ERIC KIM ₿

Dear friend,

A recent thought I had: in order to empower others, you must (first) be selfish.

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In my last article on the Cutoff Technique in Street Photography, I described this process of shooting head-on with a wide angle lens (like a 28mm or 35mm lens), while walking directly in front of people (cutting off their walking movement). I didn’t do a good job explaining the concept, thus I made this new GoPro POV Video for you; of me doing the cutoff technique in real life.

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Dear friend,

In a world with so many nay-sayers, negative people and pessimistic people, we should GO OPPOSITE and be the change we wish to see in the world and become YAY SAYERS!

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A physics and philosophical principle which can help empower us is this concept of “first principles”—a concept leveraged by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and other visionaries.

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Currently super-inspired by Claude Monet, with his use of colors, his compositions, depictions of everyday life, people, nature, and how he was able to show his love of life through his paintings.

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Simple photos and living in Kyoto. Shot with 24mm on Lumix LX100:

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Dear friend,

A philosophical question: why take “better” photos?

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Dear friend,

I want to share with you the story of how I became a “location independent” “digital nomad”, why I prefer this lifestyle, and share some practical thoughts with you on how you too can become a digital nomad.

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Dear friend,

If you want to live a more epic life, my simple suggestion: don’t ask for permission, JUST DO IT! knowing that you might piss off some people or upset other people. To be frank, the worst case scenario is that you might just “mildly annoy” others. And worst worst case scenario, you can always just ask/“beg” for forgiveness (most people will always forgive you, and even if they don’t forgive you, that is OK as well).

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Dear friend,

A technique I learned from my good friend Charlie Kirk in street photography: what he calls the ‘cutoff technique’.

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Dear friend,

An epiphany I had: NEVER STOP EVOLVING! Life is about evolution, constant experimenting, constantly learning, constant iteration. There is no point where you wish or desire to achieve ‘perfection’. Rather, treat life as always in a state of FLUX; in every moment you are in a ‘state of becoming‘ — becoming a greater version of yourself, and evolving into a higher form of yourself!

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To me, there is no better joy in life than walking.

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If you’re curious more about how to “work the scene” in street photography, download my full-resolution contact sheets for your own self-education and learning with the links below:

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Dear friend,

Why do we feel nervous shooting street photography?

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Dear friend,

A secret of entrepreneurial and personal thriving in life: seek to first please yourself, and whenever possible, spurn (scorn/reject) pleasing others.

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Dear friend,

A thought: The productive photographer (the photographer who shoots and publishes a lot) is the happiest photographer!

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Just arrived in Kyoto from Osaka, got a new apartment, and loving simple everyday living:

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My RICOH GR II died a few days ago, and I’ve been shooting with the Lumix LX100 for the last few days, and actually found out that I quite like it for street photography!

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Dear friend,

A philosophical idea: what if you lived life like a video game? Would life be more fun, exciting, challenging, and interesting?

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GRIT AND GRAIN: photos shot in 2015 on Leica MP, Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron ASPH, Yellow B+W Filter, Kodak Tri-X 400 pushed to 1600, some photos shot on Leica SF 24D flash:

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Lumix LX100 + GoPro Street Photography POV in Osaka:

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Shot on LUMIX LX100:

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Dear friend,

How do you live a fulfilling life? Easy: make the best of today– make today count!

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My simple luxuries in life, which aren’t expensive yet bring me a lot of joy. Feel free to experiment with any of these simple luxuries, which might brighten your mood, and add more simple joy to your life:

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Dear friend,

A recent thought: let us seek to make photography a stimulus in our lives. Let us become “hyper photographers” — to urge and impel ourselves higher in life.

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To promote our new book, 30 DAYS TO JUMPSTART YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY Mobile Edition, here are some practical tips to break through your photographers block:

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Shot on Lumix LX100, with GoPro POV on top:

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Before I was going to invest in an iPad Pro 10.5 inch, I was curious — how is the camera?

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Shot on Lumix LX100, processed with VSCO A6 (1/2 strength) Mobile Preset JPEG preset.

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Dear friend,

A mini epiphany I had: anything that encourages you to MOVE and be active is a good thing.

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Dear friend,

If Instagram causes your mood to fluctuate, if you feel addicted to it (in a negative way), and you want to invest in yourself and your own platform (not into Facebook), I recommend you to do something crazy: delete instagram.

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Dear friend,

A simple question: What makes a good photograph?

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SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT
give PROOF PROOF PROOF
to the beauty of life

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Dear friend,

A fun thought: what if we didn’t see life as some sort of painful duty, but rather, seeing our lives as a fun opportunity to experiment, play, and have fun?

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Why shoot street photography? For whom should you shoot street photography? What are the ethics behind street photography?

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Osaka: probably the most under-rated place to travel to in Japan (and in the world):

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You’re feeling stuck; how do you elevate your photography and take it to the next level?

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Dear friend,

The world is full of pain and suffering — we all know that. But in spite of the pain, sorrow, and despair in the world — can you still see pure light, opportunity, joy, and reasons to rejoice?

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Dear friend,

A piece of entrepreneurial advice: create your own niche.

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The sad thing is that I think a lot of our lives is wasted, trying to “prove” ourselves to others. But this is silly: I think we should instead focus on working hard to prove ourselves, only to ourselves.

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Dear friend,

A word of encouragement: realize that you’re already a photographer, and you don’t have anything to “prove” to anybody else, but yourself.

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2011-2017:

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Master your own style, aesthetics, and vision in photography.

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Dear friend,

One question I’ve been curious about the last 10 years of my life: what is the “ideal” lifestyle, and how do I achieve it, in order to be maximally “happy”?

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Dear friend,

Have you ever seen a scene that you wanted to shoot, but hesitated and didn’t take the photo, and later regretted not shooting the scene?

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What is the purpose of photography? To me, the purpose of photography is documenting the joy in our lives, and sharing that joy with others.

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Dear friend,

As photographers, we are life-affirmers. Whenever we decide to click the shutter and make a photo, we are saying:

Life is beautiful, this photograph is proof!

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This is my theory: the more often we shoot, the happier we are. But, a lot of us don’t or cannot shoot everyday, thus, we end up feeling depressed or demotivated in our photography.

What is the solution to this problem?

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As photographers, the less friction we have in our photography workflow, the better.

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Why do we lose motivation to make photos, and how can we re-inspire or motivate ourselves when we feel in a creative slump?

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30 DAYS TO JUMPSTART YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY is your personal daily photography journal to encourage you to photograph every day, appreciate your life, and see new photography opportunities.

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Dear friend,

A fun question to ponder: why street photography?

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Simple and joyful living in OSAKA.

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Dear friend,

A philosophical idea I got when reading Kant’s “The Critique of Pure Reason”: Photography can be simplified into two variables: Space and Time.

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Dear friend,

To succeed as a photography entrepreneur, you must gain more exposure for your work and photography.

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Dear friend,

A key to success: INTENSITY x FOCUS.

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Dear friend,

A thought: to be happier in your photography and life, seek to shoot MORE photos, not “better” photos.

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Dear friend,

If you can focus on just one only thing to help you become more successful in your entrepreneurial pursuits, your street photography, or your life — what would it be? Conquering fear.

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A simple way to simplify your life: make more binary decisions in life/photography/art: KEEP or DITCH.

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Life is good in Osaka.

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“I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.” – Nietzsche

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Inertia: the force which we must overcome to exert force.

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Dear friend,

Here are some of my personal life hacks, tips, exercises, and activities I use for me to be more inspired, motivated, energetic, and productive as a photographer/visual artist.

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Dear friend,

If you have a hard time finding time or inspiration to go out and shoot– just shoot photos at home!

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Dear friend,

There is only one you. So why waste time, resources, and energy trying to be someone else?

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What is the soul of the photographer? The soul of a photographer is a child— ready to play, explore the world, and re-arrange reality as he/she sees fit.

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Dear friend,

Here are my personal recommendations for the best cameras and lenses for street photography:

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Dear friend,

If you want to know what a photographer is– consider the photographer as an ‘arranging artist’. As a photographer, we decide how to arrange the building-blocks of visual reality. It is the arrangement (composition/framing) in which we make photographs which creates the meaning!

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