And after much contemplation and experimentation, some thoughts:
The first one is a figuring out the ideal camera which will best suit your desired ends.
The critical factor in photography is making photos without hesitation or thinking.
Also, to be able to always shoot, at hand. Do not have a camera which is big and cumbersome, essentially you want a camera that fits inside your front right pocket. Ricoh GR 3X.
Then this means one should renounce all cameras which cannot fit in your front right pocket. Effectively speaking, this is all Leica cameras, all Fujifilm cameras, all Sony cameras, etc. The Ricoh GR digital camera is not perfect, however it is currently the least bad camera which exists for our desired ends.
Should I get the Ricoh GR 3 or the Ricoh GR 3X? If you compare the two, the Ricoh GR 3X is superior because it is newer. I have discovered that the image rendition from the Ricoh GR 3X is actually superior to the Ricoh GR 3.
However, will you miss the wide angle of the 28 mm? Based on my experimentation, no. Surprisingly, I do not miss the wide angle on the Ricoh GR 3 at all. I do not miss the 28 mm focal length. In fact, I prefer the 40 mm focal length; I don’t even think about it anymore.
Extra small JPEG
Another thing; unfortunately, even in the year 2022, we are still limited by Internet speeds and bandwidth. Wi-Fi and 4G and 5G is often surprisingly slow, or we are limited by data caps. My personal ideal is if we had some sort of unlimited free 5G or 6G data concepts; I think this would be the number one critical factor for human thriving.
Therefore a very interesting entrepreneurial idea; could you offer free 5G Internet unlimited, with no annoying contracts? In which you could just pop in any Sim card and get to work? This would be the massive game changer.
Even more interesting; could you create the service which could make money without advertisements? This would be the Google killer.
Speak to your frustrations
Truth be told, I have no idea how mobile 4G and 5G Internet works. However, it is insanely annoying even being here in Seoul South Korea, which is supposed to be the most connected city in the world, I cannot just go to any street corner and buy an unlocked SIM card and pop it in. Korea is even more backwards in America when it comes to having to be locked into some sort of telecom plan.
Even Cambodia and Vietnam is more enlightened and forward; you could buy a Sim card on any street corner, super super easy. Here in Korea, the only place you can get data for your Sim card is at the Incheon airport.
The biggest game changer in America is actually T-Mobile.
Photo management
Some thing I am starting to discover which is a huge problem is the issue of photo management. That is, I make all these photos, and I want to keep publishing them and sharing them, but currently my website hosting limits me to only 100,000 files. Once I hit that cap, my only resort is opening up my FTP server, and continually Deleting older photos. This is not sustainable.
Some potential hacks or innovations I thought of include just taking all my photos and making PDF books out of all the photos, or just making slideshows in iMovie and sharing them to YouTube. However the issue of this is that the individual photos themselves get locked into either a PDF file, or on YouTube.
I could host them on my own self hosted video press.com, however, once again I am currently limited by slow Internet speeds, and uploading things to videopress.com takes forever.
The upside is I am only shooting extra small JPEG on my Ricoh GR 3X camera, which alleviates things. But, this is not enough.
Clothing and shoes
The most minimalist choose possible. Vibram five fingers shoes, or shoes that have zero drop and are literally right next to the ground. Cindy helped me find on Amazon these zero drop shoes, which are often sold on Amazon for only $25, which are either branded “L run“ or “centipede.†Also for a long time I just used these shark slippers, which are essentially water shoes. They also go by the “L run “monikerâ€.
No shoes with more foam and more padding. This means that all Nike and Adidas sneakers are out. Also the most loser shoes you can buy are those stupid Hoka shoes, which gives you about 5 inches of foam.
Also, no bag or backpack. This will weigh you down.
What is the purpose of photography anyways?
This is the big philosophical question we must grapple with.
For me there are many reasons. First of all, photography is just plain interesting and fun. Even Seneca, my son who is one year and seven months old is starting to understand the concept of making photos. He knows how to turn on my Ricoh camera and make photos and review them. Fun is a critical factor in photography.
Second, the artistic and creative impulse. I believe it is part of our primal nature to desire to create, change, transform, transfigure, and manipulate things. In this regard, photography is phenomenal.
Third, photography is a very interesting supplement to our living. For example, I really love being out and about, and walking around in public. Then, photography becomes a great BOGO, buy one get one free. That is, as we enjoy being out and about, we can also make photos. You kill two birds with one stone; enjoy the walk, and also enjoy making photos.
So what should we focus on in our photography?
I believe currently the misguided notion in photography is this: create a social media Instagram account, and accumulate as many followers, comments, and likes as possible. Strive to become as famous as possible, and then hopefully aspire to get sponsorships, solo exhibitions, a published book, travel the world, make money, etc.
Social media is creative castration
Social media is a Procrustean bed for your creativity. That is, we cut off our own limbs to fit social media, rather than vice versa. In other words, we optimize our creativity for the algorithm and machine, rather than prioritizing our own unique creative output, and then figuring out how to make the technologies which will revolve around that.
In more crude terms, would you castrate yourself in order to maximize your social media impact? That is, either cutting off your penis or testicles, in order to get more social media followers and likes?
Become the change
Arsbeta.com for honest creative feedback on your photos.
Create your own self hosted website and blog, via wordpress.org
Think more innovatively and creatively in photography; better to think of yourself as an innovator rather than a photographer.
Invent the future
Figure out how to build a really good photography app. Either build it on iOS, or, make it open source, and make it easily available on the Internet.
The Internet and the cloud is the future
Even the more I think about it, the Internet is still the future. I love the Blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrency, crypto technology, bitcoin as being very interesting innovations for the Internet, in regards to money, commerce, identity, security, etc.
Also funny enough, I still think that email and text messaging, and SMS messaging is the future. It is the most simple, but the most open and time tested.
How to become more creative
Check out the HAPTIC shop for great creative resources.
Also, become more creatively promiscuous. This means draw inspiration from any streams of knowledge, art, etc. For example, architecture, sculpture, dance, fashion, etc.
For creative ideas, philosophy. I have gotten 1 trillion more creative ideas reading philosophy rather than reading any book on innovation, business, or entrepreneurship published in the last 30 years.
The only books which have helped me include the Walter Isaacson biography on Steve Jobs, because it taught me how Steve Jobs was usually inspired by Kyoto and Zen and Bauhaus aesthetics.
The only useful Silicon Valley book is zero to one by Peter Thiel, as Peter Thiel is both an entrepreneur and a philosopher.
Publish the future
Utilize all technological platforms for publication. This includes podcast, audio, video podcast, YouTube, photos, video, open source, JPEG files,.zip files, etc.
What now?
Perhaps best to think of yourself as part philosopher, part photographer. Philosopher just means he or she who loves wisdom.
All children are born philosophers. The question is how can you continue to be philosophical, the older you grow.
ERIC
ERIC KIM EXPERIENCES
Become the uberphotographer:
- HENRI SHOULDER STRAP: For the heavyweights.
- HENRI WRIST STRAP: Crema brown
Share the ideas
Sharing is caring it could be fun!