Class of 2011
Torn between the desire to pursue his interest in photography and a dream of becoming an engineer, Michael Specht ’11 ended up at Eckerd College because of a professor who believed in his talent.
As part of his application to Eckerd, Michael had applied for financial support through a departmental artistic achievement award and sent in a portfolio of 11×17 photo prints. When he met with Professor of Visual Arts Arthur Skinner ’72 during a prospective students weekend, Skinner spoke to Michael as though the pictures were right in front of him.
“He knew every single image I submitted,” Michael says. “And to me, that was incredible. He’s taking the time to really learn about each of the applicants and the artwork they submitted, and he is able to have an intelligent critique about each of them.”
Michael with his senior thesis photos on display; photo courtesy of Michael Specht ’11
At Eckerd, Michael built his photography skills and portfolio but also explored interests beyond photography, serving on the Eckerd College Search and Rescue Team, participating in the Ford Scholars Program and studying abroad over two Winter Terms in Bhutan, Thailand and Japan. Today, he says that time developing a well-rounded set of interests serves him well in his role for Google as a senior product manager and Golden Eye, helping develop cameras on the brand’s phones.
“If I had gone to art school, I don’t think I would have had the same career, because my perspective would be more narrow in terms of experience,” he says.
“With a liberal arts education, you’re not in this echo chamber of people that are studying exactly the same thing as you,” he adds. “All these different majors are bringing their own perspective to your major, and that cross-pollination of those perspectives is what makes liberal arts education so beautiful and so powerful.”
He didn’t always know that would be the case. Graduating into the Great Recession in 2011, he wanted to pursue photography, but studio photography jobs were hard to come by. His then-girlfriend, now-wife, Marilyn, suggested he do freelance photography on the side while working at the Apple Store—embracing the engineer part of his brain that always wanted to figure out how things worked.
Staying warm in Iceland; photo courtesy of Michael Specht ’11
Michael taking photos to test cameras on a work trip to Iceland; photo courtesy of Michael Specht ’11
Shortly after filling out the application for an Apple retail position, he heard from Apple corporate in California asking him to interview for a job as a hardware test engineer testing early camera prototypes. It kicked off a lifelong career that he neither expected nor had any knowledge of—one where he helped develop Portrait Mode on the iPhone and is now the ultimate decider, or “Golden Eye,” for whether camera image/video quality meets Google’s high standards.
Michael speaks to Eckerd students in Instructor Tom Winchester’s class about his photography and work journey. Photo by Penh Alicandro ’22
“At the intersection of your multiple interests, there’s a job that you have no idea exists,” he says. “That’s definitely how my experience was.”
During a return to campus in February 2025, Michael spoke to photography students in Instructor Tom Winchester’s class, showing them everything from macro photos of insects on Eckerd’s campus he’d taken as a student to more recent scenes captured during a trip to Paris.
Michael’s visit was made possible by a gift from the Al Robbert ’66 and Birgit Robbert ’69 Endowed Fund for Alumni. The fund was established in 2021 by the Robberts, an alumni couple who realized the potential benefit to current students of interacting with graduates.
Helen Burdette ’25, a biology major taking the photography class as an elective to explore an interest in wildlife photography, says she enjoyed seeing Michael’s portfolio and hearing his perspective on photographic technology.
“It really struck me how any different device can be a good method to photograph stuff with,” she says. “I’d been kind of thinking the photos I took with my camera were better.”
During his presentation, Michael told students that lately he’s been doing demonstrations for the press to talk about Google’s product and recently started embedding images taken on mobile cameras alongside images taken on medium format digital cameras, film cameras or point-and-shoots.
“Not once did the viewer of the presentation say, ‘Oh, I wonder what camera that was taken with,’” Michael told the class. “It doesn’t matter—because they’re all more than capable of taking amazing images.”
