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For Thomas Luscombe, photography isn’t something you set up. It’s something you chase.
Street, sports, live music. The through-line is the same. Nothing waits for you, there’s no second take, and you either catch the moment or you don’t. For Thomas, that unpredictability isn’t a problem to solve. It’s the whole point.
That instinct didn’t start with a camera. It started when he was deployed with the military, stepping off a ship somewhere in the Mediterranean with just his phone, a pair of headphones, and time to explore. He wasn’t thinking of it as photography back then. He was just walking and looking and capturing whatever felt interesting. In hindsight, it was street photography before he had a name for it.
His path took another turn during the pandemic. He started a clothing brand, needed product photos, got a quote he didn’t love, and decided to figure it out himself. One camera, a lot of YouTube tutorials, and a growing obsession later, the business quietly faded and photography took over.
In this conversation, we get into that shift and everything that came with it. Thomas is still very much in the middle of figuring things out, moving between genres, trying new directions, and following what feels right. No rigid plan. Just a willingness to stay curious and keep showing up.
We also spend real time on the parts that don’t get talked about enough. The long stretches of coming home with nothing. The creative slumps tied to seasons and environment. The early confidence that makes you think you’re further along than you are, and what it feels like when that illusion cracks. Thomas talks about all of it without dressing it up, and it’s the kind of honesty that will feel familiar to anyone who’s been through it.
And then there’s editing. For Thomas, it’s not a finishing step. It’s the part he looks forward to most. It’s where light gets shaped and where a decent photo can quietly become something much better.
Here’s some of what we get into:
Why chasing moments has shaped how he approaches street, sports, and music photography
The unlikely path from a clothing brand to a full creative pursuit
What most beginners get wrong about street photography, and why it takes time to actually start seeing
The reality of creative slumps, especially when your environment works against you
Why editing is a lot more than post-processing, and how it can completely change an image
His experiment with a “secret” Instagram account and what it ended up revealing about his relationship with sharing work
Thomas is still exploring, still experimenting, and that comes through in the conversation. If you’ve ever felt like you’re still figuring out your own photography, this one will feel pretty familiar.
Q: Your love for photography was born out of a need to not pay someone else?
Thomas: Yeah, which is very weird. But if you’re one of those people who believes everything happens for a reason, I think that was that right there. I needed product photos for a clothing brand I’d started, got a quote from a photographer that was fairly high, so I went and bought a camera myself. I taught myself how to use it, got into Lightroom, and eventually I just fell in love with it. A couple of years later I realized I was falling in love with photography and out of love with the whole clothing business.
Q: Is the problem today that there are too many good images, or too many images that are optimized to look good?
Thomas: I think it’s a mix of the two. We’re in a time where there’s never been so many people with a camera who are, quote unquote, photographers – and I think that’s awesome, I’m not a gatekeeper. But I’m going to blame Fujifilm, honestly. The whole recipe and TikTok thing blew up, people started buying cameras like crazy, and now there’s so much out there. People are making fairly decent-looking images in camera and sharing it without really sitting down to edit or develop their eye. It’s just a shortcut culture – and shortcuts have limits.
Q: Where does the line sit for you between editing that serves the image and editing that substitutes for skill in camera?
Thomas: That’s a hard one. I can have a pretty heavy hand when it comes to editing, but I like to think I know where that line is. What I saw when I captured an image is not really the result I put out into the world – I try not to completely distort reality, but I definitely play with how I envisioned it in my mind. The thing is, it’s so subjective. I’ve spoken with photographers who are total purists – they’ll only adjust exposure and call it done. And I take an entirely different approach. I don’t think anyone’s wrong either way. It’s art. It’s whatever you want it to be.
Thomas stumbled into photography while sailing with the Navy, casually documenting life on an iPhone – not realizing he was already practicing street photography.
His real turning point came in 2020, when lockdowns pushed him to buy a Canon M200 and learn photography himself instead of hiring someone.
More recently, he’s stepped into sports photography, starting with local football and working his way toward more serious opportunities.
📖 Philosophy / Vision / Storytelling
Thomas focuses on chasing moments rather than controlling them, embracing the unpredictability of street, sports, and live environments.
He’s thoughtful about ethics in street photography, prioritizing respect and authenticity over getting the shot at any cost.
A key mindset: create for yourself, not for likes – external validation can quietly erode creativity.
He also embraces the Dunning-Kruger effect, seeing early confidence as fuel for action before self-doubt creeps in.
📷 Tools, Gear, and Editing Process
He shoots with a Lumix for professional work and a Fujifilm for personal projects, using each system intentionally.
Lightroom is his main editing tool, though Luminar Neo has played a big role in growing his YouTube audience.
His edits lean warm, moody, and filmic, guided by emotion rather than presets or rigid consistency.
He emphasizes masking techniques as the key to elevating images, while warning against overusing clarity, contrast, and poor skin tone edits.
🔁 Practice, Platforms, and Content Creation
Thomas runs a YouTube channel focused on editing, often filming in a loose, unscripted style that mirrors his creative process.
His photography Instagram remains anonymous, a deliberate experiment to prove growth can come purely from the work itself.
While he loves street and music photography, he acknowledges the challenge of turning those genres into sustainable income.
💬 Advice, Creative Strategy, and Challenges
His biggest advice: make work that excites you, not work designed to perform well online.
He encourages photographers to ignore rigid rules and prioritize interesting images over technical perfection.
Growth comes from putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, like trying new genres without feeling fully prepared.
He sees editing and in-camera work as equal crafts – the key is ensuring editing supports your vision, not replaces it.
🌍 Influences, People, Brands, and Places
Early and lasting influences include Peter McKinnon, Vivian Maier, and Frank Herzog.
Watching coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics reignited his interest in sports photography.
Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he’s learning to see familiarity as an advantage, while a trip to Chicago marked a major creative breakthrough.
🔮 What’s Next for Thomas
He’s working toward breaking into higher-level sports photography, building connections beyond local games.
There’s a growing interest in off-camera flash and editorial portraiture, expanding beyond candid work.
A personal project is forming around documenting overlooked scenes in Nova Scotia with a slower, more intentional approach.
Long-term, he’s exploring whether photography becomes a career or remains a passion, letting that answer evolve naturally.
Perrin is a dedicated nature and outdoor product photographer who spends much of his time exploring wild places, capturing the stories found in rugged landscapes and the gear built for them. His passion for the natural world drives him to teach others how to photograph and engage with outdoor environments in meaningful, respectful ways. He is the Community Manager and Podcast Host at Great Big Photography World, where he helps photographers connect, grow, and share their creative journeys.
Perrin is a dedicated nature and outdoor product photographer who spends much of his time exploring wild places, capturing the stories found in rugged landscapes and the gear built for them. His passion for the natural world drives him to teach others how to photograph and engage with outdoor environments in meaningful, respectful ways. He is the Community Manager and Podcast Host at Great Big Photography World, where he helps photographers connect, grow, and share their creative journeys.
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