Month: June 2014
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On Polarization and Street Photography
I am a big fan of Nassim Taleb and his concept of the “barbell theory” which he derives from his book: “Antifragile” (one of my top 3 favorite books). The concept of the “barbell theory” is that you embrace two extremes in life– rather than going for the boring “middle” strategy. For example Nassim Taleb…
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Interview with Ibarionex Perello from “The Candid Frame”
Ibarionex Perello is a photographer, writer, educator as well as the host and producer of The Candid Frame photography podcast. He is the author of 5 books including “Chasing the Light Improving Your Photography Using Available Light“. His latest book is “Portraits of Strangers.”
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10 Ways How to Have a Good Day in Street Photography
Smile at and compliment a stranger. Surprise a friend with one of your favorite prints (for no reason). Give a constructive criticism to a street photographer with 0 comments online. Promote the work of another contemporary street photographer whose work you admire. Go out and only shoot with 1 camera and 1 lens (and turn…
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Reflections on Tijuana by Eric Labastida
(Editor’s note: The following are words and photographs of Eric Labastida. These are his thoughts and reflections during his time photographing Tijuana from 1992 to 2002) When I started this project and photographing in general, I found inspiration in the library. This was before the internet, before we had the ability of riding the flood…
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Saigon Diary #5: Travels to Bien Hoa, Learning Vietnamese, and Coffee Culture
Hey streettogs, thank you for waiting for this new episode of “Saigon Diary“. A lot has happened the last week, namely me and Cindy visiting Bien Hoa– a place about an hour outside of Saigon. Cindy’s cousin got married recently, and it was a great time getting to know her father’s side of the family…
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Composition Lesson #14: Square Format
You can see all my composition lessons here. I have been quite fascinated with the square-format in street photography for a while. My fascination first came about from Jeroen Helmink, a photographer from the Netherlands (you can see a fun video we made on shooting Hasseblads). There was something quite sexy about the 6×6 format–…
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Introducing Streettogs Academy
We always push for people to keep on practicing and developing your skills and your eye. We also believe in having a passionate group of people helping each other to become good with this passion of ours. With that in mind, we are launching a new initiative here on the blog: Streettogs Academy.
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10 Things To Try When You’re in a Photographic Rut
Visit an exhibition or a museum (on photography or any other art form). Try shooting film, and not processing your work for at least 3 months. Then do a final edit at the end. Travel (doesn’t have to be international, it can be even an hour drive away). Write down any photographic ideas you have…
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10 Things Not to Do While Traveling
Don’t speak English (speak the local language) Don’t eat McDonalds or drink Starbucks (explore local food) Don’t travel with check-in luggage (keep everything to a small carry-on) Don’t keep to yourself (make new friends in the streets) Don’t try to see everything (it is better to see fewer places more thoroughly) Don’t travel without water…
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Saigon Diary #4: Leading Lines, Golden Triangle Composition, and Working the Scene
Hey streettogs, thanks for staying tuned in for the “Saigon Diary” series. For the sake of getting sleep and having higher quality posts, I’ve decided not to keep a daily diary– but to update every 2-3 days (depending on how interesting my days are). Some people are asking me why I’m showing bad photos in…
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Fair Witness: Interview with David Lykes Keenan
Special thanks to Clifton Barker and Gary Gumanow for putting together this interview with David Lykes Keenan, who is currently fundraising a kickstarter for his “Fair Witness” street photography book. Clifton: Few have done such great things for the photography scene in Austin as David Lykes Keenan, who I have the pleasure of interviewing today. …
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5 Tips For Really Busy Street Photographers
Nowadays. we are all really busy. We have countless commitments at work, at home, with our friends, and with our families. It is really hard to find time to shoot street photography. Not all of us can leave the obligations of the “real world” and just go out and shoot all the time. Ironically enough…
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10 Things Not to Do in Street Photography
Don’t chimp (let your shots marinate) Don’t look at bad photos (study the masters) Don’t spend time on gear review sites when you’re bored (buy books, not gear) Don’t worry about your camera (the best camera is the one you have with you) Don’t mix black and white and color in the same set (aim…
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Saigon Diary #3: Motorbikes, Vietnamese Coffee, and Night Shooting
Today was another beautiful day in Saigon. However, I did wake up pretty exhausted. The light from the morning light was nice, getting me up at around 8am. I slept probably around 1:30am (staying up to write Saigon Diary #2). But I think no matter how tired I am, I want to keep up this…
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Saigon Diary #2: Learning Vietnamese, Seeing Common Threads, and Triangles
Due to the positive feedback from the first “Saigon Diary #1” I will see if I can do daily diary entries. Thank you guys also for the feedback on the new blog design. I’ve been wanting to change my blog to a “responsive design” — that would look great across smartphones, tablets, and computers. I…
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Eric Kim Lightroom Presets
Dear friend, As a present, here are some new ERIC KIM LIGHTROOM CLASSIC CC PRESETS 2018 for you!
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Saigon Diary #1: First Day in Vietnam
You can download my free Lightroom 5 film street photo presets which I used to process these photos. I used the “XT-1 v2” preset on most of these. Hey what’s up streettogs– this is Eric Kim reporting live from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam. After a lovely 14-hour flight from Vancouver and a…
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New Eric Kim Street Photography Workshops in 2014 and 2015 in Stockholm, Portland, SF, Chicago, Toronto, NYC & More!
Hey streettogs, I am excited to share my upcoming street photography workshops for this year as well in 2015! If you want to push your boundaries in street photography, gain inspiration and confidence, and meet other passionate street photographers– join me at one of my upcoming workshops. Some of my upcoming destinations include Ho Chi…
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Street Photography Interview with John Goldsmith in Vancouver
Funny story– Take Kayo was interviewing me in the streets of Vancouver when John Goldsmith (in my opinion the best street photographer in Vancouver) pops out of some bushes and starts photographing us. We then turned the lens onto John, and I do a brief interview with him on the streets– asking him about his…
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Video Interview with Take Kayo in the Streets of Vancouver
I recently had the pleasure bumping into Take Kayo (aka Bigheadtaco), a prolific street photographer and blogger based in Vancouver. Funny story: I was having an espresso and blogging at Revolver, and out of nowhere– Take and the owner Tarry recognized me and started photographing me (really close, at 1 meter). We started laughing, chatting–…
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Street Photography Book Analysis: Modern Times by Patrick Tsai
One of the best things about photography is it gives us a view of places we otherwise won’t be able to visit. Street Photography ups the ante by actually heading to side streets, roads not taken, and places that won’t appear in your usual travel guide. In Patrick Tsai’s modern times, he shows us a…
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7 Lessons Helen Levitt Has Taught Me About Street Photography
Helen Levitt is known as a “photographer’s photographer” a photographer who is admired by photographers everywhere, but not that well known. Since the raise of fame of Vivian Maier— I wanted to profile the work of Helen Levitt, and share the work of talented female street photographers.
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Listening to the Bass in Street Photography
I recently read something quite interesting about music. The concept was when you’re listening to music, you tend to listen to the treble (high notes) and tend to ignore the bass (low notes). Therefore the author suggested to get a richer experience listening to music, focus on listening to the bass (not the treble). So…
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You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take
Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. I find this such a beautiful quote not only in life but also street photography. Many of us are afraid of taking risks, of taking chances. We worry about failure. We worry that others will judge us for our shortcomings. We worry…
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Video Review of the Fujifilm x100s and Tips for Street Photography
Just put together a video review and some street photography tips for the Fujifilm x100s. You can also see the full review I did of the camera here.
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Review of the Fujifilm x100s for Street Photography
Disclosure: Fujifilm gave me a Fuji x100s for this review. I haven’t been paid to write this review, and will try to make it as non-biased as possible. Also there are Amazon affiliate links included– so if you order the camera or any other product from my link, it will give me a small percentage.…
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Systems vs Goals in Street Photography
One of the most interesting concepts I’ve learned recently is the concept of “Systems” vs “Goals” from a book written by Scott Adams titled: “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.” Basically Scott Adams says that in life we should focus on “Systems” instead of “Goals”. So what is the difference? Scott…
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The Benefits Shooting Both Film and Digital in Street Photography
This guest blog post is by JT White, a street photographer based in Seoul, Korea. JT: I get asked a lot about film versus digital. I use both film and digital cameras. Which, depend really depends on a lot of things. It can depend on my mood or on the lens I want to use. I…
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Behind-the-Scenes: LA Street Photography Workshop Video Testimonial & Review
Chris Stoltz, a talented photographer and videographer (and workshop attendee), just put together an awesome behind-the-scenes video of my recent LA Street Photography Workshop. He interviews me about my passion for teaching workshops, and also the students and what they gained from the workshop. If you’re interested in breaking outside of your comfort zone, growing creatively,…