Month: May 2021
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Build up your first and last name brand, and individual personality, rather than building up a company.
It seems a lot of entrepreneurs want to build $1 billion unicorn company and then sell it off. But perhaps better to build up your own billion dollar first and last name brand, yourself, and never decide to sell yourself.
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Why I bought (more) bitcoin
I just consolidated all of my cryptocurrency. Just sold off all of my DOGE, dodge coin, chain link, and DGB (digibyte) and converted it all into bitcoin. Why did I do this? My thoughts: first of all, it is easier to remember how much bitcoin I have on the top of my head then track…
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MASTERSTREET
To master street photography for yourself and others — this is the goal. Keep augmenting your experiences, knowledges and insights, create your own self hosted blog (wordpress.org) and share your insights, experiences and wisdom with others.
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Henri Neck Strap MARK IV
Now available for chestnut brown and velvet red. See in HAPTIC SHOP > HENRI NECK STRAP MARK IV
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Barbell health
Barbell health. This is a Concept I got from the philosopher Nassim Taleb. The general concept: have as much coffee and stimulants as you want first thing in the morning, but fast after afternoon. And during the day don’t eat any food until you break your fast in the evening, and when you break your…
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Be greedy when others are fearful
This is based off the warren Buffett quote “be fearful when others are greedy, be greedy when others are fearful quote. Perhaps when people are scared when it comes to crypto and cryptocurrency, and also bitcoin prices, it is the best time to buy. This is the best time when I chose to buy more…
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The Brighter, the Better
Brighter is always better for devices, homes and life.
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How to level-up your own photography composition
The goal is to study the masters of the past in order to improve your own photography composition and vision!
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Composition is Everywhere
If you desire to improve your ‘visual acuity‘, note and study composition … everywhere! In compositions when you’re watching films/cinema (in praise of watching animated films, especially Studio Ghibli films like ‘Princess Mononoke’) as you can find epic compositions everywhere!
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Dissatisfaction is Good
For so much time in my life, I have searched for the perfect and the optimal and the best x, y, z. The perfect clothes, tools, car, lifestyle, city, etc. But in fact … perhaps being perpetually dissatisfied, inexorable and impossible to placate is a good thing …
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Thoughts on Becoming a Parent
Contrary to popular belief that once you become a parent, your ‘life is over’… in fact, your life truly *begins*.
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The Future of Photography is Digital Publishing
I am convinced– the future of photography ain’t cameras or hardware, but software– publishing software, and new innovative ways to share and publish your photos (digitally). Not social media, but publishing PDF e-books, PDF ‘zines‘ (magazines), new innovative ways to blog, and more!
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In Praise of Affinity Publisher for Photographers
I don’t know about you, but I find the new Adobe subscription model a bit annoying. If I have multiple devices, I always get booted out, and I (always) forget my login passwords, having to reset my password, etc. Easier to just buy and own it forever — in praise of the new Affinity Publisher…
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Photography is Life
Photography captures, encapsulates and glorifies life.
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STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AS A PRACTICE.
Now that I have become a street photography OG, I have a lot of time to think, reflect and meditate on street photography. One thought — perhaps we should think of street photography as a practical practice, skill, and an active *doing*, rather than a ‘thing’ or genre. Some thoughts:
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Optimize your life for the least amount of maintenance
The key to a more productive, seamless and frictionless life.
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Memories and Black and White
The benefit of shooting black and white photos: When I go back and look at my old photos … I have to use my brain-power more to *remember* the scene, as monochrome abstracts the scene. For example when I walk in the forest and see beautiful green, I think to myself — ‘Oh, I should…
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Why Photography is So Magical
Isn’t photography magical? You can take reality, and re-imagine, re-see, and re-interpret it through photos. No other art form allows for this!
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Why is Black and White So Enigmatic?
When I see certain scenes and shoot them both in black and white and color, the high contrast monochrome photos feel so much more enigmatic. But why?
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If You Love It, Photograph It.
Simple thought: if you look at something and it brings you joy and happiness, just shoot it! Whenever you see something you love, photographing it is a signal and stamp of your approval of love!
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Technology that respects your attention and focus, not your privacy.
Privacy is overrated. Attention and focus are underrated. The problem with Google and other “adware” services — they rob you of your focus for a utility and use. This is how iOS and iPhone and Apple is superior to Android. In praise of Apple and iOS for prompting you to turn on notifications or turn…
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Fujifilm is More Interesting than Leica
Or in other words, how Fujifilm is superior to Leica in innovation:
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Shoot First, Analyze Later
Don’t analyze or philosophize while you’re shooting photos. Rather, analyze your photos after the fact.
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Real World Applications
Perhaps in terms of investing and building the future, we should focus our efforts on ‘real world’ applications, not theoretical or conceptual ones. Or in other words: Think of yourself as your own ideal end-user. Ask yourself — is this thing or a service a thing I would actually use or do? The impetus behind…
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Photo Life Continuum
Life and photography is a continuum and stream. Rather than separate single images, think of all the photos as a visual stream.
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Photo-Life Integration
Photography not as a separate activity from your everyday life. Rather, just live your life and take your camera along for the ride!
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The Zen of Street Photography
The funny irony — I feel the most peaceful, calm and zen when I’m shooting (high adrenaline) street photography.
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How to Best Share or Publish Your Work
The future of your photography is based on how you share and publish your works. Some ideas: Publish your work as ebooks or e-zines via PDF using Affinity Designer or Indesign. Publish your work as slideshows via iMovie and put them on YouTube and your blog. Publish your work on blog posts and experiment with…
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Child’s Mind
The mind of a child — maximally pure, open and wise. Perhaps also for us adults to return to a child’s mind as the greatest boon to our creative mind, soul, and creative opportunity!
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CHICAGO by KIM (PDF E-ZINE)
Chicago — the great American city; one of the most phenmoanl places for street photography and beyond:
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RED.
Crimson RED & BLACK imagery:
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Beyond Success
Once you’ve become “successful”, or if you’ve achieved what you consider “success” in your life — then what? Simple thought — Perhaps the next step is then to focus on our artwork, our arts creation, and also self-formation!
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The Best Car
What’s the best car? The car that *DOESN’T* kill you in a car accident. The best car doesn’t have any “stalks”(lame automatic transmissions). Doesn’t require oil changes or any other annoying forms of maintenance). So preferably an electric car. Also, a car at the bottom of the depreciation curve (so perhaps an older model used…
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Purpose First.
When making any life decisions or consumerist purchasing decisions, always first ask yourself: “What is the purpose of this, and my desired outcome?”
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Photography as Art
Let us not be fooled — photography as a strong form of artistic creation — photography is our art. And as children, we should take our artwork and play very seriously!
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ADRENALINE & ZEN
The funny realization I had: I am the most zen, peaceful and tranquil when my adrenaline and focus is at its peak. For example, powerlifting before a one rep max attempt for deadlift or squat. Theory: The reason why we aren’t so tranquil and zen in everyday life is that everyday life isn’t physically challenging…
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JUST TEST IT.
It is impossible to know how things will turn out unless you test it out for yourself. This is the root of all scientific experimentation, and empirical self knowledge augmentation!
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We Must Always Aspire for More
My personal ethos to life: Enough is never enough. Perhaps this desire for more is the great stimulus and hope to life. A life in which we are satisfied — how does this differentiate us from the happy grass munching cows?
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Photography as an Ongoing Experience
What makes photography so great? Not only is photography augmented living, photography augments your life experiences. Furthermore, all life experiences of yours is ongoing, and photography helps you capture, record and experience these ongoing life events even deeper, more beautifully and more purposefully and profoundly!
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Functional Fashion
The function becomes the fashion! For example, drug dealers in NYC winters wearing timberland boots — turns into hip hop fashion. Fighter jets and matte black for stealth turns into cars “murdered out” design. “High visibility” (neon orange and yellow) for construction workers NOT to get run over goes into fashion. Lesson: Always think function…
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Time and Value
Things that become more valuable over time and things that become less valuable over time:
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What Do You Like, What *Don’t* You Like?
If you know what you like and what you don’t like, it is easy to quit or to continue a habit of doing things. The difficult thing— most of us don’t know what we like or don’t like (our tastes are often superimposed on us via guilt and ethics by others). Lesson: spend much time…
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Photography Augments Our Lives
Why photography? It arguments our lives, *improves* our lives, and makes existence and embodied reality 1000x more enjoyable, fun, joyful, interesting, and wonderful.
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Looking Meditation
The joy and zen of just looking, and looking around— this is my looking meditation in photography
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Drawing vs Buying Design
To draw, sketch, trace, and analyze and deconstruct a design is more fun and interesting than buying it!
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Black and White High Contrast Slow Motion Video
One of the joys of shooting on iPhone Video — the ability to post process your videos after the fact easily! Then the thought — perhaps the joy of the technology of photography and video is to reinterpret, transmute and *experience* reality differently!
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Wu-Wei Effortless Motivation
Let your body self motivate itself … you don’t need your mind and “willpower” to motivate you. Or in other words: Never “force” yourself to do entering, to be “productive” or anything, unless your body self motivates itself to do anything! Perhaps the notion of “discipline” is a bad American Utilitarian notion — effortless and…
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Black and White to Reinterpret and Reimagine
A thought when photographing with my RICOH GR III [high contrast mode] of a (color) wedding photo I had on my refrigerator: The joy of black and white is having the power to re-interpret and re-imagine reality around us! Then perhaps what makes photos more artistic — when it is a *reinterpretation* and re-imagination of…
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More Muscular in a Smaller Footprint
A design thought: Perhaps the interesting design aesthetic and trend is to make things more powerful and muscular, but in a smaller radius or footprint. For example, this new breed of “crossover” or “compact SUV” cars. The Tesla Model Y, the Mercedes “coupe” SUV, similar offerings from Porsche (Macan), and BMW. With devices like the…
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PHOTO WISDOM.
What are we truly hungry for in photography? To gain deeper wisdom about photography, art, aesthetics and ourselves and the world around us. To augment our photographic wisdom— this is the goal of studying the masters, studying art, studying ourselves and always philosophizing in photography and art!
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Where Does Our Desire to Upgrade Come From?
“Up-up-up-upgrade complete” (Starcraft) A thought when contemplating on my “all black” merino wool clothing (completed — Outlier.NYC Black merino wool T-shirt, Woolly Black Merino athletic shorts, Meriwool merino wool leggings, etc)— Is my clothing like my armor … something I want to upgrade, just as if life were an RPG? Similarly speaking — it seems…
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Creative Compositions
The joy and fun of photography— to attempt and make new creative and innovative compositions with 2 dimensional reality!
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The Joy of Shapes
What do we as artists joy and delight in? Shapes, forms, dynamic curves, lines, body, three dimensionality, proportions and shapes which inspire and provoke movement!
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WE ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING FURTHER TO ASPIRE TO.
Or why focusing too much on goals and achievements in life is bad — it ends up being a hidden trap and dead end. The more robust way: Always strive for more!
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No Aesthetic is Forever
A random thought and realization when trolling the Lamborghini preowned website: No aesthetic, no matter how good is forever. For example, if you take a look at all these sweet Lamborghinis, eventually all the owners either got bored of it (or deep in debt)— and get rid of it. And this goes with all material…
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Generic Design
A thought on Tesla cars: I personally love the aesthetic (clean, flush, minimalist) of Tesla cars, but my critique: the design of the cars and the design language is a bit boring and generic. For example the Model S— the Plaid mode is undeniably cool. However it is very generic — a bit and pieces…
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An Elite Aesthetic
A thought on aesthetics: What we are striving for is towards is an elite aesthetic — to look different, have a different taste (above the “vulgar masses”). Furthermore to go even beyond a superficial elite aesthetic. For example, to me it seems too basic to buy an Audi car, a BMW, or even a Mercedes…
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Movement is the Goal
What do we desire when it comes to motivation, travel, photography, street photography, music, arts and literature? To be moved! And more specifically — to harness the outside and internal stimuli in order for *us* to move more!
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RADICAL ADAPTATION
In today’s brave new pandemic world — the optimal strategy: We must radically adapt to the now! No future — only now.
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No Natural Light, No Life
Simple idea: Natural light as the ultimate luxury in a home. Moving forward— if there is 1 thing you can prioritize and optimize for (above all else)— over bedroom size, location, street noise, cost, amenities, appliances, aesthetics etc — it is for natural light.
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Pandemic Street Photography
Don’t delay; shoot street photography now.
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ENJOY THE MOVEMENT.
The best way to motivate yourself to workout: Enjoy the movements. Or only do workouts which you genuinely enjoy the movement for the sake of the movement.
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AIRPORT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
In today’s brave new world of street photography, shooting street photography while traveling (airport, etc) is a good way to shoot street photography now.
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How to Shoot Street Photography Right Now
Free motivation for you: Dear friends, It seems that many of us have been sitting around in eager anticipation for COVID to blow over, or perhaps the day that we (or everyone in America) becomes fully-vaccinated. But it seems that will not be the case, nor will ever be the case. It seems COVID is…
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Self-Task Yourself an Awesome Mission in Life
Life is too short for basic shit. Assuming there is no ultimate meaning in life (optimistic nihilism), then — The best life is in which you task yourself an awesome and epic (self appointed) mission(s) in life.
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How to Enjoy Photography More
No expectations. Enjoying the walk for the sake of the walk. The joy of all the natural wonders in the world. The joy of composing a scene, and the excitement to see how the scene will manifest as a photograph! Photography as a zen, meditative practice.
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Not Hateful Design
I don’t have to love it .. just not hate it. Why does this matter? Because in modern capitalist American society, we desire to always obtain things that we love. And thus our Sysiphian quest for “more more more, better better better, improved, more optimized, and more beautiful”. But with all our design things, tools…
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BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY
How do we make “better” photos, and what does this even mean?