Month: January 2021

I believe all photographers will benefit hugely from owning an iPad. Even the cheapest one is fine — only $329! Why iPad? Well, after experimenting with all the different ways of editing and selecting flagging photos, I get the most joy from using iPad to look through my photos. Why?

I was thinking: How much *should* you shoot in photography? And my general thought: The more you shoot, the better. Why? Creative iteration. The more you shoot, the more you learn. The more you shoot, the more risks you take which can lead to creative new photographic innovations. Also, if you want to make more…

Certainly there isn’t a certain quota of photos you should everyday, but at the same time, it doesn’t seem to hurt to shoot a lot of photos everyday. Lately I’ve been quite productive with shooting — around 800-1000 photos a day. For myself, this seems to be beneficial. Shooting small JPEG, with high contrast monochrome…

I think I finally have this Henri Cartier-Bresson quote figured out: The beauty of photography is that you can reveal beauty in even the smallest thing. Or in other words: All things, no matter how small can be beautiful. Then it is simply your task as a photographer to strive to seek, discover, notice, and…

Why photography? It is the great affirmation of (new) life. I myself wouldn’t desire a life and existence without photography.

Creative fears: They typically have to do with your fear of negative judgements from others.

Good fear: fear which keeps you alive. For example my fear of dying if texting while driving, or walking on the street while texting. Bad fear: fear of social chastisement which prevents me from pursuing my artistic and creative passions in life. Good fears are mostly physiological; fear of a potentially early death, or permanent…

Get free photographic motivation on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER > Dear friend, Some quick creative motivational ideas to get you going:

The basic idea: Your best creative ideas will come *INDIRECTLY* to you. Your creative ideas are best when you are creatively ‘promiscuous’ — you disregard borders, boundaries, and genres. You draw creative nectar and honey from *any* creative source which inspires and turns you on!

Just because you’ve already done it once doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it again. Eternal and perpetual creativity is the goal:

If we think about humanity, there is an innate instinct for us to procreate. The natural sexual drive of both men and women in order to create children. Certainly without the will to procreate, humanity would have died off a long time ago. Then what makes me think: How can we channel this desire to…

If we extrapolate this “via negativa” concept to productivity and motivation the question to ponder: What kills our motivation? And what “un-inspires” us?

Perhaps the best way to become a “better” photographer is mostly through the negative (Nassim Taleb). For example: To make better compositions, best to *SUBTRACT* and try to get rid of the distracting elements. To be more motivated, best to GET RID of social media (delete your Instagram) instead of seeking more followers and more…

Perhaps this notion of having “positive role models” is not useful. Why? We often put the personalities, characteristics, and pursuits of certain individuals as *above* us. For example, we all want to become more like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, etc. However … is this truly something to be desired? Instead of seeking to become someone…

If you have a passion for black and white photography, does this mean that studying calligraphy (black paint on white canvas) can also give you artistic insights and good “creative cross pollination”?

A thought this morning: Photography *is* painting. We get this intrinsic joy from painting. Photography as painting with light. Thus perhaps the more painterly thoughts we can have, the better?

Or why I think everyone should have a blog:

We must play for the long game. This means: Focus on your photography, artwork, artistic production for life. The infinite road — photography as your passion that will burn on forever. And how do you stay motivated and perpetually inspired in your photography? To continually discover new sources of visual or artistic inspiration from other…

A thought: When we desire x, y, z … is it ‘worth it’ if it will only directly benefit us, with no chance of benefitting others? My thought: Perhaps the only good selfish actions and means are good, if somehow eventually … it will help benefit others, broader society, and humanity as a whole.

A fun workout you can do at the gym (or at home, assuming you got some heavy dumbbells or kettlebells): A heavy one-handed overhead press.

First sent on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER > Dear friend, A thought: Photography is your passion … so why not prioritize it?

Whatever you use or do to make artwork … this is the end. Which means: Ultimately out of life … if you can direct all your energies, efforts and resources to make art … this is the most noble goal!

As photographers, perhaps the way we can gain maximal creative productivity is this: Spend much time both (concurrently) shooting new photos while also reviewing your old work!

Something which is hugely fun to me: Take your photos, choose a few you like, and import it into Procreate on iPad, and apply the “glitch” feature to see how you can remix your photos in fun, interesting and novel ways!

Also, the worst camera is the one which is collecting dust on your shelf or even worse, in your drawers.

Why is it that we don’t take ourselves and our artistic passions seriously? Simple: because we lack respect for ourselves and our artwork. Consider we take our (labor) work “seriously”. But isn’t our art(work) more important than our “work work”?

We all have different passions. But why is it that we don’t don’t allow ourselves to take our (non-money making passions) seriously? In fact I’d say it is better to start taking your work and employment less seriously, and taking your creative passion *more* seriously.

To motivate yourself to make new photos, or to find joy in photography — this is our goal. Simple ideas:

A thought while looking out of my front window and seeing an Amazon delivery truck: The reason why Amazon so successful is that it has made the movement of goods far more effective and efficient.  Which makes me think: The more you can move products, people, things and ideas … the better!

Or why you don’t need to “force” yourself to do anything contrary to your nature. And also — Not all action is good. You also often exhibit your true beliefs and true preferences based on what you decide *not* to do, what you decide *not* to participate in, or what silly games you decide *not*…

What is the best car? The call which motivates and allows you for the maximal movement — to drive more, explore more and experience more. Preferably a small fuel efficient car (hybrid) or a small electric (high range) car. Ideally all wheel drive to allow for you to go on drives even when the weather…

A thought: When I watch videos (moving objects), and also see real people in real life moving around … it brings me great joy, and motivation. Why is this? Some thoughts:

Towards a “one rep max” attempt in life. Or thinking about “proof of concept” living — Using your life to experiment with things which interest you, and the joy of the scientist to have proved even one small thing as true!

Simple ideas to spark some creative energy into your photos:

I find the most effective way to study the artwork of other artists is by studying their psychology, psycho analyzing them, but also tracing and drawing their art works which interest you.

Red and black vision:

PHOTOGRAPHYI love to make images, with you and me Photography helps me be me, to see the world more clearly with depthTo see more broad and visual depths into the wind swept scapes Photography isn’t just a visual escape — it is reality augmented. Reality made fuller, richer and more pure. Photography — where would…

Or in other words, never force yourself to pursue any desires you don’t have a strong inclination or passion for. All great desires require no “effort”. If you truly desire something, the motivation will come easy. For example I have a strong desire to become stronger. Thus going to the gym requires zero “effort” from…

Imagine a blockchain for photos and photographers. There is a verifiable history of when it was shot, what the original photo was (either RAW or JPEG), the history of post processing to it, and a full history of all the “likes” and comments it got — platform agnostic. Perhaps this can be the future for…

Greed: when you do something which is good for you, and not good for me. Or, when you do something which is contrary to my own personal morals and ethics, and I feel slighted that you aren’t doing as I think you should do. So in other words: When others call you “greedy”— they themselves…

As artists and creatives, what do we truly desire and want/need? Thought: Perhaps what we are hungry for is perpetual creativity. This means: From morning to the moment we sleep, we are always full of creative energy, muscular strength, vigor, enthusiasm, motivation and inspiration! And ideally — we have this creative flow state for the…

A new photo workflow which has been awesome for me: Shooting JPEG on RICOH GR III (small size) then uploading it into Apple Photos (on desktop) and having the photos all neatly synced on all my devices (iPhone, iPad, laptop) which makes it far easier to always be looking through my photos, selecting them, and…

Gym; a fun place to photograph, video. Some sort of visual kinesthesis between our muscles, movement, and photo?

Currently I’m using a cheap Motorola smartphone (bought it brand new for $150), and also using an older iPhone 7 Plus (given to me from my brother in law). An interesting thought: The iPhone (without a SIM card and 4G internet connection) is really great as a “standalone” creativity device — I just keep it…

To combat and challenge the cult of productivity, GTD “getting things done” religion, and Inbox Zero. Perhaps leaving things undone and having the courage to ignore the superfluous as more wise and aesthetic/elegant.

We talk much about physical health, mental health, and spiritual health. Why does nobody talk about artistic and creative health?

When it comes to art, why is it that we perceive that artwork (or details) created out of intention is superior to artwork created “unintentionally”? Why this bias that intentionality is superior than unintentionality?

Something bizarre I’ve figured out: Why is it that we feel we need to purchase x, y, z or upgrade x, y, z in order to become more artistic, or to be enabled to create our artwork? My answer: Capitalism, consumerism, and modern society has programmed us to feel that to create art is a…

This is the goal. But the question: How does one flourish artistically? In other words: What are the optimal conditions to allow you (the artist) to flourish maximally?

What is our modern vice? The guilt associated with the times in which we are *NOT* productive. When we aren’t actively being productive, we feel guilt. This is indecent. Which makes me think: In modern times, it actually takes more skill, courage and wisdom to force yourself to *NOT* be productive for periods of time.