Today I turn 27 years old, thank you for all the kind birthday wishes! I am currently in LA for the weekend, visiting some close friends and family for a quick birthday dinner, then heading back home to Berkeley early Sunday. I am generally not the person to reflect very much. I kind of like…
In this video presentation I share compositional techniques to make better street photographs (diagonals, figure-to-ground, curves, leading lines, framing). You can see all the slides for this presentation here. Articles on Street Photography Composition If you want to learn how to improve your compositions in street photography, enjoy these articles: Composition Lesson #1: Triangles Composition…
In this presentation, I share the work of the master Magnum photographers (Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliott Erwitt, Diane Arbus, Martine Franck) and share the importance of “working the scene” (via contact sheets). So pretty much– you don’t want to just shoot one photograph of a stranger and move on. Rather, you want to continue to “work…
As a part of my on-going “Ask Eric Kim” series– here is a question I have from Darren Hoyland from my Facebook fan page: Darren Hoyland: How [do you] keep yourself motivated whilst out on the streets when you have that deja view moment of been here done that? Hey Darren, I face this a lot:…
I am a big fan and believer of “heuristics” (or rules of thumb). I was first introduced to the idea of “heuristics” from Nassim Taleb (in his book “Antifragile“) and later more from Gerd Gigerenzer (a German psychologist who wrote the excellent book: “Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious“). Below is a list of heuristics…
In this video lecture above, I share some practical tips, thoughts, and philosophies about being “invisible when shooting street photography. You can check out the slides here. If you want to learn how to overcome your fear of shooting street photography, I also recommend watching my video lecture: “How to Overcome Your Fear of Shooting…
This morning on the way to the gym, I was listening to the newest podcast episode of “Invisibilia” (a new NPR podcast on cognitive and behavioral science) and they had an episode titled “Fearless”. The episode was fascinating to me— as I have always been obsessive with this idea of conquering your fear of shooting…
Cheers to another Streettogs Academy Assignment done and let’s continue the voyage with the Assignment from editor’s choice, Kirk Lothian. Here’s a hint to what it is: It should make us boldly go where no one has gone before.
All photographs copyrighted by the estate of Harry Callahan. You can download this article for free as a .docx, PDF, or Google Doc. I recently came upon the work of Harry Callahan from a friend and former workshop student named Chris Giuseppe. This past weekend, I organized a small meet-up in San Francisco in the…
Another two weeks, another assignment done over at streettogs academy! Sam Trachsel gave us Opposites as a theme for this assignment! Let’s look at how the members of the group interpreted the theme!
All photographs copyrighted by Todd Hido. This is part 2 of my write-up on Todd Hido’s new book: “Todd Hido on Landscapes, Interiors, and The Nude: The Photography Workshop Series“. You can read part 1: “Lessons Todd Hido Has Taught Me About Street Photography (Part 1).” You can also download the entire article free via…
All photographs copyrighted by Todd Hido. You can read part 2 here: “Lessons Todd Hido Has Taught Me About Street Photography (Part 2)“. You can also download the entire article free via .docx, PDF, and Google Doc. I have really been loving the “Photography Workshop Series” that Aperture has been publishing. They recently did a book…
I just finished a book called “10% happier”, which preached the benefits of meditation and mindfulness in everyday life. There is a lot of pain and anxiety from everyday life, and one of the main causes of that is longing for something. Wanting something that we don’t have. By focusing too much on the future and…
I just finished an epic “Conquer Your Fears of Shooting Street Photography Workshop” in Downtown LA this past weekend and put together a fun behind-the-scenes video above. All of the students did an incredible job building their confidence in the streets, getting closer to strangers, and had a lot of fun getting to know one…
Thanks to Matt Stuart from In-Public for sharing this short 8-minute film about the resurgence of film photography. Personally I still love shooting film for the added challenge, how it slows me down, the aesthetic, as well as the surprise when I finally get my film developed. Shooting film (I think) has made me a…
It is that time of the year again— to make resolutions for the new year. In 2014, I wrote a post, “40 Street Photography Resolutions Ideas for 2014” and I also wrote a post titled: “15 Street Photography Assignments to Re-Energize and Re-Inspire You” (inspired by the book: “The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas”).…