Molly Lanfear shows no fear when it comes to her travels, the weather and how she approaches her job. We took some time to talk to Molly about her roots, her creative inspirations and how she puts them into every photograph and content creation project.

Growing up in Buffalo, NY, how would you compare the weather? 

When you grow up in Buffalo, you develop a “bring-it-on” kind of mentality about winter. Eight feet of snow? No problem. Four feet? That’s just your average Tuesday. But the key is, it doesn’t last. Buffalo has relatively warm winters, and when Lake Erie doesn’t freeze over, we get a lot of those lake-effect storms that make national news.

So when people first started talking about winters here, I really thought I was going to be fine. A few inches of snow and a little bit colder? No big deal! But boy, oh boy, was I quickly humbled. The windchill here is absolutely insane. Never in my life did I think I would experience -40° and the drifts are next level. I think next winter I might become a frequent flyer on that $50 flight down to Phoenix!

What is it about the city of Chicago that makes it a favorite destination for you?

I have moved around a lot and lived in quite a few cities: NYC, Phoenix, and Chicago to name a few.

Chicago is the first place that I lived out of college that truly felt like home. When people think about Chicago, they usually think it’s dangerous, busy, and dirty… but that was not my experience at all. I lived in Ravenswood, a super quiet little neighborhood where we knew almost all of our neighbors, there was a mom-and-pop grocery store across the street, and the train to take you downtown was only two blocks away. I could even walk my dog at 2am and never felt unsafe.

What creative experiences from NY and Chicago do you hope to bring to your role at HS? 

I have always had an open mind when it comes to the work I am willing to take on. From c-suite networking groups, to aerospace engineering, to concrete pours and janitorial work, I have worked in a lot of industries that a younger version of myself would have never imagined.

These diverse experiences have taught me how to adapt quickly and think on my feet. Whether it’s photographing compelling visual narratives for a medical provider or capturing the essence of a newly renovated space, I know that my past experience will enable me to help HS clients across all industries.

Tell us a little bit about what makes good photo composition and when to break the rules.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” is really the best way to answer this question. Knowing your target audience is important in order to understand what successful content may look like.

If you’re photographing a product to list on Amazon, a perfectly centered, evenly lit photograph on a white background is perfect. However, a small business that is looking to promote its products on social media would probably find those photos quite boring.

I could go into detail about the “rule of thirds” or any of the principles of design, but at the end of the day, you learn all of these “rules” with every intention of breaking them.