
But Hayley already knew exactly what she wanted the finished photograph to look like...
The photograph didn't begin when the shutter clicked.
It began days earlier with an idea.
With sketches. Conversations. Experimenting. Building. Testing. Tweaking.
Long before the camera ever came out, Hayley could already see the finished image in her mind.
The rest of us were simply catching up.
Why Every Photographer Creates Something Different
You could stand ten photographers in exactly the same place, hand them the exact same camera and ask them to photograph the exact same subject. You'd end up with ten completely different images. Why?Because cameras don't create photographs. People do. Some photographers are drawn to emotion. Some chase dramatic light. Some notice symmetry. Others are fascinated by tiny details that most of us never even notice. The camera records what's in front of it. The photographer decides what matters.
Creativity Doesn't Begin at the Photoshoot
People often ask Hayley where she gets her ideas. The truth is, creativity doesn't begin when someone steps into our studio. Whether we're travelling, walking through a city, driving down the road or simply out for coffee, she's constantly noticing things that inspire her. A patch of beautiful light. An old brick wall with incredible texture. A doorway most people wouldn't glance at twice. A reflection after the rain. A splash of colour against concrete. It's as though her mind is quietly collecting ideas all the time. Those ideas eventually become photographs.
More Than Just Taking Pictures
At Not Normal Photography, every session starts with a simple question: What could this become?
Whether we're creating a professional headshot, a family portrait, a branding session or a creative concept, we aren't just documenting what's already there. We're looking for the photograph that other people might never notice. Sometimes that means finding the perfect light. Sometimes it means building an entirely new concept. Sometimes it means waiting just a little longer because we know the genuine smile is about to appear. The camera is only one part of the process. The vision always comes first.
