Dear friend,

You’re like kinetic energy– infinite untapped energy. Why do you hold yourself back?

Ideas to unlock your inner-creative genius:

1. Ignore haters

Ignore the haters, the nay Sayers, and those who try to hold you back. I’m sorry, but you gotta be ruthless.

You gotta subtract the negative energy, or you will die.

For example, my dad was like a dark cloud over me my entire life. I cut him out from my life 2 years ago, like a toxic cancer. I’ve been so much mentally healthier now.

Even now, I get pissed off all this negative talk I’m surrounded with. People are telling me to slow down and not to publish so much. But people have the freedom to unfollow and not pay attention to me. So why are they criticizing or hating on me? Because they feel frustrated that they are so inactive.

So friend, who are those negative nay sayers in your life?

• Do you wanna start a business, yet have all these people telling you why you shouldn’t? Cut them out.
• Do you like your photos, but everyone tells you that your photos suck? Cut them out.
• Are you making innovative art, yet everyone tells you that you’re crazy? Cut them out.

Don’t let others try to hold you down with their golden handcuffs and lead weights.

You were born to fly.

2. Don’t be satisfied

Once you fall into photographic complacency, you fall into photographic death.

Avoid complacency at all costs, or you will die in your artistic vision.

Pablo Picasso was great: he always reinvented himself. He went through different artistic phases– a rose (red color) phase, and an azul (blue color) phase.

Picasso made cubist paintings, and realistic paintings. He even innovated within his cubist paintings, experimenting with different forms, shapes, subject matter, colors, and perspectives. He inspires me to experiment with photo cubism.

For myself, I have experimented with street photography, candid street photos, street photos with permission, landscape photos, black and white photography, color photography, macro photography, fashion photography, and abstract photography. I’m still growing, developing and evolving.

Above all, I do it in a spirit of play. Like a big ass kid.

So to be more creative, avoid complacency and avoid boredom. Have more fun, be like a big kid, running around with a camera with joy and excitement.

3. Never stop learning.

If you stop growing you start dying, as Bob Dylan once said.

A redwood tree constantly grows, and puts her roots even deeper into the earth. She derives energy from the sun, the water, and nutrients of the soil.

Never stop learning in photography.

• Buy books, not gear
• Attend photography workshops
• Travel, see the world, and open your mind to other cultures.
• Study composition, and what makes a good photo.
• Seek self-improvement, and ignore the critics.

You were born for a great artistic destiny. Never squander your potential.

BE STRONG,
ERIC