Month: April 2019

In praise of an uncertain, risky, and more fun/adventurous life!

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Don’t seek inspiration from outside of yourself; seek to inspire yourself with your own photos, your own images.

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One of the best ways to speed up your photographic workflow:

Only shoot JPEG, don’t bother with additional post-processing, and just share/upload your photos directly!

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My buddy Jeffrey Lam is currently writing a paper on “Existential Health”; the idea that now, health is more of a philosophical issue.

Which made me realize: at this point photography is the same. Photography is an existential (philosophy of purpose) thing!

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It seems no matter how exciting or interesting or good something is, we will adapt to it.

Which makes me wonder:

How can we best live our lives, considering we will adapt to almost everything in life?

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A thought while watching John Wick 2:

John Wick seems to ultimately prefer his pistols (small, most versatile gun). Perhaps we as photographers should also prioritize our smallest and most effective cameras– aka point-and-shoot cameras?

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To ‘edit‘ your project means to select your favorite photos for a certain project. Here are some practical thoughts and tips on editing your own photography projects:

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We all want to make good, great, or “better” photos. But a lot of us lack the inspiration to shoot every day, or we lack the motivation to shoot every day. Or perhaps we are too tired. Or nothing around us in our environment inspires us.

So the question is:

Is it possible to make good or interesting photos where we live, or anywhere we are? Is it necessary for you to live in a big city or to be constantly traveling to exotic places to make good photos?

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I think it is good to have idols and role models who inspire you, and people which motivate you to greatness.

A thought:

Perhaps we should strive to BECOME GREATER than those who came before us, and to become GREATER than idols we admire (who are still alive today).

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Similar to the notion of “purposeful procrastination” comes my new notion of “delightful delay”:

Don’t feel rushed to adopt new technologies. Don’t be an “early adopter”. Delight in delaying trivial decisions!

For example,

1. Delight in the classics (classic books, poetry, design, artworks)
2. Be skeptical of new technologies and “first generation” products.
3. When in doubt, don’t buy it.
4. Stick to the tried and true.
5. Don’t seek to “improve” your workflows. Seek to simplify and streamline your workflows.
6. Ignore trends and hype. If it smells like a fad, it probably is a time-wasting and distracting fad, that will quickly pass.
7. If you discover tools you really like, stick with them as long as possible!
8. With technology, often it is a good idea to invest in something one generation older (used or refurbished) for massive savings and better value!

Photography must be fun, or else it isn’t worthwhile. Here are some fun photography tips for you:

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Ever since being a fat kid (hot pocket diet as a child), I have always been curious about physical exercise, diet, and health.

But when people talk about “health” — things/foods/lifestyles which are “healthy” versus “unhealthy” — what do people really mean to say?

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There is no “ideal” body shape. Just strive to look the way you want to look:

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I’ve been quite religiously following a quite strict intermittent fasting schedule the last 2 years (no breakfast or lunch, only a massive dinner), and here are some practical tips and intermittent fasting hacks which have helped me (based on my own personal experience):

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Life is too short to be basic.

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A question that arose in my mind this morning:

Is entertainment ‘bad’?

Furthermore:

When we say ‘entertainment’ — what do we really mean?

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I think more important than image quality of a camera is ergonomics (size, feel of the camera in your hand, UI/UX of menu and button system, responsiveness, haptic feedback, build quality, and weight/compactness).

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How should you live your life? A thought:

Focusing our lives on our artistic and intellectual output/growth.

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Freedom of time, freedom over your schedule, health (physiological vigor), and motivation and power to create your own artwork.

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A thought while shooting on a phone today:

What is “Image Quality” when we talk about it in photography? Are there objective measures 9r “image quality”? And when we say “image quality”, what do we *really* mean to say?

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I love democracy, open-access, and I like the idea that no matter how rich or poor you are, you can gain access to the same tools.

This stems from the fact that I grew up poor and I always wondered:

If I were richer or had more money, would I somehow become more empowered with certain (expensive) tools?

For example in the domain of photography; always wondering whether if I bought a full-frame camera that I’d unlock more of my artistic potential. Or conquering my fears in street photography by owning a stealthy Leica.

After my last decade+ of inquiry, here are some of my thoughts:

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The more things you own, the more things own you.

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Never stop being curious in your photography:

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One of the sentiments I hate in photography at the moment:

Everyone thinks they’re a photographer now.

But the truth is everyone has already been a photographer! Why this pretentious nonsense of trying to categorize some of us as photographers and some of us as non-photographers?

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Photography is kind of like Pokémon:

The ultimate telos (purpose) is to catch all of the Pokémon which exist.

So I wonder for us as photographers– is our purpose to capture as many photographic moments/photos as possible?

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A little bit ago I watched the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary “Pumping Iron” on Netflix, and loved it. But a thing that I found very curious or strange:

None of these super strong and buff dudes working out are using headphones or really listening to music.

Which made me wonder:

If they can get that strong and lift so heavy weights without headphones or listening to music; what do they know/experience that I don’t know?

Which made me wonder:

I wonder if I can become stronger at the gym without listening to music/headphones?

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A thought:

In today’s sedentary society, it seems that the ultimate luxury is (one of the most basic human needs): the ability to walk!

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After shooting with the Leica Q2 for about a week (having shot crop APS-C sensors and digital medium format) — I was thinking:

Is full-frame overrated or underrated?

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Making photos as a way to augment your memory (looking at old photos to more vividly remember lovely memories!)

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Flash opens up the world, changes the world, and creates so many new photo opportunities!

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This is a super basic idea, but I think an important one:

Do you enjoy looking at your own photos?

Moreover:

Would you pursue photography as an art-creation form, even if you couldn’t share your photos with others?

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One of the biggest inspirations behind the idea of ARS:

Recognizing that your artwork and life is always in beta (testing) mode.

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Ibarionex Perello: When I began teaching photography, a photographer noted that I described my process as making rather than taking photographs. It had never been a conscious thing, but rather a natural assessment of how I created my photographs. 

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A philosophical idea:

Perhaps to live the best possible life, we should treat every and each day like a mini-lifetime (as if we were going to die tonight).

This is why I think this:

1. If you lived everyday like today were your last, you would squander/waste a lot less time. You would do more, accomplish more, create more, move more, experience more, and become more!
2. Overcoming paralysis by analysis: Too many choices in modern life means we become paralyzed to doing anything. Thus, by allowing ourselves to make mini small victories everyday, we will do more and accomplish more. Furthermore, I like the idea of working on “mini” magnum opuses (lots of small great works) instead of laboring to try to make 1 ultimate magnum opus in life. For example writing lots of blog posts on the daily instead of striving to write a “legit” book.
3. Perhaps we shouldn’t get so obsessed with our photography projects, and instead on just shooting everyday. Perhaps better to just shoot a lot everyday, and figure out how to organize and categorize it later.
4. Do everything you like everyday: For me that means going to the gym everyday, having coffee everyday, shooting and making photos everyday, and spending time with my loved ones everyday. Strive to exploit the maximum of your own present situation instead of seeking to have a more ideal “other” situation in life.

So friend– if you knew today were your last day on earth what would you do today and what would you NOT do today?

ERIC

A true friend: someone who wants what is best for you, is friends with you because they want to help empower you (giver).

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Shots from Leica Q2, shot on JPEG, max contrast, saturation, and sharpness in the “ vivid” filter:

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I love this notion of “tabula rasa” (clean slate philosophy).

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Publish and things in progress, because your art (ars) is always in beta mode (arsbeta.com)

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My thoughts of today (reading “The Genealogy of Morals” by Nietzsche) at the Potrero Hill Library in SF:

1. The point of life isn’t to minimize pain. Why anesthesia yourself? What if pain was a necessary accompaniment to achieve epic greatness?
2. How to fight depression — prioritize yourself and your own needs/self-focus to the greatest extent. To reformat your mind (philosophy). Live in Vietnam, or any place with a very low cost of living? Take a year off from toilsome labor, to focus on your own creative work?
3. Why allow yourself to suffer from yourself? Why suffer? Do you have the power to inflict suffering upon yourself? If so, do you willingfully inflict suffering upon yourself?
4. Don’t seek pain, nor shirk away from it. Don’t flinch.
5. Why fear becoming conscious? Do you not like being around your own thoughts? Why drown out your thoughts with drugs or alcohol? Why not enhance your thoughts and make them more powerful instead?
6. Have confidence in the future. Hope is dope.
7. What do you consider lacking in your life, and how can you close that gap?

Shoot based on your gut, choose your photos based on your gut, and process and share your photos based on your gut.

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Focus progressing in your own life according to your own ideals.

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A thought —

When you have the opportunity, never buy anything brand-new.

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Make more, own less.

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Closeup crops of Leica Q2:

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What is technology? My definition:

The power to do more with less.

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Oliver Byrne — made Euclid’s “Elements” book into color — to aid learning. Learn more here, or access more below:

• Download PDF link (holybooks.com)
• Digitized PDF (Jemmy Button)
• Digital Math Archive

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A thought:

It seems now, we all can afford the same great tools (in terms of functionality).

However there are still “luxury” tools (iPhones, Leica Cameras) as opposed to ‘Democratic’ tools (OnePlus Android phones, RICOH cameras), etc.

So perhaps the future of technology and society is this:

Either you will have a ‘luxury’ device/tool (that has superior aesthetics and user-interface/build quality) — or a good standard ‘democratic’ tool.

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When I see the work of Kline, I see his soul through his brush strokes, and I also “see faces”:

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