Month: April 2019

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

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

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!

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. …

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 …

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 …

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:

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 …

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 …

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, Delight …

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

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” …

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

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 …

Life is too short to be basic.

A question that arose in my mind this morning: Is entertainment ‘bad’? Furthermore: When we say ‘entertainment’ — what do we really mean?

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).

How should you live your life? A thought: Focusing our lives on our artistic and intellectual output/growth.

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

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 …

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 …

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

Never stop being curious in your photography:

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 …

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 …

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 …

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!

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?

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

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

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 …

One of the biggest inspirations behind the idea of ARS: Recognizing that your artwork and life is always in beta (testing) mode.

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 …

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: …

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

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

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

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

My thoughts of today (reading “The Genealogy of Morals” by Nietzsche) at the Potrero Hill Library in SF: The point of life isn’t to minimize pain. Why anesthesia yourself? What if pain was a …

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

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

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

Make more, own less.

Closeup crops of Leica Q2:

What is technology? My definition: The power to do more with less.

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

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, …

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