Last Updated on 01/21/2026 by Chris Gampat
I’ve looked at my portfolio of work over the years in the same way that so many of you sometimes do. When I look back, I realize how good some of the work I did is still. But on top of that, I also know that I’ve also seen how I’ve changed the way that I shoot. Mirrorless cameras and modern autofocus make taking photos so insanely easy and more or less brainless. And the sweet spot was during the days of early mirrorless when the only good autofocus point was the center. Essentially, that’s how Fujifilm cameras more or less still work today.
So what happens when you just use the center focusing point? Well, a lot. First off, you give the brain a bit of a break because your subject is simply just centered. You’re also usually a lot more in the moment when you’re shooting your image.
Let me clarify a bit here: when I say the center focus point, I’m talking about a large area and not the super-duper small center point. But instead, make the center focus point an area where the rule of thirds intersect. Based on that area, compose your photo and then just shoot. Because you’re focusing in on just this one area, you’ll end up usually making a whole lot of more visually stimulating work. Of course, you need to combine this idea with better subject matter, using in-camera effects, lighting, exposure, etc. But at least if you’re centralizing your subject, you can work on all the other things to make the work stand out. Things that I love doing are shooting like I’m actually shooting film. So by that, I mean locking my ISO to 400 and using a flash to supplement things. I also will shoot at super slow shutter speeds to get the images that I’m looking for.
Then I also use things like prisms, filters, etc. It makes images have a vintage and retro look that’s otherwise very much faked these days.