Technical mastery is the starting point
In most professional environments, competence is assumed. Clients expect clean files, consistent quality, and predictable delivery. Those things matter, but they rarely create identity. They simply remove risk.
Once everything is technically possible, the real work becomes editorial. What stays in the series. What gets removed. What the image is allowed to say inside a space, and what it should leave unsaid.
At this level, technique becomes quiet. The viewer does not notice the settings. They notice the intention.