The “One Street Photograph a Day” Challenge
I think one of the most difficult things as a photographer is to stay inspired. How do we stay inspired to shoot everyday– when the boredom and monotony of everyday life sets in?
Posts
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It is Impossible to Take 100,000 Bad Street Photographs in a Row
I recently read some advice by author Ray Bradbury for aspiring writers: “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.” I think the same applies for street photography. To change the numbers a bit– I think it is impossible to take 100,000 bad street photographs…
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How to Embrace “Stream-of-Consciousness” in Street Photography
One of the best pieces of advice I got on writing is the importance of writing without editing. Which means, turn off the inner-censor in your mind and write freely. What or who is the “inner censor”? Well, the inner-censor is the little voice in your head which tells you “Oh don’t do that, that’s…
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10 Tips on Shooting Street Photography on Film
I have learned a few things about shooting street photography on film from my own experiences (and the advice of others). If you want to read the full list of things I learned shooting film– read more!
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Saigon Diary #6: Trip to Pulau Bidong, Switching to Black & White, Thoughts on Digital
Sorry guys, it has been a while since I last updated my “Saigon Diary” series. A lot has happened since the last time we talked. During that time, I taught a week-long Saigon street photography workshop, I traveled to Malaysia and visited Pulau Bidong (a refugee camp where Cindy was born). I also took a…
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Magnum Photographers Give Advice, Share Personal Challenges, and Talk About Technology
I recently came upon this superb publication by IdeasTap and Magnum. In this magazine, there are exclusive interviews with 12 Magnum photographers– spanning from advice for young photographers, difficulties in photography, and their thoughts on technology. I included my favorite quotes from the magazine in the feature below, enjoy!
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Why Sharpness is Overrated
Sharpness is over-rated in street photography. Even Henri Cartier-Bresson once said, “Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.” I remember when I first saw one of HCB’s exhibitions in person in Paris, I was surprised by how soft most of his shots were. And many of his photos were significantly out of focus (thinking about the famous shot…
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Street Photography Contact Sheets #1: Face Tattoo, Downtown LA 2014
At a recent workshop in Downtown LA, I was shooting with one of the students (Luis) when we come across an interesting character with all these tattoos all over his body. He told us he just got out of jail (a few days ago), and was struggling on the streets. We gave him around 2 bucks,…
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On Going With the Flow in Street Photography
I just finished reading a book titled: “Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity”. It was a fascinating read on the paradox of “wu-wei”– which is a concept in Taoism of “action without action”. This means nature accomplishes everything without effort. Similarly, we should be able to accomplish many things in our…
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Looking for the bigger picture, Interview with SelvaSP Collective
(Editor’s note: All photos are the respected copyright of the members of SelvaSP) Take a look at this interview of SelvaSP. They are a street photography collective hailing out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. We explore how this collective is being run, what it is they look for, and how they approach the art of street…
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On Bridging the Gap in Street Photography
I feel one of the most important traits to become a better street photographer is first identifying what makes great street photography. This means having good taste. A quote from Ira Glass from NPR comes to mind– in terms of having good taste: “Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told…
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10 Ways How to Have a Good Day in Street Photography
Smile at and compliment a stranger. Surprise a friend with one of your favorite prints (for no reason). Give a constructive criticism to a street photographer with 0 comments online. Promote the work of another contemporary street photographer whose work you admire. Go out and only shoot with 1 camera and 1 lens (and turn…
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Saigon Diary #5: Travels to Bien Hoa, Learning Vietnamese, and Coffee Culture
Hey streettogs, thank you for waiting for this new episode of “Saigon Diary“. A lot has happened the last week, namely me and Cindy visiting Bien Hoa– a place about an hour outside of Saigon. Cindy’s cousin got married recently, and it was a great time getting to know her father’s side of the family…
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Composition Lesson #14: Square Format
You can see all my composition lessons here. I have been quite fascinated with the square-format in street photography for a while. My fascination first came about from Jeroen Helmink, a photographer from the Netherlands (you can see a fun video we made on shooting Hasseblads). There was something quite sexy about the 6×6 format–…
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10 Things To Try When You’re in a Photographic Rut
Visit an exhibition or a museum (on photography or any other art form). Try shooting film, and not processing your work for at least 3 months. Then do a final edit at the end. Travel (doesn’t have to be international, it can be even an hour drive away). Write down any photographic ideas you have…
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10 Things Not to Do While Traveling
Don’t speak English (speak the local language) Don’t eat McDonalds or drink Starbucks (explore local food) Don’t travel with check-in luggage (keep everything to a small carry-on) Don’t keep to yourself (make new friends in the streets) Don’t try to see everything (it is better to see fewer places more thoroughly) Don’t travel without water…
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Saigon Diary #4: Leading Lines, Golden Triangle Composition, and Working the Scene
Hey streettogs, thanks for staying tuned in for the “Saigon Diary” series. For the sake of getting sleep and having higher quality posts, I’ve decided not to keep a daily diary– but to update every 2-3 days (depending on how interesting my days are). Some people are asking me why I’m showing bad photos in…
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5 Tips For Really Busy Street Photographers
Nowadays. we are all really busy. We have countless commitments at work, at home, with our friends, and with our families. It is really hard to find time to shoot street photography. Not all of us can leave the obligations of the “real world” and just go out and shoot all the time. Ironically enough…
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10 Things Not to Do in Street Photography
Don’t chimp (let your shots marinate) Don’t look at bad photos (study the masters) Don’t spend time on gear review sites when you’re bored (buy books, not gear) Don’t worry about your camera (the best camera is the one you have with you) Don’t mix black and white and color in the same set (aim…
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Saigon Diary #3: Motorbikes, Vietnamese Coffee, and Night Shooting
Today was another beautiful day in Saigon. However, I did wake up pretty exhausted. The light from the morning light was nice, getting me up at around 8am. I slept probably around 1:30am (staying up to write Saigon Diary #2). But I think no matter how tired I am, I want to keep up this…
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Saigon Diary #2: Learning Vietnamese, Seeing Common Threads, and Triangles
Due to the positive feedback from the first “Saigon Diary #1” I will see if I can do daily diary entries. Thank you guys also for the feedback on the new blog design. I’ve been wanting to change my blog to a “responsive design” — that would look great across smartphones, tablets, and computers. I…
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Eric Kim Lightroom Presets
Dear friend, As a present, here are some new ERIC KIM LIGHTROOM CLASSIC CC PRESETS 2018 for you!
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Saigon Diary #1: First Day in Vietnam
You can download my free Lightroom 5 film street photo presets which I used to process these photos. I used the “XT-1 v2” preset on most of these. Hey what’s up streettogs– this is Eric Kim reporting live from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam. After a lovely 14-hour flight from Vancouver and a…
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Street Photography Book Analysis: Modern Times by Patrick Tsai
One of the best things about photography is it gives us a view of places we otherwise won’t be able to visit. Street Photography ups the ante by actually heading to side streets, roads not taken, and places that won’t appear in your usual travel guide. In Patrick Tsai’s modern times, he shows us a…
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Listening to the Bass in Street Photography
I recently read something quite interesting about music. The concept was when you’re listening to music, you tend to listen to the treble (high notes) and tend to ignore the bass (low notes). Therefore the author suggested to get a richer experience listening to music, focus on listening to the bass (not the treble). So…
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You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take
Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. I find this such a beautiful quote not only in life but also street photography. Many of us are afraid of taking risks, of taking chances. We worry about failure. We worry that others will judge us for our shortcomings. We worry…
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Systems vs Goals in Street Photography
One of the most interesting concepts I’ve learned recently is the concept of “Systems” vs “Goals” from a book written by Scott Adams titled: “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.” Basically Scott Adams says that in life we should focus on “Systems” instead of “Goals”. So what is the difference? Scott…
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The Benefits Shooting Both Film and Digital in Street Photography
This guest blog post is by JT White, a street photographer based in Seoul, Korea. JT: I get asked a lot about film versus digital. I use both film and digital cameras. Which, depend really depends on a lot of things. It can depend on my mood or on the lens I want to use. I…
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How to Overcome Obstacles in Street Photography
I just finished a new book: “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday. The book is a huge source of inspiration for overcoming challenges– and using them to your advantage. In-fact, Ryan uses the quote from Marcus Aurelius for the title of his book: “The obstacle is the way” meaning that if it weren’t…
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How to Master the Creative Process in Street Photography
We would all love to be more creative in our street photography. We want to create work that stands out from the crowd. We want to create images that connect emotionally to our viewers. We want our images to inspire our viewers. We want our images to speak from our heart, and communicate messages to…
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Debunking the “Myth of the Decisive Moment”
When I started off in street photography, I believed in the “myth of the decisive moment”. What do I mean by that? Well, when I first heard of “The Decisive Moment” by Henri Cartier Bresson, I had the wrong impression that he only took one photo of a scene. I imagined Henri Cartier Bresson waltzing…
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10 Principles of Good Street Photography
Recently I’ve been getting really into Dieter Rams and his zen and minimalist philosophies when it comes to design. He has a famous list of “10 Principles of Good Design.” They are the following: Good design is innovative. Good design makes a product useful. Good design is aesthetic. Good design helps us to understand a…
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5 Essentialist Tips in Street Photography
Photos in this article are part of my on-going “Somewhere in America” Urban Landscape series. I recently finished a book titled: “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less”, which made me think a lot about my life, the blog, and street photography. To sum up the book, the author praises the “less is more” ethos, and…
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How to Approach Strangers on the Street: Brandon Stanton from Humans of New York Shares His Technique
Brandon Stanton from Humans of New York shares some insightful tips on how to approach strangers on the street. If you’ve ever been nervous approaching strangers, this will be a great watch for you! If you want to learn more how to overcome your fear of shooting street photography, you can download my free e-book:…
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“Shooting Street”: The Street Photography Talkshow
Michael Meinhardt has been running a great series of street photography interview podcasts on “The Shooting Street Show.” He recently interviewed Rinzi Ruiz, make sure to check them out below: Episode #5: Rinzi Ruiz Rinzi and I talk about overcoming subject fatigue, the famous Rinzi style and how it came about, preparing a photo trip,…
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Time Flies. On Creating a Body of Work
It doesn’t take too long to create a solid body of work. If you are diligent, you could do it in 2 years. Other bodies of work can take you 5-10 years. This sounds like a long time, but it isn’t. Time flies by extremely quickly. Do you remember being a college freshman, blinking your…
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10 Things I Have Learned About Street Photography From Eric Kim
This post is by Dan K, a writer, camera collector, and photographer from Hong Kong. Dan: Today I have the pleasure of summarising Eric Kim’s contribution to street photography. At a loss for ideas, I threw the question open to my social media followers. Big mistake! All I got was flames and no tips at…
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“Shooting Street” Podcast Interview
Thanks a ton to Michael Meinhardt for interviewing me for the “Shooting Street” podcast. We talked about shooting street photography with flash, finding your own style, overcoming boredom, shooting film, photo books, and ideas for the future! Check out the hour-long interview below: Podcast: Play in new window | Download Past episodes to check out: SSP 003 –…
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5 Tips When Entering a Street Photography Contest
The photos in this article are from my new “Detroit” series. I’ve had the pleasure of being a judge for a handful of street photography competitions: including the International Street Photography Awards 2012, the Urban Picnic Street Photography Contest in 2013, and the International Street Photography Awards 2014. It was a fascinating experience being a…
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Book Review: “Gypsies” by Josef Koudelka
All photographs in this article are copyrighted by Josef Koudelka / Magnum Photos To continue my street photography book reviews, I wanted to write about “Gypsies” — one of my favorite street photography books of all-time, shot by Josef Koudelka, Magnum photographer. To give you a bit of background, Josef Koudelka is one of the…
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The 7 Deadly Sins of Mediocrity in Street Photography
Photos in this article are from my on-going “Colors” series. I recently read a book titled: “Die Empty: Unleash your Best Work Everyday” and found great inspiration in it. It is a great book in which the premise is easy: will you die with all of your dreams, aspirations, and talents inside of you– or…
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A Street Photographer (and Foodie)’s Guide to Seattle
I recently traveled to Seattle and taught a street photography workshop there. As a native Californian, I never ventured to the Pacific North-West, and man– I was impressed. I think Seattle is seriously one of the most underrated places in the West Coast (and in America as well). If you ever have the chance to…
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12 Lessons Joel Meyerowitz Has Taught Me About Street Photography
All photos in this article are copyrighted by Joel Meyerowitz. I am surprised I haven’t written an article about Joel Meyerowitz yet. He is one of the living legends and masters in street photography, currently at 75 years old. He shot in the streets with other legends such as Garry Winogrand, Tony Ray-Jones, and even…
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Street Photography Book Review: “The Last Resort” by Martin Parr
All photographs in this article are copyrighted by Martin Parr / Magnum Photos. Warning: Some of the shots in the book are NSFW as they show child nudity. One of my favorite color photography books is “The Last Resort” by Martin Parr. For 2014, I want to start doing more book reviews– sharing some of…
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On Status and Street Photography
Photos in this article are outtakes/shots I am considering from my on-going “Suits” project. One of the things I love most about street photography is how open and democratic it is. Anybody with any camera can shoot street photography. You don’t need anything fancy. Not only that, but street photography is accessible to everybody. You…
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On Expectations and Street Photography
Photos in this article are from my time in Michigan in 2013. In life I have a certain strategy: I set very low (or no) expectations for myself and try my personal best. I know often people say you should always set your ambitions and expectations high– but I find several faults with this strategy:
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On Consistency and Street Photography
Photos in this article are from my on-going “Suits” project. One of the things I notice a lot at my workshops and when I see work online is how there tends to be a lack of consistency in people’s images. I think while it is great to experiment and try out new things– at the…
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40 Street Photography Resolutions Ideas for 2014
Now that the new year is under way, I thought it would be a good idea that we could all choose a new year’s resolution in street photography. I know how difficult it is to keep to a new year’s resolution, but I think it is something fun that we can all look forward to.…
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10 of My Street Photography Resolutions for 2015
It is that time of the year again— to make resolutions for the new year. In 2014, I wrote a post, “40 Street Photography Resolutions Ideas for 2014” and I also wrote a post titled: “15 Street Photography Assignments to Re-Energize and Re-Inspire You” (inspired by the book: “The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas”).…
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My Top 10 Street Photography Lists for 2013
I have never been the type of person to reflect on life. I generally tend to always live in the present moment– and don’t spend too much time thinking about the past or the future. But the quote that always comes to me from Socrates is: “The life unexamined is not a life worth living.”…
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #13: Multiple-Subjects
I think one of the most difficult compositional techniques in street photography is to incorporate multiple subjects in the frame — without it becoming too cluttered or overwhelming. Generally the problem is that most photographers that try to incorporate multiple subjects have some of the following problems: Overlapping subjects Distracting backgrounds No central subject Not…
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25 Practical Tips from Elliott Erwitt for Street Photographers
I recently attended Elliot Erwitt’s “100+1” exhibition at Fotografiska, which will be in Stockholm from December 6, 2013 to March 2, 2014. We were given a brochure with great practical advice for street photographers– which I have shared here. This text for the article is extracted from the foreword dedication written by Elliott Erwitt for the book…
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In Praise of Slowness in Street Photography
Photos in this article are from my road trip from Michigan to California. One thing I hate about the modern world is our addiction to speed. We want everything to be done faster, more efficiently, and better optimized. We are frustrated when we are loading up a website on our smartphones and it takes longer…
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5 Psychological Biases You Must Avoid in Street Photography
Besides street photography, I have a great interest in sociology, psychology, and philosophy. What I love about all these side-fields is that they overlap and add unto one another. Not only that, but I have probably learned more about street photography from these outside fields than from the field of photography itself. A field I…
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #12: Color Theory
For today’s compositional lesson– I want to talk about color theory— and how you can better utilize colors when it comes to your street photography. Personally around 2 years ago, I made the switch from shooting fully black and white — to just shooting color film (Kodak Portra 400). Since then, I have learned to…
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“SEVENTY”: A Book of Images of Mystery, Surprise, and Humor in Jack Simon’s Everyday Life
My good friend and talented street photographer Jack Simon (from Burn My Eye) has recently turned 70 years old (he looks about 2 decades younger than he is). In honor of his birthday, he recently published a new book titled: SEVENTY — which is a compilation of 70 great candid photos. He was also generous enough…
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #11: “Spot the Not”
When it comes to composition– one of the first things you should ask yourself is: “Who is the subject?” If you have a hard time identifying the main subject (or subjects) in the photo– you are in trouble. One of the most difficult things to do in street photography is capture multiple subjects well. When…
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #10: Urban Landscapes
For today’s lesson I want to talk about “urban landscapes.” Urban landscapes aren’t really compositions in the specific sense (compared to lines, curves, etc)– but I still feel they are relevant when creating our street photographs. If you guys have read my prior lessons on composition– I have thought a lot about what a “composition”…
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Don’t Take Boring Photos: 13 Tips for Street Photographers from Tony Ray-Jones
In the late 1960’s, photographer Tony Ray-Jones wrote a hand-written note on his “approach” when he took photographs. I think these tips are lessons all of us as street photographers can learn from him. Read more to see some of his inspirational images (and this list typed out):
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #9: Self-Portraits
“At first, my presence in my photos was fascinating and disturbing. But as time passed and I was more a part of other ideas in my photos, I was able to add a giggle to those feelings.” – Lee Friedlander For today’s compositional lesson I want to introduce the idea of incorporating self-portraits into your street photography.…
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #8: Curves
All photos in this article are copyrighted by their respective photographers. For today’s compositional lesson– I want to talk about curves. To start off, why curves? Well– curves are some of the most dynamic lines that exist.
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #7: Perspective
All photographs in this article are copyrighted by their respective photographers. For today’s compositional lesson I want to talk about perspective. Google defines “perspective” as the following: The art of drawing solid objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each…
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #6: Framing
All photos included in this article are copyrighted by their respective photographers. For today’s street photography lesson, I want to talk about framing. Framing itself is a pretty basic compositional technique, something I am sure we all learned when we first started. But let us delve deeper into framing. Let us see examples from the…
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #5: Depth
All of the photos in this article are copyrighted by their respective photographers. For today’s composition lesson I want to focus on a compositional technique that is more utilized by intermediate/advanced photographers. It is the idea of depth. What exactly is “depth” anyways? Well, the Merrian-Webster dictionary provides this definition (which we generally think of…
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5 Things I Don’t Do in Street Photography
Some of the photos included in this post are from my on-going “Colors” project. I am an ardent believer in the idea of “subtractive knowledge” and “via negative” meaning that we learn most from learning what not to do. For example, when I played tennis the maxims I was taught by my amazing coach Greg…
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #4: Leading Lines
All photos in this article are copyrighted by their respective photographers. For today’s street photography composition lesson– I would like to discuss leading lines. Leading lines are one of the most basic photography compositional techniques– I am sure you have all heard of it before. But it is a technique that we often don’t listen…
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Street Photography Composition Lesson #3: Diagonals
For today’s street photography composition lesson, we will discuss a compositional rule that is simple enough: the diagonal. Credit goes to Adam Marelli for teaching me about this important design element which can help street photographers all around the globe. Diagonals are one of the strongest and most fundamental compositional elements– something that we all…