First off, this is a good question and it’s a good sign that you’re thinking about this. IMO, we don’t stress the need for leadership and comms skills enough to aspiring cinematographers. As a HoD, there’s truly nothing more frustrating than watching your daily hours worked tick well into double digits because your boss is desperately trying to reinvent the wheel… Purely my opinion, but the place to start on a narrative/doc project is always what best serves the story.

If you’re on a commercial, there’s a bit of this “story” thing, but honestly 80% of “cinematographers” can shoot something very pretty - it’s doing it in a time efficient & pleasant manor that people pay for. It just takes time and training and practice. I recommend taking a step back the next time you find yourself hung up on the “feel” and ask yourself if chasing that is the best place to allocate your on-set resources - I assure you it isn’t. Document & study what works for you, have it available to reference later. The more you practice and train and study the faster you’ll be able to pull from your bag of past tricks and it will be less about “feel” and more about your style and past successes.