Rose-colored glasses

On day two, go back to the same room using your most positive lens. Focus only on what you like. Open or close window treatments to bring in more light or less and turn on lamps to show the room in its best light. Take the liberty to clear trash, rearrange tabletops, even move furniture. If you like the room just as it is, shoot large areas. If you don’t like the room, just zoom into whatever you like, like this nice couch in that messy office.

I became aware of this lens business when I first started freelancing. I was hired to do photos to illustrate how rundown and in need of renovation a busy city hospital was. Unfortunately, no one told me that was what I was supposed to illustrate. Instead, I turned summersaults to make that hospital look as sharp and up to date as the Mayo Clinic. I was really excited about the work I had done, but my client wasn’t so happy. Be aware when you shoot, and even when you just look around at the people and places in your life that the lens you are using, also known as your point of view, and the filters you put on your lens make an enormous difference. This is true not only in your photography but in how you see and experience the world around you, and more importantly, the people in it.