John Wick: I can’t believe I haven’t seen this film until now! Probably one of the best action movies I’ve ever watched. I love the action, cinematography, color palettes, and of course– the ultimate badass Keanu Reeves:
Month: October 2018
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When Should We Upgrade?
Dear friend,
A practical thought:
Let’s upgrade our stuff, only when the gains of the upgrade are 10x better (something totally brand new, revolutionary, etc).
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Pursue Your Passion
Dear friend,
A basic idea:
In life, pursue/possess/create what you LOVE — not just what you “like”.
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Selfish Photography
After deleting my Instagram about a year+ ago, and not using social media anymore (post-like society in photography), I’ve discovered some new truths in photography:
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Eternal Creation in Photography #inspiration
What is the point of photography? To create forever; until your dying day.
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Will Power
Dear friend,
I wanted to write some personal thoughts on willpower. Specifically —
- What is “willpower�
- How do we get more “willpower�
- Why is willpower important?
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Ghost in the Shell Anime Cinematography Composition
Ghost in the shell (original anime) is so epic and phenomenal:
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Street Photography is Hard.
Dear fellow streettogs,
If you ever find street photography difficult, scary, or hard– don’t fret. It is precisely the difficulty of street photography which makes it fun and rewarding.
Let me explain:
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How to Make Beautiful Photos
Simple idea:
Let’s seek to make beautiful photos, according to our own aesthetic tastes and judgement!
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Now What? #philosophy
The Melancholy of Finality: Why is it that we always enjoy the process of doing/making/creating something — more so than the final result?
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16 Bruno Barbey Street Photography Composition Lessons
Love the elegant compositions of Bruno Barbey from Magnum:
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Street Photography Inspiration
Dear friend,
If you need some inspiration in your street photography; here is some ideas I offer:
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Inspiration #philosophy
Dear friend,
I want to share some thoughts with you on ‘inspiration’. Specifically —
- What is inspiration?
- Why is inspiration important?
- How can we get inspired?
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How to Compose a Photograph
Composition in photography is this:
To construct, to build, prepare, and put together/arrange an image.
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Why Photographers Should Study Comic Books for Composition Inspiration
A tip from my friend Alexander Morgan:
For inspiration or ideas to make better photography compositions, let us study comic books.
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Perfect Photography
Dear friend,
A simple idea:
There are no rights or wrongs in photography. Seek to make perfect photos for yourself. And never forget– there are no rules in photography!
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Follow Your Instincts
Dear friend,
We are currently living in an insane world. There has never been a time in history where our minds and senses have been hijacked to the extent they are now. Let me explain.
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What is Photography?
What is photography? Why is it important? Let me synthesize why I love photography, how I define photography– and why photography is essential for society:
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The Art of Becoming Yourself
Dear friend,
A thought:
Employ every moment to the maximum in becoming you.
What does that mean? Let me explain:
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Never Settle Down
Dear friend,
I’ve been living on the road with Cindy the last 2.5 years; “location independent”, “digital nomadically“, professional house squatting, couch surfing, or intermittent living; whatever you want to call it. What have I learned since then? A simple idea:
Never settle down.
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Photography is Your Art
Don’t mind if people like your photos or not. Make photos for “autotelic” reasons (make photos as an end in itself, and for yourself!)
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Purposeful Procrastination
Dear friend,
Why is procrastination seen as a disease that needs to be “cured†or overcome?
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7 Philosophical Lessons Archilochus Has Taught Me
Archilochus: one of my new favorite philosopher+poet+warriors:
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Unreal Photography
Photos look best when they look unreal. “Realistic” photos are boring to look at!
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Human Augmentation
Dear friend,
A philosophical idea I’ve been contemplating is on “human augmentation”:
How can we augment ourselves (increase our physical and mental strength), should we augment ourselves, and what are the ramifications of human augmentation?
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How to Put a Dent in the Universe
My buddy Steve Jobs taught me:
You can shape, mold, and poke life!
In other words,
You can put a dent in the universe!
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Think For Yourself
What’s scarce today? The ability to think by ourselves, for ourselves, without consulting Google, without asking others or commentators for their opinion. Do we even know what our own opinion is?
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Seek Truth, Knowledge, and Beauty
Dear friend,
Some personal life goals which has helped give me more direction and purpose in life;
Seek truth, knowledge, and beauty!
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Study Math and Geometry for Visual Training in Composition
Study geometry to train your eyes to see better compositions (in the real world, when you’re taking pictures). From some hyperbolic geometry pdf textbooks I found on Google:
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Edge Detection Composition
To make better photos, separate your subjects from the background (negative space between your subject and the background), in order for your eyes to detect the edges!
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Happiness: Do What You Want to Do (And Don’t Do What You Don’t Want to Do)
Dear friend,
Ever since I was a kid– I was always seeking the truth of ‘happiness’. I tried to first of all define ‘happiness’, then figuring out how to achieve it.
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Part 1: Citizen Kane Philosophy and Cinematography Lessons
CITIZEN KANE: one of my favorite movies of all-time — super inspired by the work and philosophy of Orson Welles:
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The Joy of Visual Experimentation in Photography
Photography is fun when you treat it like visual experimentation!
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What I Learned Photographing my Backyard for a Year
My friend and student Becky Logan did this very inspirational project– photographing her 80 foot by 80 foot backyard for an entire year. It is a beautiful zen photo project– it reveals to us: You can discover beauty anywhere– as long as you look closely enough. Enter Becky:
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How to Shoot a Clear and Obscure (Chiaroscuro) Photography Composition
To make better photos, play between clear and obscure:
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Freedom of Will
Dear friend,
One of the greatest blessings we are endowed with is freedom of Will; we have the freedom to direct our own human will however we choose!
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How to Receive a Critique on Your Photography
Dear friend,
In starting ARS, the first photography feedback platform, a lot of photographers are unaccustomed to receiving anonymous critiques. I honestly do believe the best way to improve your pictures to get honest critique on your photos from others. But how should we integrate critique to our work?
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Monochrome is Magical
Dear friend,
I’m thinking a lot about creative constraints. I am starting to really recognize the truth:
Constraints are the mother of creativity.
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Avoid Vain (Empty) Pursuits in Life
Dear friend,
It is difficult to say what is worth pursuing in life. It is easier to say what is worth avoiding in life!
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12 Lessons Peter Thiel Has Taught Me About Life, Philosophy, and Entrepreneurship
I’m a huge huge fan of Peter Thiel– in terms of his optimism, his view on the future, and his personal courage to stand up for unpopular ideas (but ideas he truly believes in):
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Quantum Physics Visualizations
Fun sketches of random Quantum Physics visualizations, made with iPad and Procreate app:
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Computational Geometry
Randomly came across this Computational Geometry and Algorithms book, and wow— the geometry and aesthetics are sublime. Lesson: Study more math for composition and geometry inspiration.
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Life Lessons Mr. (Fred) Rogers Has Taught Me
On my flight from California to NY, I watched ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?‘ — a life of the timeless Mr. (Fred) Rogers — and I am speechless.
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Modern Slavery
Currently watching SOLO (film), and came across an interesting idea:
The droids (bots) in the STAR WARS universe are all slaves.
Which is interesting, because there is a lot of philosophy which confirms this idea:
Modern civilization is built on the back of slaves.
But what kind of modern slaves do we have? Unfortunately– almost all of us.