Month: August 2018

  • Why Walk?

    Why Walk?

    A simple question: why walk?

  • Don’t Seek Perfection

    Don’t Seek Perfection

    Perfection is Undesirable: In life, I think it is good to always have the spirit of improvement, however I think we need to be careful of the Cerberus (false ideal) of perfection.

  • Why Image Quality is Overrated

    Why Image Quality is Overrated

    Dear friend, Something I want to reflect with you is this: What is image quality, is it important, why is it important, and what is the function of image quality? And is there an objective way to judge image quality– or is it all subjective?

  • Visual Experimentation in Photography

    Visual Experimentation in Photography

    Treat photography as visual experimentation. Have fun with it! And be like a visual scientist; never stop experimenting!

  • How to Curate Your Own Photography Portfolio

    How to Curate Your Own Photography Portfolio

    Taking photos is easy; curating your best photos is hard.

  • Eric Kim Photography

    Eric Kim Photography

    My best pictures (so far):

  • Keep it Super Simple (KISS)

    Keep it Super Simple (KISS)

    “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci Dear friend, A practical idea: in photography, life, and art, strive to keep your work super super simple.

  • Desire Both Pleasure and Pain in Life

    Desire Both Pleasure and Pain in Life

    A powerful idea I got from my buddy Nietzsche; in order to grow, we need BOTH pain and pleasure!

  • How do you know if you’re making progress in your photography?

    How do you know if you’re making progress in your photography?

    How do you know if you’re making progress in your photography? Is it important to make progress in your photography?

  • Beautiful vs Ugly

    Beautiful vs Ugly

    In the philosophy of photography and aesthetics, we can categorize photos into a binary categorization: either beautiful or ugly. But what makes a photo beautiful or ugly? Or what makes things beautiful or ugly?

  • How to See Like a Machine

    How to See Like a Machine

    We are in a brave new world of photography; we can leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence to make better photos! Some things I’ve been learning:

  • Photography Composition: Which Direction is Your Subject Looking?

    Photography Composition: Which Direction is Your Subject Looking?

    Dear friend, A simple technique we can integrate into our photography — let us draw imaginary red arrows whichever direction our subjects are looking, or the direction they are walking!

  • How Do You Know Which Photos to Keep or Ditch?

    How Do You Know Which Photos to Keep or Ditch?

    In photography, one of the most challenging tasks we have: How do we know whether we should keep or ditch a certain photo? This is what inspired me to build ARS BETA with my friend Kevin, Cindy, and Annette, to make a photography platform which helps you select your best photos!

  • Why I Love Wide-Angle Lenses

    Why I Love Wide-Angle Lenses

    Dear friend, I love wide-angle lenses. Why? Let me share:

  • 5 Simple Tips How to Shoot Better Street Photos

    5 Simple Tips How to Shoot Better Street Photos

    Some of my favorite and may best street photography pictures, and why I think they are good:

  • 7 Tips How to Be Inspired to Shoot New Photos

    7 Tips How to Be Inspired to Shoot New Photos

    Dear friend, One of the most difficult challenges we have as photographers is to find inspiration to shoot new photos. Some practical ideas:

  • Why Do We Delight in Visual Change?
  • How to Critique Photos

    How to Critique Photos

    To critique a photo means to judge a photograph. But some questions to tackle: why critique photos, how to critique photos and what value do we get from photo critiques? In building up ARS BETA, I wanted to share some practical ideas on photography critique.

  • Why Create?

    Why Create?

    Dear friend, To be happier in life, create more!

  • Point of View

    Point of View

    Dear friend, A realization I’ve had after having a nice conversation with my buddy Christophe Wu: photography (and life) is all about point-of-view (POV); your perspective of the world.

  • Life Update From San Jose

    Life Update From San Jose

    Currently in San Jose, enjoying time with my mom, Annette Kim, Cindy, and loving life. Gonna teach a few workshops here, then off to NYC for another workshop, then Montreal in November (first time), then back in LA in December!

  • Subtract the Superfluous

    Subtract the Superfluous

    Dear friend, An aesthetic and life philosophy I strive towards; subtracting the superfluous.

  • 3 Tips to Instantly Improve Your Street Photography Composition by Your Father Martin

    My good friend and former workshop student Martin just made a new YouTube video on 3 practical street photography composition tips. Give the video a watch and subscribe to him here.

  • 5 Reasons Why to Shoot With Your Phone

    5 Reasons Why to Shoot With Your Phone

    Dear friend, Shoot more with your phone. Why? Some ideas:

  • Photography is Your Art-Work

    Photography is Your Art-Work

    Dear friend, Take your photography seriously — it is your art-work, the expression of your soul, and what gives you the spirit to live!

  • Try the Impossible

    Try the Impossible

    Impossible, or improbable?

  • Test Your Limits

    Test Your Limits

    Dear friend, A fun idea to ponder: aren’t you curious what your limits are?

  • The Art of Observation

    The Art of Observation

    What I think differentiates a good photographer and a great photographer is this: a great photographer is a better observer of the world around them! But how can we observe better as photographers, and why observe better?

  • New ERIC KIM PORTFOLIO BAG: For the Artist-Photographer

    New ERIC KIM PORTFOLIO BAG: For the Artist-Photographer

    The New ERIC KIM PORTFOLIO BAG: Create, travel, be prepared for every photography adventure EVERYDAY.

  • Why Be Noticed?

    Why Be Noticed?

    Dear friend, A philosophical question — why be noticed?

  • Photography Tips

    Photography Tips

    Never stop shooting:

  • Use and Abuse Your Gear!

    Use and Abuse Your Gear!

    Dear friend, A practical idea for you: if you want to shoot more, don’t baby your gear. Instead, give yourself permission to use and abuse your gear!

  • Pursue Your Passion

    Pursue Your Passion

    Your life is short. Why not pursue your passion?

  • Personal Street Photography Philosophy

    Personal Street Photography Philosophy

    What is your personal street photography philosophy? It’s different for everyone; discover it for yourself.

  • Elevate Yourself

    Elevate Yourself

    Elevate yourself and your own inner-wealth. Play the cards you’ve been dealt; but be clever and be sly. Don’t be shy, you got great potential, my friend. Self-mend your broken heart; stay bright, today is a fresh new start!

  • Part 2: Battleship Potemkin Film Cinematography Composition

    Part 2: Battleship Potemkin Film Cinematography Composition

    Continuation of PART 1. Battleship Potemkin, an epic film from 1925– apparently Stanley Kubrick would watch the films of Sergei Eisenstein on loop. Watch it here.

  • Publish Yourself

    Publish Yourself

    Why do we wait to get “discovered” by others? Why not just self-publish, and publish ourselves?

  • 10 Photography Ideas

    10 Photography Ideas

    Some simple photography tips and ideas for you to start shooting more!

  • Why I Love Pictures

    Why I Love Pictures

    I have a passion for pictures; all pictures! Paintings, photos, illustrations, graphic design, typography, sculpture; any visual art and all art in general!

  • Is Photography Fun For You?

    Is Photography Fun For You?

    A realization while at the gym: photography must be fun, or else it isn’t worthwhile.

  • Leonardo da Vinci Composition Sketches

    Leonardo da Vinci Composition Sketches

    Personal sketches of Leonardo da Vinci — trying to better analyze and digest his paintings:

  • HAPTIC TURNS TWO! Haptic Anniversary Celebration

    HAPTIC TURNS TWO! Haptic Anniversary Celebration

    Two years ago, Eric and I (Cindy Nguyen) got married and officially launched HAPTIC INDUSTRIES with STREET NOTES and THE CITY OF ANGELS. Now HAPTIC is now in its terrible twos. We’re terribly excited to keep making art, building community, and sharing our love for education. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for…

  • High Risk, High Reward

    High Risk, High Reward

    You never know whether you will make a good photo or not before you shoot it. Thus to me it only makes sense that you must just shoot a lot; and the more you shoot, the luckier you will get!

  • 10 Super Simple Street Photography Tips

    10 Super Simple Street Photography Tips

    Simple is elegant. Here are some (super) simple street photography tips to integrate into your shooting:

  • Creative Freedom

    Creative Freedom

    Dear friend, A very basic idea– what we truly desire as artists is “creative freedom” — to create what we desire without anyone else preventing us from doing it!

  • 21 Stanley Kubrick Photography Composition Lessons

    21 Stanley Kubrick Photography Composition Lessons

    Some personal lessons I’ve learned while studying Stanley Kubrick’s early photography collection:

  • How Do I Know I’m Making Progress in My Photography, Art, and Life?

    How Do I Know I’m Making Progress in My Photography, Art, and Life?

    Dear friend, I believe one of our tasks as humans is to progress. To improve. To advance, and for us to visibly see our own progress, and actually be proud of our progress! But how do we know we are advancing or progressing in our photography, art, and life? Some personal ideas:

  • Eric Kim CASE: Available Now in PHANTOM BLACK and BRONZE

    Eric Kim CASE: Available Now in PHANTOM BLACK and BRONZE

    Eric Kim CASE: Always have your RICOH, film, SD cards, and accessories with you. Eric Kim CASE now available in the HAPTIC SHOP in BRONZE LEATHER or PHANTOM BLACK.

  • Placate Yourself

    Placate Yourself

    Placate yourself, disregard your wealth Keep careful eye over your health, stay strong and stand tall; don’t stay knelt.

  • Look Behind You

    Look Behind You

    “A backward glance can always lift the heart.” – Dante (The Divine Comedy) We are often told to “count our blessings” to find more happiness, joy, and satisfaction in life. I would say it’s more effective to “consider all the people who are less fortunate than us, people dying of disease, enduring war, and exile.”