Find Your Frame by Craig Whitehead

Introduction: A Personal Reconnection

Reconnecting with photography has led me to ask myself: what kind of photographer do I want to be? What do I want to express? What elements do I want to play with? These are difficult questions to answer, but necessary ones. In the end, experience and practice are the only true path to growth and to finding your personal focus.

To nourish that process, I’ve started to immerse myself in the work of other photographers to draw inspiration and learn from the way they see. I’m in a phase of absorbing, experimenting, and staying open. Gradually, I’m beginning to shape my own visual language.

In this search, I came across Find Your Frame by Craig Whitehead, a book that captures his unique and sensitive approach to street photography in 20 thoughtful lessons. It’s an invitation to observe with intention and to find beauty in the everyday.

I’m captivated by his photographic eye: sensitive, elegant, yet bold. His images feel alive stories told with very little, yet they say so much. That power of visual economy, of suggesting more than showing, is something I deeply admire, and it inspires me to keep searching for my own voice. That’s why I want to share the lessons that struck me the most and that continue to resonate.

🧠 Find Your Tribe (and Your Voice)

One of the most evocative ideas Craig shares is the distinction between two types of photographers: the hunter and the fisher. The hunter sets out with intent, searching for something specific: a frame, a gesture, a particular play of light already imagined. The fisher, in contrast, waits. Observes. They trust that the image will come, letting it emerge from whatever unfolds in front of them.

Both are valid ways of seeing. Craig doesn’t rank one above the other; he simply encourages you to recognize which approach comes more naturally to you, or even to create your own.

This idea resonated deeply with me. It reminded me that there’s no single "right" way to move through the streets with a camera. What matters is finding your own rhythm, your own way of looking.

And with that comes bigger questions:

• What kind of photographer am I becoming?
• What do I want my images to express?
• What details draw me in? Light, color, shadow, stillness, emotion?

These aren’t questions with fixed answers. They evolve with time, with experience, with every frame you take. But asking them and paying attention to how your images respond is part of the journey. A way to slowly uncover your own voice, frame by frame.

🔧 Know Your Gear

Craig reminds us of something we often forget: you don’t need the latest camera on the market to take great photos. Decades ago, photographers were capturing unforgettable images with far more limited tools. The key isn’t in the tech. It’s in deeply knowing your camera.

Exploring it, trying things, making mistakes. Understanding its language and getting the most out of it.

When you master your tools, they stop being an obstacle. They are no longer a barrier between you and the scene. That’s when the real photography begins the kind that flows with intention, without technical hesitation.

For me, that also means embracing the limitations of what I use and learning how to play within them. Sometimes, a simple camera makes you see more clearly. Not because it does more, but because it gets out of the way.

✴️ Go Aperture Priority!

Don’t be afraid of Aperture Priority mode. Craig recommends it for a simple reason: it helps you focus on what really matters. You set the depth of field, and the camera takes care of the rest. That frees you to observe the scene, wait for the right moment, and compose more intuitively.

This mode strikes a balance between technique and freedom. You’re not in full auto, but you’re also not stuck in settings. It’s ideal for street photography, where moments vanish quickly and intuition leads the way.

Personally, I want to use it more often. It helps me stay present and connected to what I see, rather than getting lost in menus or dials.

👁️ Spot the One-Offs

One of the book’s most powerful lessons is the call to look beyond the obvious. Faces and recognizable gestures always grab attention, but Craig reminds us there’s also beauty and mystery in what others overlook.

He encourages us to refine our gaze and seek out rare moments: a shadow slicing the frame, a texture catching the light, an isolated figure, a fleeting detail.

Unique moments that appear only once and vanish if you’re not paying attention. Seeing these things takes patience, intuition, and sensitivity. It also takes trust, the confidence that not everything has to be obvious to be meaningful. Sometimes the most powerful images are right where no one else is looking.

🔄 See in Retrospect

An idea I loved: viewing your photos through the lens of your future self. Craig proposes imagining a viewfinder not in the present, but from a later version of yourself. It’s about capturing images that might go unnoticed today but will speak volumes tomorrow. Photographs that preserve the beauty of the present and reveal new meaning when seen later.

It’s a reminder that not everything needs to be clear in the moment. An image needs time to speak as well.

🖼️ Frame, Frame and FRAME!

Craig says it like a mantra: frame, reframe… and frame again. Because photography isn’t just about what you see, it’s about how you choose to show it. Framing is a powerful narrative tool. It forces you to make decisions: what to include, what to leave out, how to guide the eye.

Sometimes just one step to the left changes the whole story. From clean, minimal compositions to intentional visual chaos, framing defines your voice. And like everything in photography, the more you practice, the more natural it becomes.

🔄 Mix Up Perspective

One of the keys to making images that linger is breaking the viewer’s expectations. Craig encourages us to gently confuse the eye: shoot from unusual angles, use reflections, create layers, play with abstraction.

Changing perspective isn’t just technical. It’s a mindset. It’s an invitation to slow down, to look twice, to find meaning in uncertainty. Exploring different viewpoints, both physical and mental, opens up new possibilities in visual storytelling. And in the end, that’s part of what makes an image stay with you.

🧠 Mental Bank of Ideas

Craig suggests something fundamental: build a mental bank of ideas. Places, types of light, everyday scenes that you can reinterpret in your own way. It’s not about going where everyone else goes or replicating what’s already been done. We all have a camera. What makes the difference is how you see. Frame situations that anyone can relate to. Small gestures, quiet moments, atmospheres, images that aren’t just seen; they’re felt.

He also talks about the importance of understanding what’s unique about the place where you live or shoot. Appreciating its pros and cons. The street changes depending on the city, the light, the rhythm, the culture. Being aware of that is key to building an honest and meaningful visual narrative.

🚫 Don’t Play Safe

This one really stuck with me: don’t box yourself in. Don’t limit yourself by genres, labels, or “what’s expected” of you. Be weird. Be you. Play. Do the things no one else would do. Creativity has no rules, and definitely no limits.

Craig encourages you to experiment freely, without the pressure of social media or the need for external validation. Because what really matters isn’t following the “right idea”, it’s creating from intuition.

✨ Closing the Frame

Reading Find Your Frame has felt like seeing through another photographer’s viewfinder, not to copy it, but to refine my own. Craig Whitehead doesn’t offer formulas. He shares quiet insights that made me think, pause, and try something new.

He reminds me that photography isn’t just about technique. It’s about attention, about looking with intention and continuing to ask myself what I want to say with an image.

I’m in that searching phase now: adjusting my focus, framing with more awareness, and most of all, enjoying the process. Because finding your frame is also about learning to see, and learning to see yourself.

Have you read this book? Is there one that’s helped you see differently? I’d love to know. What’s a lesson or book that changed the way you see through the lens? Feel free to connect with me on Instagram [@eyeofnat].