Dear friend,

I think what we should aim for in our photos is to evoke a feeling— a mood. What is on our minds. How we feel.

Pixel-peeping is an interesting phenomenon– something that I used to be a victim of.

How to get more followers on Instagram:

1. Follow as many other people you can, hoping that they will ‘follow back’
2. If someone doesn’t follow you back, unfollow them. After all, you don’t want your follower/following ratio to look unbalanced.
3. #Hashtag the shit out of your photos. The more hashtags, the better. Don’t forget to leave additional comments on the bottom of your photos to add more hashtags.
4. Go on Google and search for services to get you more followers.
5. Whenever you meet someone in real life, tell them to follow you.
6. Like and comment as many other people’s photos, so maybe they can follow you back.
7. Upload a photo everyday, or else you might actually lose followers.
8. Cross-promote: Tell your Facebook friends to follow you on Instagram. Tell your Twitter followers to follow you on Instagram. Tell your YouTube followers to follow you on Instagram. Use every social media channel to remind them to follow you on Instagram.
9. Get people with a lot of followers on Instagram to mention you on their Instagram.
10. Check your phone every 5 minutes, because the more you check, the more likely you are to get more followers. It is the ‘law of attraction.’

I am guilty of many of these.

Fuck racism.

Whenever you ask someone for a favor, you pawn a bit of your freedom.

Lines from man-made designs and nature:

Dear friend,

Fortify yourself with your camera (sword).

Dear friend,

I am a slave of my devices.

 

 

 

 

 

My buddy Chris Dillow is the most inspirational tinkerer I know. I asked him, ‘How do you stay so curious?’ He told me:

Assume you can do anything.

Limitless,
Full-on creative bliss

The word “petty” comes from the word petit— or small.

I got really inspired by the music video: “Bounce Back” by Big Sean. Here is a break-down of some color-combinations and palettes in the film:

Assume you can do anything you put your mind to,
through all the fires and tribulations you’ve come through

Dear friend,

I will share some thoughts on how to level up in your photography:

Dear friend,

My idols growing up were people who hustled. People who pulled themselves up from their bootstraps. People who didn’t have much, but were able to empower themselves, with their own resourcefulness.

Dear friend,

When it comes to personal photography — what is the difference between a truly meaningful and memorable image, and a aimless snapshot?

What is love, and why is it important?

Practical photography composition tips you can try out:

Dear friend,

I’m the first to admit that in the past, I gave far too many fudge ice cream cones what others thought of me, my photography, and my art.

For today’s composition lesson, we will discuss the Golden Rectangle.

Dear friend,

A philosophy I have in photography and life is to strip away the superfluous.

In your heart you got all that power,
Let it bloom and just count the flowers
Never doubt yourself; you’re empowered.
Know that, the world is ours.

Dear friend,

You have all this power hidden in your heart and soul — you want to let it free.

How do we live a good life, especially in the context of photography?

A distillation of everything I’ve learned about photography:

You’re living in that 21st century,
futuristic fly shit

You got a NASA computer in your back pocket

Dear friend,

I’ve been really into poetry lately — and think there is an interesting cross-over between poetry and photography.

Writing is fucking hard. Far more unnatural than writing, photographing, or any other artistic form.

You’ll never be perfect.

We often aim to become ‘better’ and more complex photographers. But what if the goal was to become more simple and basic photographers?

In life, we are always told to be “efficient”, to be “optimized”, and to “get more stuff done”.

Dear friend,

I want to write you a letter with some personal thoughts on love.

It is easy to give time to others— but do you give time to yourself?

When I need inspiration, I look to Muhammad Ali — the great fighter and champion of human rights:

Dear friend,

The problem with today’s world with social media— we quantify our self-worth with others.

Dear friend,

I want to write you a letter on how to be patient.

Many of us are self-conscious when it comes to our street photography — meaning, we think about ourselves too much when we shoot.

Dear friend,

I want to give you 3 simple street photography suggestions/tips:

Dear friend,

I wanted to write you a letter on how to make your dreams come true.

Dear friend,

What if we conquered all of our fears in life?

Dear friend,

I want to give you reasons why you should (and more important, should not attend a workshop by me):

One of the best ways to capture more emotion in your photos; capture hand-gestures.

Street photography is the best tool to overcome social anxiety and fear:

99% of the messages you get are pure noise.

Yes, photography is art.

Are photography workshops worth it? It depends on you:

I talked to my buddy Grace, and she gave me an idea about talking about street photography and eye contact:

Dear friend,

I’ve gained a lot of inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman Mythology.

I think to make better photos; seek to make more simple photos.

Is having more information better?

Would you rather work 10 hours a week and earn $1,000 a week or would you rather work 100 hours a week and earn $2,000 a week?

Dear friend,

I wanted to give you a little guide, or manual, that you can keep with you— as a source of inspiration, motivation, or any source of ideas.

Can photography change the world? I think you can:

An easy way to make better portraits: center the eye of your subject in the middle of the frame.

One way to make better photos: add more emotions in your photos.

Dear friend,

One of my dreams when I started off in photography was to somehow make a living with my photography.

Some of my favorite compositions:

• Download as PDF
• Download all photos .zip

Dear friend,

If you’re about to go on a trip and thinking about buying a new camera— I want to give you some personal advice on the ‘best’ camera to have for travel photography.

Dear friend,

I want to write you a letter on not giving a fuck of what others think of you:

What has made Apple more successful than Microsoft? It isn’t the hardware, the horsepower, or the technical specifications. It is the software— the user experience, the ease of use, and minimalist Apple approach.

Leonardo da Vinci was the ultimate ‘autodictat’ (someone who taught himself everything).

We talk about the evils of “G.A.S.” (gear acquisition syndrome). But what if we embraced the opposite — G.A.S. (Gear Allergy Syndrome)?

Dear friend,

I used to be the biggest addict to social media.

Dear friend,

I had the thought today— what exactly is the point of making photos?

Dear friend,

One thing I’ve been wondering a lot is whether we should review our photos everyday (or not) when we are traveling.

As of 2017, I think the best camera for photography is the Ricoh GR II.

First of all; this is just my opinion. Now that we have that out of the way, let us continue:

In this series on how to make good photos (in terms of composition) let us explore the benefits of shooting from a low angle:

One of my friends Devan said a story of how one of his co-workers (62 years old) was planning his retirement. He then suddenly died of a heart attack.

“A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.” – Leonardo da Vinci

When I started to make portraits, I was inspired by Richard Avedon to start with a white background/canvas to make images. Now, I’m trying to do the opposite– start with a black canvas, and add my subject in afterwards.

Why do we blame others for our own faults?

Dear friend,

I want to write you a simple letter; namely, how to make better photos: