Month: October 2022

Become your own social media

A nice thought: rather than seeking to imitate your past self, or continue to do what you are successful at, perhaps it is better and more interesting to strive to create a new legacy; experimenting and innovating and things you are either ignorant of, or attempting some thing radically new.

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1. Beginner’s mind

The first simple thought is this; adopt the mind of a beginner, or the mind of a child. Even when I look at my one year seven month year-old son, the way he experiences things is radically fresh. He touches things, and experiments things, in order to figure out what happens. Perhaps we should also try to do the same; rather than seeking money or success or fame, we are simply curious about the feedback which will happen if we try something new.

For example, when Seneca hits the shutter button on my camera, or plays with any other function buttons on the back of my Ricoh GR camera, he is simply curious what will happen. And once he discovers what the thing does, he likes to do it again, in order to strengthen the feedback loop cycle.

2. Creative seclusion

Why is it that all these successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and billionaires end up in some sort of silent retreat in the mountain or in the woods, or why so many major religions were founded by individuals went to the desert?

It seems that in order to innovate something radically new, you must radically seclude yourself. For example, one of my great renaissance‘s or rebirths was when I went super Zen monk mode in Vietnam for two years; radical disconnection from everything.

Also, I think it is a good idea to not seek feedback from anyone else, but simply to do things because you’re curious about the outcome.

3. Health

Also, in order to innovate something totally brand-new, insanely robust health is essential. For example, I’m currently in the countryside in Korea, and I have found that in the countryside, I just sleep way better. Getting better sleep has helped me gain more strength, which also gives me more chutzpah to try something new.

4. Kids don’t care for money

Another thing which I am very proud of my son Seneca is that he has no concept or interest in money. To a child, money is simply a piece of useless paper. He is far more interested in playing with cars, throwing around rocks, walking up and down incline surfaces, And exploring the world.

How is it that we are adults become so corrupted by seeking money? Society.

You cannot really innovate or create something new if you’re seeking money. Why is that? If you try something totally brand-new, most likely it will not directly result in making money. If you want a steady flow of cash, easier to have a 95 job, and receive a predictable salary, either every two weeks or every month, or just be an Uber driver, and you directly get money feedback from the activities what you do.

5. Radical newness

But if you think about the really really successful companies, they tried something radically new before they even knew it was possible to make money with it. For example, in the early days of Facebook; do you remember when there were no advertisements? Even Mark Zuckerberg said in the early days that he thought that advertisements were lame.

Or Google, they started off as a search engine. This is before they were able to figure out how to advertise and monetize search.

Also another bias I have discovered about Silicon Valley, Y Combinator, etc.; they have helped many start ups become very successful, but the really really insanely successful companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google never went through an incubator program. Therefore, my thought is this:

If you want to become insanely insanely great, or build some radically new company, you must disconnect yourself from all notions of Silicon Valley, venture capital, Y Combinator, start ups, etc.

6. The best way to create a legacy is not to think about your legacy

Let us all assume we will live to be 120 years old. And let us also assume there is no conscious afterlife. Then what is the point of it all?

I think deep down, we all have some sort of altruistic love of humanity. We want future humans to prosper. This becomes especially true once you have a kid; assuming no texting while driving accidents happen, they will most likely outlive you.

7. Use the Internet

The hilarity is that even in the year 2022, the internet is still the future.

For example, the upside is that Google is doing a good job indexing everything on the Internet, which means if you are well indexed on Google, most likely your stuff will persist into the future.

Also, the upside of making things open, free and open source. Standalone JPEG files, zip files, PDF files and off-line storage like thumb drives and SD cards will persist well into the future.

8. What will change, what will not change?

Things which are constantly changing and evolving include technology, devices, etc. However there are certain things which do not change like ideas, wisdom, inspiration and motivation.

Also, in terms of what lasts or what doesn’t last, it seems that individuals and their ideas and philosophies last, whereas nations, civilizations, and empires do not last.

Schools of thought, and cultures seem to have also a good robust lifecycle. 

9. Pursue things you truly care for 

Let your own personal enthusiasm and interest guide you. Once you get bored or something, move on, or reimagine and reinterpret it.

For example, everything that I write, blog, and share or publish is an offshoot of something which personally interests me. If it does not interest me, there is no enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is only possible when you are personally curious about it. 

10. The never ending stream

The other day I looked at this water wheel, which was powered by a small stream. The thing that is so interesting about the stream of water is this; it never stops flowing.

Even if you think about information, data, etc.; it is all considered a “stream”.

Therefore with your blog, or your channels for publication, just keep flowing it and streaming it. No end.

Flow on!
ERIC

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Experience something new:

• November 5: DOWNTOWN LA MINIMALISM
• November 12: VANCOUVER STREET

New ERIC KIM EXPERIENCES >

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HENRI NECK STRAP MARK IV

CONQUER PHOTOGRAPHY.

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ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP MARK II

JUST SHOOT IT.

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Recent thoughts

1. As much as I hate to admit it, it still seems that the laptop is the best tool we got. MacBook Laptop with M2 processor is best. Either the new MacBook Air or the MacBook 13” Touchbar.
2. The problem with cars

Product design ideas.

1. XPRO4 ideas
2. LEICA M12 IDEAS
3. XPRO3 REVIEW

New photos

1. SEOUL on GRIIX.
2. XPRO3 SEOUL PHOTOS
3. CAMBODIA PHOTOS

VLOGS

1. Where should I live? // VIDEO DOWNLOAD
2. Just experiment vlog // VIDEO DOWNLOAD

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ERIC KIM BLOG

1. Start here
2. Books
3. Products

ALL BLOG

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Forward the ideas!

If ERIC KIM NEWS inspired you feel free to forward to a friend!

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Next steps

1. Get real feedback on your photos at arsbeta.com
2. Gain deeper philosophy in your life: WHY APP?
3. Start your own YouTube channel!

ERIC

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A critique of companies which piggyback off their past legacy. Far superior to create a new legacy instead.

For example, it seems that people either do not know or are ignorant of the fact, or decide to ignore the fact that Lamborghini is owned by Volkswagen. Also, the great shame of Lamborghini reviving their Countach, which is essentially a Lamborghini Aventador with a body kit.

Also, Leica is trying to piggyback off their past legacy with Henri Cartier Bresson.

The great thing with Elon Musk, and Kanye West; they are both creating radically new designs for their products.

Also for yourself, or even myself; rather than just doing what you already succeeded at, or what you’re already famous for, create something brand-new, and innovate something totally brand-new.

Having played around a little bit with the Fujifilm X pro 3, I actually really liked it. But some design suggestions for the next XPRO4:

Radical simplification

Too many ugly buttons and text and font around the camera. Get rid of the drive button, the AE button, and the random button above the Q button, and also the top right button. Anyone who buys a Fujifilm X pro camera essentially wants a more modern like a rangefinder, so make it more simple.

Introduce Fujifilm Neopan 1600 as a preset

I used the acros black and white film simulation preset, and it was very dissatisfying. Not enough contrast, introduce the neopan 1600 preset, and make it insanely high contrast black-and-white, just like the Ricoh GR 3X hi contrast black and white setting.

Also, the Fujifilm camera should also be able to adjust the contrast settings of every film simulation preset JPEG in camera in-camera.

Also, to make the X pro 4 more film like, for the film grain settings, just have the user toggle between ISO 400, ISO 400, ISO 800, and pushing to 3200.

Make the X pro 4 less chunky

The big problem about the Fuji film X-pro series is this; it is too fat and chunky. Put it on a diet, make it slimmer, and rounder around the edges.

Change the font

The font for the X pro 3 and the X pro series is too generic. It looks like standard Arial font. Make it look more unique, maybe more Japanese.

Also, the Fujifilm X pro 4 should be stylized as ”XPRO IV”. I do not see a strong reason for there to be a dash between the X and the Pro.

Who should Fujifilm target?

This is my thought; Fujifilm should position themselves like Tesla; much more advanced, sexy, and innovative and modern than the Leica M digital rangefinder.

It seems based on my experiences, a lot of people who end up buying a Fujifilm x100 camera, or a Fujifilm X pro camera could actually afford a Leica M digital camera, or even a Leica Q digital camera.

The other day I looked at the Leica M 11, and was very unimpressed. I think the only thing like is is running on is their past Legacy. Fujifilm is in a great position to disrupt, as it is creating a new legacy.

Some design suggestions for the Leica M12:

True minimalism

The first design suggestion is this: become more ruthless about transforming the new like a M digital camera into minimalist perfection.

Get rid of the things that nobody uses

For example, nobody uses that lever in the front of the Leica M rangefinder camera.

Also, get rid of the button in the top right corner of the Leica M rangefinder digital camera. nobody knows what that button is.

Differentiation?

The big problem about the new Leica M 11 is this; it is virtually undistinguishable from the prior generation Leica M 10. Therefore, it is my belief that there is no real strong incentive or motivation for photographers to either buy an M 11 over an M 10, or upgrade.

A simple suggestion is make the Leica M12 have an all black dot, with the “Leica” script in white. At least superficially, it looks different.

DRIVE

• Xpro3 SEOUL PICKS ZIP WITH JPEG

My biggest inspiration is my son:

I think the foolish thing that a lot of people think is this; once I find the perfect city, neighborhood, town, house, climate, living situation, etc., I will live there forever until I die.

In fact, nothing and nowhere is forever. I think an undulation or the dynamic range between things is what makes life great.

For example, I am American, yet I love being all over the place. I love Seoul South Korea, the countryside, the countryside of Korea, Phnom Penh Cambodia, Saigon in Hanoi in Vietnam. Mexico City, etc.

First select your favorite photos, then export them, and re-share them to another device, then re-filter them again. Kind of like filtering kefir cheese:

VIDEO

SLIDESHOW

Surprisingly, I actually really like the Fujifilm XPRO3.

Originally I thought the ‘no lcd screen’ (or the automatically flipped backwards LCD screen) was a gimmick, but it is actually really cool! Kudos for Fujifilm for having the balls to actually attempt an incredibly radical idea!

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Insanely fast

The first thing I really like about the XPRO3 (and the 23mm f/2 lens — 35mm full frame equivalent) is that the autofocus is insanely fast and accurate. No more need for manual focus.

Also, electronic shutter– totally silent. Shooting with the XPRO 3 for street photography (in dark, dimly lit subway in Seoul) and also on the streets felt a trillion times faster than shooting with any Leica M rangefinder.

In fact, for street photography, the XPRO3 is probably 1000x better than even the Leica M11 for street photography!

Phenomenal color

The JPEG in camera settings are quite great. Any of the color fujifilm color film simulation presets (negative film simulation, high contrast, classic-chrome, etc):

Shoot before thinking.

The biggest pitfall for us photographers:

We think too much (paralysis by analysis) before hitting the shutter.

XPRO3 is a great solution– because it is so fast, you shoot more, think less.

The design is ugly?

Frankly speaking my biggest critique of the XPRO3 is that in terms of proportions, I think the XPRO3 is pretty ugly.

But ultimately speaking, this doesn’t really matter. This was my realization:

The design of the camera body is not embedded within the photos.

So in some sense, it is better to have an ugly camera which produces great photos, than a beautiful camera which produces ugly photos.

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Good for life photography

Ultimately what matters most? Life. XPRO3 good to photograph your life!