They got a Starbucks and Vons supermarket. Good for Airbnb and Joshua Tree travelers or digital nomads. Also check out “Invisible House”.

One Ricoh GR 3X in your right pocket, and an iPhone in your left pocket? Or a RICOH GRIII in your left pocket?

Loving the RICOH GRIIIX and Joshua Tree.

Highly recommend people from California (both Norcal and Socal) to visit for the weekend — just find a nice Airbnb. Very easy road trip!

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iPhone 13 Pro camera is very good, but RICOH GR IIIX looks at least 1000x better.

(more…)

iPhone Pro as efficient and effective for quickly important your photos from the SD card, and to quickly flag and choose your favorite photos.

When looking through your photos as aspect ratio, click and hold the photo to favorite it.

Like the old school contact sheet editing technique — small thumbnails:

Gets the ERIC KIM stamp of approval.

(more…)

The most simple and direct way to success.

Bluehost.com and install wordpress.org.

In America there is a bias to root for the underdog. But I believe it’s actually better to be part of the winning team.

For example, best to stick with Apple and iPhone than to use Android (the losing team). Or better to use Bitcoin instead of all the other “alt-coins” (losing team). Or better to be American than any other “losing team” nation.

Also better to be in bed with Google than without.

Also, better to have a Tesla than any other electric car.

Use the dominant platform. Thank goodness I used WordPress.org not Blogger (dead).

Also, don’t use a windows pc, just use a mac. All Macbook laptops at least 10000x better than any windows laptop equivalent, or chromebook.

Don’t get a hydrogen car, only hybrid or electric. For hybrid it really seems Prius is by far the best bet.

Or why it’s still better to have a Leica than a Fujifilm camera.

Or Coca Cola over Pepsi, Nike over Adidas, McDonald’s over Burger King, Starbucks over Peets. Amazon over Walmart. Apple over Microsoft.

The more followers you got, the worse. The more likely you are to become mediocre by trying to placate to the masses.

Character and personality is not really a thing. It is something we just do in order to try to moralize things and people.

The front facing iPhone Pro camera for selfies is very great for vlogging. To vlog more, just use the iPhone front facing camera!

The camera highlight protection is great, focuses insanely close, and even Kanye West said the iPhone microphone is the best microphone on earth. Similarly speaking, the front-facing (selfie) camera for the iPhone Pro might be the best camera on planet earth.

Just use the iPhone Pro front facing selfie camera video to shoot vlogs, and just Airdrop it to your laptop, then upload it to YouTube/your video WordPress media library.

Why is the new Apple website so cluttered? Simple ideas:

1. Get rid of these confusing links like ‘Store‘, ‘Only on Apple‘ (it should just say “Services” or “Subscribe”) and instead of ‘Tv & Home“, it should just be “TV”.
2. Also the banner on top is unnecessary and ugly. Just get rid of it.

Otherwise the website is very good.

Not just 10x, but strive to make things 1000x better, however you define that.

A funny bias — I am very sensitive to icons.

For example, I find the Google Maps icon as insanely ugly. I far prefer the Apple Maps icon, even though Google Maps is probably at least 1000x better than Apple Maps for real navigation.

Like Steve Jobs said with the original iPhone … the icons are so beautiful, ‘you can lick them.’

At first, I was a bit reticent about the Ricoh GR IIIX, but after shooting with it a few days, I have discovered … it is actually insanely good.

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Some personal suggestions for the iPhone camera UI-UX, and ideas for the iPhone pro camera:

The first idea is to simplify and integrate the different shooting modes better. Currently there are far too many options for shooting modes. For example, integrate the portrait mode into the direct camera mode. Also, either get rid or integrate of the Slomo and time lapse feature.

Also for the new photographic styles, assuming that the iPhone camera is a creative tool, I would suggest adding options for adding simulated grain, especially when it comes to the black-and-white high contrast noir mode. Add the ability to increase your grain from weak, standard, or high grain. Adding simulated film grain to iPhone cameras will make for more aesthetic photos.

Reconsidering the default options

Currently, there is too much feature bloat when it comes to the iPhone camera settings. Let us consider that honestly, nobody uses Slomo, nobody uses panoramic mode, and nobody uses time lapse.

99% the time people are either using the default camera app, just shooting normal photos, or shooting videos. The new cinematic mode should somehow be integrated with the video mode. If anything, the cinematic mode doesn’t need its own option, the default video mode should be the cinematic mode.

Just keep Live Photos on all the time

I actually think that the Live Photos feature is great. Being able to relive some of your favorite memories later is a great innovation. I do it all the time with Cindy, especially when looking at old photos of Seneca.

Therefore, just keep Live Photos on all the time. There is no need to give it the option to turn it off.

The ”carat” (arrow) UI/UX is not clear

One of the new defaults to hide the extra options is the ”carat”, or the up and down arrow. This icon is not intuitive. The test is figuring out whether my mom knows how to use it, and she has no idea.

Either on/off, or auto all the time.

Also, things like the flash icon. I believe that the best UI is when you push the flash button, it either toggle it on or off. There should be no auto mode.

Either that or just make the flash always auto, and get rid of the option altogether.

Don’t hide options

I also think it is very bizarre that the filters function is hidden. Shouldn’t it be one of the first ones visible? I would say things to get rid of include the aspect ratio icon, and even the timer feature. Nobody really uses it.

I think a good way to better integrate the timer feature is just make it hey Siri feature. For example, you tell Siri to shoot a photo for you. For example, if you put your iPhone on a tripod, you say “hey Siri shoot a family photo for us.”

Macro is very good

The new macro feature is actually very good. I believe the macro feature should be turned on as a default. Also, I think Apple needs to double down on their marketing efforts regarding the macro feature as a very good creative tool for the iPhone. The macro feature alone is worth the iPhone camera upgrade, especially for the photography enthusiast.

Show detected text is more of a distraction

The idea of showing detected text is a good one, yet in integration, it is very confusing. Even myself, somebody passionate about tech, I have never used it, nor do I really understand how it works. Try explaining this to my mom.

In regards to showing Detective text, I would just turn this off by default, and have the power user turn it on in case they want it.

I’ve always been a big fan of the iPad, especially the iPad Pro. And truth be told, I really don’t like and hate the new iPhone Pro. However, maybe the best way to approach it is to not think of the iPhone pro as a phone, but simply as a really really small iPad.

RICOH GR IIIx is surprisingly good; the more I use it, the more I review the photos, the more my mind is blown. Even sharper, higher resolution and detail than the GR III!

I love how black the photos are. It seems the lens of the new RICOH GR IIIX has even more contrast than the prior GR III.

(more…)

In life, we seek magic. To be amazed, blown away. Where has this wonderment gone?

Perhaps the best way to approach life–

Treat every day as carte blanche, a new day, a new beginning … without memory of the past.

No past prejudices.

PODCAST

My son:

(more…)

If you stop updating, then it is dead.

My personal favorite settings for Ricoh GR IIIx/RICOH GRIII:

1. P (Program) mode
2. Autofocus (default)
3. AE Metering (auto exposure metering): Highlight-Weighted
4. File: JPEG // Small JPEG (no RAW)
5. Auto power off / Sleep mode: 30 minutes
6. Volume: 0
7. Customize settings: Instant review (OFF)
8. Grid style: 4×4 Grid
9. Shooting info display: Just turn on the grid guide (press DISP on the back-right button of the RICOH GR III/X to scroll through the display shooting modes)
10. Image Control: Hi/BW (high contrast black and white): press FN button to customize Contrast +4, Contrast highlight/contrast shadows to +4, Sharpness +4, Grain Effect 3)

(more…)

Video review of the new Ricoh GR IIIX:

Pair it with ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP MARK II:

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PODCAST

FULL

The best technical settings for RICOH GR IIIX/III:

Technical settings:

Dear friends,

Finally had a chance to review the Ricoh GR IIIX. Check it out.

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The skinny is that the GR IIIx has superior optics and image quality over the GR III. Assuming you already have a GR III, just stick to it, and wait for the GR IV to come out.

If you have never owned a Ricoh GR camera, just get the GR III (28mm is better than 40mm as a focal length for creativity).

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Thoughts:

1. Autofocus over manual focus; RICOH GR III/X as superior to even the newest Leica M camera.
2. For cars and car design, choose the 718 over the 911.
3. What should a phone be? A GPS design with the best battery life.
4. Smaller is more clutch; especially when trying to find (tiny) parking spots at the mall.
5. The best design principle is to refine.
6. Bitcoin is a good investment to hedge against uncertainty in the future. If you think the future will become more uncertain and crazier, Bitcoin is a good bet.
7. Apple is on the way out?: I tested all the new Apple devices, and they all felt meh and lukewarm. Perhaps this is a ripe chance for a new competitor to enter the arena; Apple seems like what IBM used to be (the Goliath). Too many products, too much nerdification (the trend towards more powerful devices, not sleeker and more beautiful ones). No more visionary at the helm (after Jobs died, and now Jony Ive has left).

Creative thoughts

The goal in photography is to make more photos. I see hiking as a great option.

Thus, just go on a hike, and upload the best photos you shot on the hike to arsbeta.com

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BOOKS

1. STREET BY KIM // Dropbox
2. PHOTO ODYSSEY // Dropbox dl

All books

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Tell a friend!

If this gave you any creative ideas, feel free to share or forward to a friend!

ERIC KIM BLOG // NEWSLETTER LINK

Or start here.

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Autofocus is superior to manual focus. Why? Reasons:

1. You are more likely to capture the decisive/significant moment. This is by far, our #1 priority in photography.
2. In theory if you’re shooting street photography on a rangefinder camera, with a 28mm lens, at ISO 1600, at f/16, then technically the rangefinder is superior in terms of manual focusing. Because literally everything is in focus, and there is no delay with autofocus. However, can you fit your Leica M in your front pocket? No. RICOH GR III/IIIX, you can.

Therefore don’t get suckered by manual focusing; autofocus is better.

If I had the option, I would prefer the Porsche 718 GT4 RS over even the Porsche 911 GT3.

Why?

More gangsta?

I really love the new proportions and the color-scheme of the new 718 GT4 RS: The cement grey with the magnesium-blue wheels.

The 911 is a bit boring. Also, I prefer the smaller size of the 718 over the 911. Everyone has a 911 as well; better to have something a bit smaller, more different and distinct.

Are manual shifters overrated?

I’ve always been a purist with manual shifting cars over automatic ones. But … why?

If you look at *real* motorsport racers nowadays, it is all automatic and paddle shifting. Manual transmissions are a thing of the past, and a more romantic notion of the past. Also when watching films like racing ones, ford vs Ferrari — it looks better on camera to shift a manual car than just use an automatic car, same with fast and the furious.

But … perhaps automatic is superior to manual. For example with my camera, I shoot in P (program mode), which is more or less fully automatic (auto ISO, auto focus, auto aperture and shutter speed), and I focus on what is really important: composition, framing, capturing the decisive and personally significant moment. This is why RICOH GR III is superior to even the newest Leica M digital camera; autofocus is superior to manual focus.

Even with all the new electric cars … there is no shifter, no stalk, no paddles necessary. It is all one integrated gear. Thus even with gas/hybrid cars, the ideal is to get rid of the stalk all-together, something that new Genesis cars do very well. No gas/hybrid car needs a shifter stalk. It should be an elegant, integrated design.

The best iPhone

Assuming you prefer road trips, hiking and working from your phone and being off the grid, etc, iPhone Pro (silver, the smaller size) with medium-storage capacity seems ideal (256GB).

What do we want from our phones?

First of all, I think a phone is not a camera. It shouldn’t be a camera. We should have a ‘standalone’ digital camera instead (Ricoh GR III/IIIx)

Secondly the question is–

Do you actually use your phone for phone calls, or only texting?

A productivity hack I discovered for iPhone — don’t text and don’t use iMessage. Just use FaceTime to call if you need to. And don’t even use the voice calling function. Only FaceTime. Thus, the reason why I will never buy another Android device again is simply for FaceTime. In fact, on my phone all my notifications are disabled (including phone, and texting) and only FaceTime is enabled (in case Cindy or my mom needs to contact me).

Battery life?

Something people don’t really talk about anymore is battery life. We simply expect our devices to run all day, without charging. Or most people aren’t even traveling anymore, and just stay at home or in their car, where their phone is being perpetually charged.

One kind of recent life hack I have done with Seneca having a new kid, is the walking nap. I put him on the ergo baby front carrier, hold an umbrella, and walk around the sun-drenched suburbs of Southern California to put him to sleep. And I learned to use Siri and Voice Dictate on the iPhone to be productive when out of the house. And even using my old refurbished iPhone 11 Pro, the battery would always fully drain after just a 3 hour walk.

Hand ergonomics

Having a smallest iPhone is best in terms of ergonomics. Especially being a new parent; being able to text with one hand is 1000x more useful than having a bigger phone. If you are a new parent, and always carrying your kid with one arm, having an iPhone Mini or the smallest iPhone is best.

iPhone as a laptop replacement?

Can an iPhone replace your laptop? Yes. It is certainly not as effective (you can type 100000x faster on a laptop than text with your thumbs on a phone), but with voice dictate on the iPhone, I wonder if you can actually dictate *faster* than type on a laptop.

Phone as a GPS device?

Honestly 90% of the time, the #1 reason I need it is because it is my GPS/Google Maps device. It is more or less permanently mounted to the front driving part of my car, in order to help me navigate from point A to point B.

And when you are in hot Southern California with the blazing sun, I realized … perhaps a white iPhone is superior to a black one. Why? It overheats less. Same goes with why intelligent people buy white/silver or neutral colored (non-black, non-dark) cars in SoCal … passive cooling. To own a black car in SoCal is insanity; cool aesthetically, but an unintelligent idea for lived reality (also shows faaaar more dirt).

Therefore assuming you use your iPhone a lot as a GPS device, get the white/silver one, not the black one.

For example, when I was using my black iPhone 11 Pro, when it got really hot, the screen would dim (to prevent it from overheating I suppose). And using a dimmer-iPhone when GPS navigating can sometimes be outright dangerous; I cannot see the directions and might miss the turn.

Therefore if you optimize your money and devices in order to *NOT* die in a car accident, get the white iPhone Pro (highest NIT brightness during the day, best visibility, and best heat refraction, and best battery life).

Also, best battery life seems wise because if you are stuck on a desert island with no charger, having that extra battery charge is very clutch.

No phone lasts forever

Kind of crazy; how much money we spend on our phones, for something that will get outdated in about a year or two. But perhaps, buying the newest iPhone all the time is still cheaper than buying a Lamborghini, Tesla, etc.

Quick review of the GR IIIx — a good refined design:

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Something I’ve experienced at least 2-5 times in recent memory:

When going to the mall, going somewhere, and the parking lot is full … there is only 1 open spot (miraculously), but the parking spot is insanely small, because one person in a big SUV/truck parked into a ‘compact’ spot next to it.

Then in this scenario … fortunately the Ford Fusion (Cindy’s mom’s car) … a proper ‘mid-size’ sedan can *barely* fit in. It can fit in *barely* — having to fold in the side mirrors, and me barely being able to exit the car.

Then I thought — assuming you live in SoCal, or anywhere in which parking spots are essential … then having a small car is 1000x more clutch in the most unlikely scenarios. This is why even if you were a quadrillionaire, having the smallest car possible to fit into small parking spots is so important.

Also another note, there is often a priority for ‘EV’ charging spots. Thus, having some sort of either small electric car, or small plug-in hybrid car is good to get parking spots (either a Tesla Model 3 or a Toyota Prius Prime).

Our design ethos and goal– to refine. Refine our bodies (subtract and chisel away body fat), with design … to simplify, streamline, make thinner, and make the design more direct.

With fonts… more refined.

With design and clothing, more refined. Fewer flourishes and superfluous design elements; as insanely simple as possible.

With cameras, to refine it. For example I find the RICOH GR IIIx interesting because while it is not ‘better’, it is certainly more refined. Refined how so? Essentially it is the same as the GR III, except the lens is more refined (superior optics).

With car design, the reason the Porsche 911 is so interesting is that over all the years and decades, the goal is to continually refine it into something more perfect and simple. Also the Tesla Model 3 — while it may the most ‘boring’ design, it is certainly the most simple and refined.

With devices, the goal should be to refine it. With Steve Jobs, the goal was to continually *refine* the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air laptops. Now the trend seems to be the opposite — make the devices bigger, bulkier, more powerful, but less refined. Therefore the best laptop is the most *refined* one … the most slim, the most powerful one. MacBook Air maxed out. For phone, the most refined one … perhaps the iPhone Mini (the most powerful processor in the smallest size).

I just started to review the photos from the RICOH GR IIIx, and I was really shocked– the optics and image quality and resolution of the RICOH GR IIIx actually looks substantially and significantly superior to the RICOH GR III. Perhaps this alone can be a good sticking point — I might keep the RICOH GR IIIx.

It looks like Ricoh actually improved the lens and optics of the GR IIIx compared to the GR III — it isn’t just a new focal length, it is a totally new (updated, more advanced, superior) lens. Sharper, better tone rendition, etc. The photos look different and *better*.

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“Movement which inspires” — I forget where the tagline is from but it is an apt one.

To *not* have your movement obstructed is the goal.

In a world of uncertainty, Bitcoin is a good bet. Why? The other day I learned that my servers’ kid just got a job at In-N-Out Burger (starting pay is $20 USD an hour) — a simple hamburger joint in America. That was the same salary as my post-graduate UCLA undergraduate salary at a tech startup. Thus my simple thought —

As time goes on, the USD (and perhaps global fiat currency in general) will go down.

People will have less and less faith in fiat currency. We can already see… home prices are skyrocketing. Why? Maybe it is because the USD is being watered down (even a Panda Express cook can make $21 USD an hour).

Therefore, if you think that the future will become more uncertain, crypto is a good bet.

(more…)

Perhaps we don’t desire ‘better’ designs (is there such a thing?) but *different* designs? That is our sign of ‘progress’?

In praise of photographing rough textures:

The photographer-painter.

Similarly speaking, I do not desire to be the billionaire who lives in the suburbs with his matte black Lamborghini Aventador, but stuck at home.

I prefer to be the explorer, the adventurer, the street conquerer … camera in-hand.

Therefore the best equipment for the traveler, wanderer, explorer, and conquerer is the most supreme in being ultra-lightweight, to not have his movement restricted or held back.

Something I’ve noticed with new Apple products (iPhone Pro, 14” MacBook Pro, etc) is this —

The trend towards brutalist design.

Things which are bigger, more powerful, more imposing, more bulky, more imposing, more powerful. A trend away from the Steve Jobs/Jony Ive vision of thinner, lighter, purer.

The question is:

Is this ‘progress’? Is this a step forwards or backwards?

And the question is —

What do we desire from our tools, devices, and design aesthetics? More power towards what ends?

Different design?

I would prefer to own nothing — to just always be borrowing, renting, or using things without the strings of ownership attached.

My prediction:

Apple will eventually become a financial corporation; the point isn’t to buy the devices, but to get the Apple Card and banking system, and to keep buying and upgrading the new iPhone devices.

Note how poor people now can even afford the newest iPhone Pro, with ‘payments’.

Some quick creative thoughts for you:

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NOT WHAT IS ‘BEST’, BUT THAT WHICH LEAST GETS IN YOUR WAY?

The first thought of today —

Don’t optimize for the ‘best’ creative tool, but the creative tool which least gets in your way.

For photography, RICOH GR III. After much deliberation, the reason why it is still superior to iPhone is because —

The RICOH GR has a physical on/off button, and a physical shutter button, which is faster and more streamlined to shoot photos.

Even assuming that one day the iPhone Pro gets superior image-processing aesthetics to the RICOH GR, I would still prefer the RICOH GR. Why? Your hand doesn’t change and evolve. That which best is held in your hand is the best.

Even the funny thing — when observing my niece Amelia … even at a young age, she still preferred shooting photos with my RICOH GR, or with my Lumix G9 (physical button) when compared to an iPhone … which is ironic, because we think nowadays kids prefer phones over physical tools and devices. But it still seems, kids prefer the physical, the haptic. There is nothing which fascinates my son Seneca more than physical buttons, and physical feedback.

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How do you best creatively express yourself?

There are a trillion ways you can be ‘creative’. Creativity just means the love of creating. You can create anything — you can create poems, create prose, create blog posts, create verses, create rhymes, create raps, create photos, create videos, beats and music, create visual images (calligraphy, abstract images … whether digital or analogue), etc.

Don’t ‘optimize’ your creativity

The desire to create the most ‘optimal’ in art … this gets in our way. I say create like a child — create without hesitation, create without notions of ‘perfect’ or ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

Observe how kids draw, play with blocks, play with rocks, etc. Observing Seneca has been one of the greatest blessings in life.

Learn from kids.

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If you make something, and you don’t share it … does it still exist?

Philosophically, certainly if you make something and you don’t share it with anyone, it still exists in a physical or a metaphorical space. But the better question:

If you make something and you don’t share it with anyone, will it IMPACT any other human?

No. If your goal as an artist is to maximize your impact, sharing your art works is good.

And what is the best way? Your own website/blog, not social media.

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Nature

The upside of being outdoors, hiking, and stuff like that:

There is something about the great outdoors which does spark some sort of creative energy within you.

I have some theories — perhaps it is the additional oxygen in the air from the trees, the higher elevation, the fresh air, the view (gives you a chance to exercise your depth-perception) which awakens a creative spirit within yourself. There is a reason why humans love great vistas.

Therefore if you want a creative spark, just go on a hike. Bring along your camera, and love the view.

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Don’t stay home

Being at home is anti creativity. Certainly you can be creative at home indoors, yet … less so than being outdoors and out and about.

Why is this? I think it is because your indoor home environment is too steady, too stable, too predictable. Unpredictability, randomness and chance is better to spark in you a creative motivator.

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Creative photography assignments

1. Only shoot a certain type of shape all day: Only photograph squares, rectangles, circles, or triangles for a whole day.
2. Only shoot macro or at 1 meter for an entire day: Limit your focus distance — this is a good creative constraint.
3. Only monochrome: Even if the thing is colorful, or you see an epic sunset, try to shoot it in monochrome, and figure out how you can still make a great image.

Upload your most creative photos to arsbeta.com

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CREATIVE TOOLS

HAPTIC TOOLS:

1. CREATIVE EVERY DAY MOBILE // PRINT
2. HENRI NECK STRAP MARK IV (in CRIMSON RED x PHANTOM BLACK)
3. ERIC KIM NECK STRAP (MARK II): The strap for RICOH GR II/III/IIIx and beyond

All HAPTIC TOOLS >

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BOOKS

1. MONOCHROME by KIM — PDF DL
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More books >

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New? Start here.

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If this sparked any creative ideas within you, feel free to share or forward to a friend!

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ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER LINK

Learn from kids, children, your kids. Watching my son Seneca grow has been fascinating because it offers me some theories on human cognition and how we develop:

(more…)

Don’t offer to help, or don’t compliment or don’t thank people?

A stoic way to just stay focused on your own personal life task, without annoyance, disappointment, or frustration with others?

PODCAST

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For example, that which requires the least ‘activation energy’, or that which is the easiest quick-start, with the least amount of friction or annoyance.

For example, iPhone Mini (or the smallest iPhone) as the best iPhone, as it is the *least* likely to get in your way, due to the small size and small weight.

For cars, not the ‘best’ car, but the smallest car, which requires the least amount of maintenance and annoyance. For example, the debate between gas vs electric vs hybrid cars:

Electric cars are in theory great, if you can recharge your car every single night at home, and if you have a short commute to work, and thus you’re always fully charged.

However, if you don’t have a charger at home, or if you plan on going on a long and random and uncertain road trip … electric cars add more burden to your planning.

For coffee, the reason I like espresso is it that it is the least cumbersome way to make your coffee, and the quickest. In theory Nespresso is a good option, but the hassle and burden of always having to buy those new capsules, or have to figure out how to recycle them. Better to just buy coffee on bulk on Amazon (the ‘Fresh Roasted Coffee’ brand), and just grind and make it at home.

Or use a ‘Clever‘ dripper, and just brew a (strong) cup of coffee the night before, keep it in the fridge, and drink a nice strong cup of pseudo-cold brew in the morning to get you going, rather than wasting the morning waiting for your coffee to steep before you get your caffeine kick going.

Or with working out, the easiest is the one which is the least cumbersome. For example, just get on the floor and do pushups, or ‘dive bombers’, or do kettlebell swings at home, or just use your chin-up bar at home. Going to the gym for many can be paralysis by analysis — the issue of finding an ideal time when the gym isn’t crowded, finding parking, waiting for a squat rack, etc.

In the context of photography, I like P (program) mode because it is the least annoying and cumbersome camera mode. You just turn on your camera, and just shoot. The best type of photography is ‘snapshot’ photography, or ‘point and shoot’ photography.

Or the reason why I prefer RICOH GR over iPhone for photography — when you lift your iPhone up, and it does the ‘raise to wake’ thing, you still need to either unlock your phone to get into the desired camera app you like (for example the Provoke app which I like), or for the default camera app, you still need to push and hold the button in the bottom right to activate the camera to turn it on. And assuming you use the default iPhone Camera app, you still often require much post-processing after the fact in order to get the photo you like. Too many steps, and components.

Or also in WordPress and with blogging I like the ‘Tiled Gallery’ block because you can quickly select photos you like, and it automatically aligns them into a collage. Having it do it randomly and automatically is less friction.

The fewer steps required to achieve your desired outcome, the better.

How do you excite or motivate yourself to make photos which will uncover your hidden talent?

PDF TEXT >

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Podcast

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Photo Thoughts

This morning, some thoughts:

1. What is your desired end goal with photography?
2. How do you motivate yourself to go out and shoot more photos?
3. What is the best and ideal camera?

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No Ricoh lasts forever

A big problem —

No RICOH GR digital camera is meant to last more than 2-3 years.

For example, my RICOH GR III recently went kaput. Really bad — 90% of the time when I turn it on, it says ‘lens error’ and refuses to focus.

I should send it in to get fixed by Ricoh, but sending it in is such a pain in the ass.

Thus I spent some time thinking and considering —

What new camera should I get?

A quick thought:

Even though the iPhone is great, I think to barbell is better– just get the iPhone for the phone function (minimum viable phone), and get the camera as a specialized niche device (RICOH).

For example, a simple thing:

The RICOH GR is superior 1000x ergonomically to the iPhone.

The iPhone … not as quick in terms of ‘quick draw’ when comparing taking out my RICOH GR and quickly snapping a shot. The RICOH is far better at quickly turning on, and shooting.

Whereas the iPhone, even though there is a camera button on the Home Screen, it is slower. Perhaps a good future iPhone Camera innovation could be:

“Raise to wake” becomes “Raise to photograph”.

I like the idea if there was a function in which you raised your iPhone, it would automatically go into camera mode (you could customize this in the iPhone settings).

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Why go on adventures?

The trend nowadays is towards ‘over-landing’, off-roading, adventuring in your car, etc, because of the whole COVID pandemic thing.

But why go on adventures?

My mom said it is a good way to discover and uncover your hidden talents.

Therefore in photography, the question —

What hidden talents do you have which lie nascent within you, and adventure is a way to unlock those photographic hidden skills?

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I hate missing the decisive moment

After a day or two of my broken Ricoh, and missing at least 1-2 really important decisive moments for myself (playing with Seneca), it infuriated me. I learned that for me, to capture every single meaningful moment is my goal.

Why? When I see something which brings me extreme joy, I have this need and desire to capture it. If I don’t, it brigs me insane amounts of anger and frustration.

Perhaps this is the hidden motivator for us as photographers?

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MACRO PHOTO ASSIGNMENT

A fun assignment for you:

Shoot only macro mode for an entire day.

I found this to be very creatively interesting; even when seeing things from afar, putting my Ricoh GR III into manual focusing mode into macro mode, shooting things which are out of focus (unintentionally) end up becoming artistic.

This is a step beyond the 1 meter challenge; to shoot macros is even MORE interesting and fun.

I suppose this is the fun of the new iPhone– the macro function mode.

To macro something means to make something larger.

Shoot your eye, the eyes of your loved ones and kids, your food, or any textures around the house.

Upload your best macro photos to arsbeta.com

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You need more opportunities to shoot

If you desire to uncover your hidden talent and skills in photography, you must expose yourself to more photo opportunities. This is where road trips are good, going to the local mall, going to the downtown, going on trips, travels, weekend excursions, etc is good for photography.

Randomness, chance and unknown and uncertain situations awaken the inner-genius photographer within you.

Thus when in doubt, get out of the house. Try to walk 30,000 steps a day, go on a quick hike, go on a weekend AirBnb trip somewhere, and make photography the modus operandi of your life.

ERIC

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Thoughts on Leica M11

The new Leica M11 is out; and some thoughts:

1. Unfortunate how the M11 is visually indistinguishable from the M10. A good idea would have been to make the M11 have a Black Leica Dot in front; to differentiate itself.
2. The triple stacked sensor is a great idea; better to have fewer megapixels but better high ISO capability.
3. To show ‘Leica M11’ on the back startup is a bad idea — looks dated.
4. For the ISO dial on top, the “A” doesn’t need to be in red lettering, just black it out/
5. The new battery component on bottom and the USB-C is a fantastic idea.

Is it worth the ‘upgrade’?

I don’t think so. Ever since I learned that the RICOH GR III was 1000x more compact and portable and lended me to shoot more photos, Leica M cameras no longer really interest me.

The higher price is a brilliant idea from Leica — it is truly a luxury item and should be priced this way.

What Leica M is best?

Leica M9 is very good (flash):

I still think getting a used Leica M9 is a great idea for the rangefinder experience. Or the used Leica M9 Monochrom. The M240 is lame, the Leica M10 is fine, the Leica M10-R is unnecessary (more megapixels, more problems), and even a small design thing — I hate the new three-button layout of the new Leica digital cameras. The rounded squares look too ‘cute’, I prefer the harder, Bauhaus design of the Leica M9 with the small, tiny, hard dots.

Perhaps getting a fixed/refurbished Leica M9-P is a good ‘longevity’ camera.

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iPhone Pro?

Just get a RICOH GR III instead of the new iPhone Pro. If you want a good phone just get an iPhone Mini.

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GR IIIx?

Just ordered a GR IIIx on Amazon to replace my broken GR III. Will test it, and give you some updates later, if I don’t like it I will just return it.

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Stay tuned!
ERIC

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WHY APP?

Not just a decisive moment — but capturing a meaningful one.

Upon doing much research and thinking and consideration, all cars suck. Thus my personal thought:

Just get a cheap, easily accessible car, and just go on more road trips and adventures.

To love more, you must also hate more?

Also the things you really love, you also hate it?

RICOH GR cameras for example — I hate how it always breaks, but I love it in terms of the design, function, ergonomics and the photos it produces.

To get buffer arms, the ideal seems to be doing (very) heavy kettlebell swings (one armed), into a ‘clean’ formation.

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What *should* a home be, and how *should* a home be designed?

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A quick thought on clothing —

Instead of getting a vest, or wearing cumbersome clothing which restricts your movement, just double-upon on your merino wool t-shirt.

Double shirt layer.

And on the *really* cold days, triple merino wool t-shirt.

What do we want out of photography? To capture the fullest gamut of human experiences in photos:

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