Month: October 2016

One of the best documentaries I have ever watched is “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.” If you haven’t watched it yet— you are missing out on a visual masterpiece which will change how you think of life, work, and dedication to a craft:

Dear friend,

I just had a lively conversation with Cindy about the meaning of traveling and photography. Why do we have to make photos while we’re traveling? Do we do it to document our personal experiences? Do we do it to have a sense of “conquest” of a foreign place? Do we do it to “prove” that we went somewhere?

Pablo Picasso was one of the most prolific, creative, and inspirational artists who has ever lived. Here is a man who created his own destiny — who constantly re-invented himself (regardless of what his critics said), was always creating art, and had fun (like a child).

Dear friend,

I’m currently at the boarding gate from Sydney>Ho Chi Minh>Hanoi, and I have a few minutes to reflect on my experiences in Sydney, Australia.

Today I hang out with my buddy Hugo Sharp, and get a large-format portrait shot of me. Also joining us is my buddy Greg Marsden. We shoot the portrait in the spirit of Richard Avedon (simple white background) and the whole process was quite amazing. Slow, meditative, and insightful. Really makes you appreciate the large-format shooting process more.

If you want to learn more about shooting film, check out my guide: Film Photography 101>

I’m currently reading “The Essential Drucker” by the management educator Peter Drucker. His insights into companies, communities, society have been quite inspirational to me.

The most interesting interesting concept that I got from Drucker was the idea of creating a “parallel career” — a career that goes in tandem with whatever you’re doing right now. This way you can “cross-pollinate” the two interests or passions you have, which also help build upon one another. And you can do this by creating “parallel interests”.

In the ancient days of Socrates, there was a concept of a “daemon” — a little inner-guide which gave you wisdom. That voice is also known nowadays as our conscience or our “gut.”

The problem in today’s society is that we don’t listen to our inner-voice anymore. We listen to “rationality”, and the opinions of others.

When we are children, everyday is a new adventure. Everyday is a chance to learn something new, to explore, meet new people, learn new words, new phrases, and to pick up new social cues. We are bewildered by reality.

However as we get older, we become jaded with reality. We feel trapped in these shitty 9-5 jobs, and feel the inner-child die.

I love gear as much as the next guy. I always get suckered into thinking that if I buy a new camera, a new lens, or some new gadget– I will somehow be more creative, and inspired.

In reality, it never happens. All of my big breakthroughs in photography have been practicing (shooting a lot) and studying the master photographers. Especially buying photography books (lots of them). You are what you eat, if you look at lots of inspirational photography books, you will become inspired to make great images. I’ve regretted buying a ton of gear in the past, but have never regretted investing in photography books.

To learn more, read my original post: “Buy Books, Not Gear” and also see a list of my recommended photography books: 75+ Inspirational Photography Books You Gotta Own.

Also as an added bonus, here are some non-photography books which have influenced my life deeply:

• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
• Letters From a Stoic by Seneca
• Tao Te Ching (Stephen Mitchell Version)
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
• Epictetus - Of Human Freedom
• Debt: The first 5,000 years
• The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
• Seneca - On the shortness of life
• The Illiad
• Elon Musk Biography
• Steve Jobs Biography by Walter Isaacson
• The 4 Hour Workweek
• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
• Zero to One – Peter Thiel
• The Power of No – James Altucher
• The Obstacle is the Way – Ryan Holiday

I’m currently staying with Cindy’s family in the suburbs, in Garden Grove, Orange County, California. There are no sidewalks here. There is nowhere to shoot “street photography” in the traditional sense. The entire place is full of strip malls, cars, and starbucks.

A friend recently asked me, “Eric — why do you give away your photos and stuff for free? Aren’t you worried that people are just going to copy this stuff, and claim it as their own? You also realize that you can make a ton of money off this stuff, and monetize it more.”

Dear friend,

I’ve been blogging since I was 16 years old, which is 12+ years now (from age 16 to age 28). I’ve been blogging about photography for 7+ years (2009–2016). If I started blogging all over again, this is the advice I would give myself:

Dear friend,

This guide is intended for you if you currently own a smartphone (iPhone, Android, etc) and want to learn how to take better photos.

Dear friend,

I wanted to write you a little diary entry from Melbourne. I just got here a few days ago, and have been suffering massive headaches (severe caffeine withdrawals from Vietnam) and mild food-poisoning (think I ate some bad eggs on the flight over). Yet it has been some of the best few days ever.

My primary passion is “street photography” — yet I find my biggest inspiration for my work comes from photographers who aren’t “street photographers.”

Enter Guy Bourdin: a fashion photographer who revolutionized the field (alongside Helmut Newton). Bourdin was one of the first photographers to mix fashion, fine art, and commercial photography. His photos are full of suspense, mystery, tinged with sex, drama, and death.

After lovely espressos, my homies Nick and Frankie from Slater St. Bench, helped me have an incredible workshop this past weekend in Melbourne. The students practiced the “5 yes, 5 no” assignment, practiced “working the scene”, getting closer, and also shooting more candids. See all of their best photos by reading more below.

Also, I have 1 spot left in my upcoming Sydney Conquer Your Fears Workshop (Oct 8-9th) and you don’t want to miss out on my epic week-long Hanoi to Sapa Travel Street Photography Experience (Feb 8-13th, 2017).

Dear friend,

I wanted to write you this book on how to take better photos. I know you started off with your iPhone, and started to show keen interest on making better images. I taught you the “rule of thirds” and other basics; but now it is time for you to take your photography to the next level.

So consider this a handbook or a manual of sorts; for you only. I am also writing this book in hope that other people (similar to you, still relatively new in photography and wanting to learn more) will find it helpful as well.