F5.6 and Use it Like a Machine Gun

After a few years as Jacques Cousteau's photographer, Didier Noirot was handed a film camera he had never used before and told to shoot motion instead of stills.

Didier asked the question. "How do I use this?"

Cousteau replied: "F5.6 and use it like a machine gun."

That's it. No technical lectures. No masterclasses on exposure theory.

Just a catch all underwater exposure setting and a directive to shoot relentlessly from every conceivable angle.

I have seen some of the first imagery Didier shot on a film camera and its breathtaking. The camera movement and framing is evocative, as is his instinctive relative positioning to the sun. You can see his footage of a pearl farm here.

Didier went on to become one of the greatest underwater cinematographers of all time, and and a huge inspiration to me and countless others.

The lesson: Your lack of technical knowledge isn't what's stopping you from crafting powerful cinematic imagery.

You can move an audience from day one with a bare-bones understanding of the technical basics. Whats far more important is to prioritise narrative purpose—what story are you trying to tell with each shot?

Too many aspiring cinematographers believe they need technical mastery before they can create anything worthwhile. They obsess over camera specs and settings when they should be thinking about emotional impact, visual narrative, and audience connection.

Stop overthinking the technical and start investing time and energy into the craft of intentional visual storytelling.