{"id":63597,"date":"2026-01-11T15:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/?p=63597"},"modified":"2026-01-11T15:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:02:16","slug":"why-photographers-are-odd-1-photography-doesnt-end-at-5pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/why-photographers-are-odd-1-photography-doesnt-end-at-5pm","title":{"rendered":"Why Photographers Are Odd: 1 &#8211; Photography Doesn\u2019t End at 5pm"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 data-start=\"156\" data-end=\"191\">Photography Doesn\u2019t End at 5pm<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"192\" data-end=\"233\"><em data-start=\"192\" data-end=\"233\">(And that\u2019s why the results are better)<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"235\" data-end=\"295\">Before photography, I spent 13 years as a software engineer.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"297\" data-end=\"510\">And here\u2019s the honest truth: the second I left the office, software ceased to exist. No coding at weekends. No books about programming. No tinkering \u201cfor fun\u201d. Work was work. Life was life. The two barely touched.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"512\" data-end=\"549\"><strong>Photography is the complete opposite.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"551\" data-end=\"640\">When a paid shoot finishes, the camera doesn\u2019t get switched off. It just changes context.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"642\" data-end=\"973\">Most of the time when I\u2019m not working, I\u2019m still out with the same camera I use on client jobs.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"642\" data-end=\"973\">Street photography in Leeds.<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"642\" data-end=\"973\">Landscapes in the Dales.<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"642\" data-end=\"973\">Architectural shots when I spot a building that catches my eye.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"642\" data-end=\"973\">None of it is commissioned.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"642\" data-end=\"973\">None of it is invoiced.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"642\" data-end=\"973\">But all of it feeds directly back into the work I do for clients.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"975\" data-end=\"1035\">Architectural photography didn\u2019t come from a job brief<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1036\" data-end=\"1059\">It came from curiosity.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1061\" data-end=\"1367\">Early on, I became fascinated with architecture. Not because a client asked for it (I wasn&#8217;t professional back then), but because I wanted to understand how to photograph buildings well.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1061\" data-end=\"1367\">Getting verticals straight. Making lines behave. Making structures look solid, intentional, and calm rather than like they\u2019re falling over backwards..<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1642\" data-end=\"1701\">Low viewpoints, boring pavements, and why they matter<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1702\" data-end=\"1817\">One of the things I started doing early on was shooting from very low viewpoints. Not for drama, but for structure.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1702\" data-end=\"1817\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3634\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MG_8650.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"701\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MG_8650.jpg 701w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MG_8650-210x300.jpg 210w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MG_8650-35x50.jpg 35w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MG_8650-650x927.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MG_8650-50x71.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 701px) 100vw, 701px\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1819\" data-end=\"2082\">From ground level you suddenly get foregrounds that matter. Yellow road lines become lead-in lines. Drain covers point your eye toward the building. Cracks in pavements, kerbs, road markings \u2014 all boring things individually, but incredibly useful compositionally.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2084\" data-end=\"2213\">None of that was learned on a job. That was learned by going out, failing, adjusting, and trying again when no one was paying me.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"2215\" data-end=\"2264\">The tilt-shift lens I bought \u201cjust because\u201d<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"2265\" data-end=\"2336\">Tilt-shift lenses are a good example of how this spills into paid work.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2265\" data-end=\"2336\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/027blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"507\" height=\"760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/027blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade.jpg 507w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/027blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/027blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-33x50.jpg 33w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 507px) 100vw, 507px\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2338\" data-end=\"2471\">I originally bought mine for my own landscape and architectural experiments. They\u2019re not cheap. And no client had ever asked for one.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10106\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/060blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"644\" height=\"760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/060blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg 644w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/060blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-Pano-254x300.jpg 254w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/060blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-Pano-42x50.jpg 42w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2473\" data-end=\"2694\">But once I\u2019d spent time learning how to use it properly \u2014 how to control perspective, how to keep verticals vertical, how to make buildings look square-on and rectilinear \u2014 it became an obvious tool for professional work.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10120\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/123blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"567\" height=\"760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/123blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-Pano.jpg 567w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/123blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-Pano-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/123blackpool-fleetwood-cleveleys-sunny-day-2018_03_13-by-mcfade-Pano-37x50.jpg 37w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 567px) 100vw, 567px\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2696\" data-end=\"2889\">I now use that lens on railway engineering projects, including station work for companies like Amco Giffen. Projects where accuracy matters. Where buildings need to look engineered, not \u201carty\u201d.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2891\" data-end=\"2982\">The images look clean. Square. Intentional. Calm. Exactly what infrastructure clients want.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2984\" data-end=\"3091\">And the key point is this:<br data-start=\"3010\" data-end=\"3013\">the client didn\u2019t pay for the learning curve. They just got the benefit of it.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"3093\" data-end=\"3136\">This is the bit most people don\u2019t see<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"3137\" data-end=\"3216\">Clients see the shoot day. They see the delivery. They see the finished images.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3218\" data-end=\"3399\">What they don\u2019t see is the hundreds of hours spent practising when no one\u2019s watching. Testing ideas. Learning tools. Refining techniques. Buying kit out of curiosity, not necessity.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3401\" data-end=\"3508\">That\u2019s the real difference between a day job and my photography as a profession built from a hobby.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3510\" data-end=\"3612\">I\u2019m not \u201cdoing extra work\u201d. I\u2019m doing the thing I enjoy as my hobby. It just happens to make the paid work better.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3614\" data-end=\"3660\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"><strong>And that\u2019s why photography doesn\u2019t end at 5pm.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photography Doesn\u2019t End at 5pm (And that\u2019s why the results are better) Before photography, I spent 13 years as a software engineer. And here\u2019s the honest truth: the second I left the office, software ceased to exist. No coding at weekends. No books about programming. No tinkering \u201cfor fun\u201d. Work was work. Life was life. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,17,293,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fun","category-musings","category-photographer-types","category-photography"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0349-John-and-Ade-temple-Newsham-2025_09_08-by-McFade_DxO-retouched.jpg",750,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0349-John-and-Ade-temple-Newsham-2025_09_08-by-McFade_DxO-retouched-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0349-John-and-Ade-temple-Newsham-2025_09_08-by-McFade_DxO-retouched-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0349-John-and-Ade-temple-Newsham-2025_09_08-by-McFade_DxO-retouched.jpg",750,500,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0349-John-and-Ade-temple-Newsham-2025_09_08-by-McFade_DxO-retouched.jpg",750,500,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0349-John-and-Ade-temple-Newsham-2025_09_08-by-McFade_DxO-retouched.jpg",750,500,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0349-John-and-Ade-temple-Newsham-2025_09_08-by-McFade_DxO-retouched.jpg",750,500,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"McFade","author_link":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/author\/admin"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Photography Doesn\u2019t End at 5pm (And that\u2019s why the results are better) Before photography, I spent 13 years as a software engineer. And here\u2019s the honest truth: the second I left the office, software ceased to exist. No coding at weekends. No books about programming. No tinkering \u201cfor fun\u201d. Work was work. Life was life.&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63597"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63653,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63597\/revisions\/63653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}