Dear friend,

A basic idea:

Let’s strive to make simple photos.

Let’s not be fooled: making simple photos is very difficult.

Furthermore, simple photos are the best. Simple photos are elegant. Simple photos speak to our soul.

Making simple photos is extremely challenging. We must strip the superfluous from our pictures, through the shooting process (framing our scenes), by choosing our exposure (minus or – exposure compensation to simplify), by post-processing our photos (crushing the blacks, or using ERIC KIM MONOCHROME Lightroom preset), and by the editing process (deciding which photos to keep or ditch).

Simple palette

Simplify your palette, tones, and aesthetics of your photos. Simplify the aesthetics to put more focus on the soul of the subjects in your photos.

Simplify your subject-matter

Simplify the scene you’re photographing by focusing on one subject, or one subject matter.

When you’re photographing a scene, ask yourself:

What is my central subject of the photo?

And,

What am I trying to highlight in this photo?

Figure to ground

You want to separate your subjects from the background. You do this by photographing your subject against a simple background.

You can simplify your photos by using a flash, shooting black and white, or by crouching lower and photographing your subjects against simpler backgrounds.

You can also simplify photos by deciding what to remove from your photos, and what to NOT include in your photos while you’re framing and composing a scene.

Simple is hard. Simple is difficult. Yet, simple is fun and challenging.

To become a better photographer, become a simpler photographer.

> “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

KISS,
ERIC