Anastasia Engelhardt is experienced in manual and automation testing for web, mobile, and APIs. During her career, she worked on both well-structured projects and those requiring QA process setup from scratch.
She is also a Community Contributor: Google Women Techmakers Ambassador, tech event organizer, speaker, and mentor. She launched QA apprenticeships for 20+ juniors across Serbian startups and runs an Instagram blog (4,500+ followers) sharing insights on QA and career growth.
Here is her interesting story on how photography helped her become a better QA:
How Photography Helped Me Become a Better QA
When I first started working as a QA, especially as a junior, I used to get extremely anxious before every release.
I would panic — what if we missed something? What if the bug is serious? What if the client notices something?
Those thoughts didn’t help. On the contrary, they created mental fog, distracted me, and lowered my productivity.
Over time, I realized that mistakes are part of the process. Even when we give our best, even when we have solid test cases, there’s still a chance something might slip through the cracks. There’s no such thing as exhaustive testing, and that’s one of the core principles of QA.
Our job isn’t to guarantee perfection, but to:
🔹 Reduce risks
🔹 Ensure that bugs are detected quickly
🔹 And that they’re fixed just as fast
Even today, after several years of experience, I still feel a bit nervous before a release. But now it’s a healthy focus, not panic.
And that’s where my hobby comes in — photography.
This year, I joined the photo club Objektiv in Kragujevac, Serbia, and started submitting my work to competitions.
After each session, I bring my photos to be reviewed by an experienced photographer — the club president.
Every time I receive:
📷 Honest, constructive feedback
📷 Clear insight into what works and what doesn’t
📷 Specific suggestions for next time
Sometimes he tells me a photo “isn’t ready for competition.” Sometimes he says it still needs a lot of work.
But the way he gives feedback —
✨ With respect
✨ With support
✨ With belief in my growth
… makes me want to keep going. Without shame. With motivation.
Photography became the first place where I was not afraid of making mistakes. Where I want feedback.
Where I work on:
🔸 Backgrounds (like not having a tree “growing” from someone’s head)
🔸 Composition
🔸 Light and balance
And each time, I improve.
Now, I bring that same approach into QA:
✅ Mistakes don’t block me anymore
✅ I see them as growth points
✅ I focus on one thing at a time — and keep moving forward
I truly believe everyone should have at least one space where they can make mistakes without consequences.
A space where they know:
❤️ They won’t be judged
❤️ They’ll be supported
❤️ Even if they fall, they can get up and grow
Because even when we fail, we can grow.
What about you?
Do you have your own “safe space for mistakes”?
Big thanks to Anastasia Engelhardt for inspiring us with her story.
If you’d like to connect or follow her journey, you can find her on LinkedIn here:
👉 Anastasia Engelhardt on LinkedIn
