Dear friend,
If you’re feeling a bit lost with your photography or life– here are some heart-to-heart advice:
1. Why is photography useful?
![ERIC KIM EYE by Cindy Nguyen / Hanoi, 2017](https://i0.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/74504CD0-909D-4ACE-809F-A7497E9F7176-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1200%2C795)
I think one of the best benefits of photography:
Using photography as a tool to appreciate your life more, and to find more joy in the small things of your everyday life.
For example, I’ve been making a lot of photo diaries — and while they aren’t probably the world’s ‘best’ photos– they are personally meaningful to me.
Looking at my personal diary photos, I re-live the good moments of my day-to-day life. Snapshots of me with Cindy, photos of my food, or my environment.
2. Why I love photography
![Hanoi rooftop bar / black and white street photograph, 2016](https://i0.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/E437F205-A2BD-43E7-9C16-76F6DE890B09-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1200%2C795)
I think true joy in life is a combination of adventures, achievement, reflection, and appreciation.
Photography helps me appreciate the things I have done, the things I have experienced, and helps me do it in an artistic way.
3. Life without photography would be a mistake.
![Diagonal composition, Cindy minimalism // Hanoi, 2017](https://i0.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/B3448F01-5B26-4481-8F6B-86D576993016-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1200%2C795)
The problem that a lot of us as photographers face is:
- We don’t shoot enough personal photos of our everyday life.
- We don’t photograph enough pictures of our loved ones.
- We take our photography too seriously — we forget to just enjoy the process and joy of photography; shooting like a child.
- We don’t review our old photos enough.
- We care more about the likes we get from our photos, rather than the aesthetic joy our photos bring ourselves
- We care too much about what others think of our photos, rather than what we think of our own photos.
- We use ‘likes’ as a measure whether our photos are any good or not.
4. You can photograph anything.
![Spiral. Hanoi, 2017](https://i0.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/616C9594-9721-4090-847B-6BE393A4B1DF-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1200%2C795)
Nothing is too small to photograph.
Find beauty in the small and ordinary. Nothing is too ordinary or ‘normal’ to photograph.
![Tree. Hanoi, 2017](https://i0.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/1B812623-C826-48F0-BE03-4BAA2AE76111-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1200%2C795)
Don’t get ‘suckered by the exotic’ — or thinking that you can only make good photos while traveling. Instead, realize that you can make personally meaningful photos of your everyday life — right now, today, and forever.
5. Photograph your own life
![Cindy in our apartment. Hanoi, 2017](https://i0.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/4372680E-9D69-4F9B-832D-C85F5EB8E9E7-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1200%2C795)
Photograph your loved ones, photograph selfies of yourself, shoot your food, shoot your home, photograph moments which put a smile on your face.
The formula:
Photograph what is personally-meaningful to you, and review the photos, and re-live that joy afterwards.
Smile,
ERIC
PHOTOGRAPHY THERAPY
![Low angle silhouette photo of Cindy. Hanoi, 2017](https://i0.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/48BDA542-6488-47DF-BCB8-D324CFEC56DE-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1200%2C795)
How to find more joy in your life with photography: