Behind the Lens: Finding the Unexpected While Chasing the Planned

One of the things I’ve learned after years of shooting editorial and regional stories is that no matter how carefully I plan a day, the best photographs often come from the moments I never expected. I head out with a specific subject in mind, but the world has a way of handing me something better — or at least something wonderfully different — if I stay open to it.

A perfect example happened over Labor Day weekend when I went to Harrisburg to photograph Kipona. My plan was simple: walk the riverfront, capture the festival atmosphere, document the crowds, vendors, and late‑summer energy along the Susquehanna. I had a mental checklist of what I wanted — but photography rarely sticks to checklists.

As I moved along the walkway, the Pride of the Susquehanna riverboat appeared, cruising slowly into a perfect position. The light was right, the angle was clean, and the timing couldn’t have been better. I wasn’t there to photograph the riverboat — but there it was, framed beautifully against the water, practically asking to be photographed.

So I did what photographers do: I stopped, raised the camera, and made the images.

Later, back at my desk, those riverboat shots stood out just as much as the festival coverage. I edited them, prepped the files, and submitted them to my agencies. That’s the part many people don’t see — the way unexpected subjects become part of the day’s visual story, and sometimes end up being the strongest images in the batch.

This happens all the time. I’ll head out to cover a small‑town event and find a quiet moment on a side street that says more about the place than the event itself. I’ll be shooting a building for a commercial client and notice a reflection in a window that turns into a completely different photograph. The planned shot gets me out the door, but the unplanned shot keeps me curious.

That’s the real joy of editorial and regional photography: the mix of intention and discovery. You go out looking for one thing, and the world hands you something else — something authentic, something fleeting, something worth capturing.

And those are often the images that end up in my portfolios, licensed by publications, or added to my agencies. Because even when I’m shooting with purpose, I’m always watching for the unexpected.