Tag: street photography
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Finding Inspiration from Edward Hopper’s Paintings for Street Photography
Recently my mother sent me a video released by the National Gallery of Art with paintings from Edward Hopper. His paintings truly show images of life from urban New York, raw and colorful. After watching the video, I saw many wonderful compositions which can inspire any street photographer. Spend the 8 minutes to watch the…
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Why All Street Photographers Are Amateurs
Street photographers are all amateurs. Not to say that we lack skill, insight, or vision– but that we do street photography for the love of it (not the money). Although people typically equate calling someone an amateur in a negative way, the word amateur roots from French meaning “love of.” I know very few (if…
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Photo Essay: The People of Beirut Lebanon
During my time in Beirut, Lebanon– I was fortunate enough to meet some of the nicest and most fascinating people in the world. Not only were the people extremely cordial here, but they actually liked getting their photos taken (compare this to Los Angeles and New York). Regardless of the fact that I was a…
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Why Street Photography Brings Me True Happiness
Street photography is one of the biggest passions in my life. I spend a large amount of time either shooting on the streets, blogging about street photography, tweeting about street photography, and talking/thinking about street photography. But why do I love it so much and why does it bring me a lot of happiness? The…
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Street Photography 101 Workshop Powerpoint and Outline
Hey everybody! After having the time of my life teaching my Street Photography 101 workshop in Beirut, Lebanon with Thomas Leuthard, I thought that I’d spread the love to those of you who couldn’t make it! In alignment with my ideas on open source photography, I will be providing all of my slides as well…
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![My Love Story With Beirut, Lebanon [recap]](https://erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Day-1.jpg)
My Love Story With Beirut, Lebanon [recap]
(11-17-10, waiting for my flight at 6:25AM at the Beirut, Lebanon Airport) My last week in Beirut, Lebanon has truly been a very humbling experience. I left leaving Los Angeles to teach my street photography workshop in Beirut, Lebanon with my friends/family telling me to “be careful” in Lebanon as it was still “politically unstable”…
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Featured Street Photographer of the Week: Jonathan Murray
Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature talented street photographer Jonathan Murray. I first met Jonathan Murray on Twitter, and witnessed his great images and thoughts on his blog. Not only that, but he generously donated 11 brand-new Canon Powershots to the photography class that…
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Do you have Leica M9 envy? Then read this.
Let’s admit it–if you are a street photographer and not driving a BMW or Mercedes-Benz, you probably want the Leica M9. Trust me, I want it really badly too–it has been on my mind for quite a while. But honestly, can we justify purchasing a $6,900 camera just because the camera we have doesn’t pay…
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An Inspirational Lesson Learned About Street Photography
Note: I got this email from aspiring street photographer named Tasos. It was quite inspirational and eye-opening. I thought I would share it with you guys! The other day I was out, and as usual I had the camera with me. I took a photo of 2 gentlemen. It was a great learning experience. I…
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Inspirational Street Photography Quote of the Day: Matt Stuart
“Buy a good pair of comfortable shoes, have a camera around your neck at all times, keep your elbows in, be patient, optimistic and don’t forget to smile.” – Matt Stuart
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How to Take Street Portraits (without being awkward)
Some may argue that posed portraits of people on the streets is not “street photography” per-se. However regardless of all these definitions, I still feel that there is merit in taking portraits of people you might encounter on the street who have fascinating stories to share. There have been many occasions in which I have…
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Inspirational Street Photography Quote of the Day: Robert Doisenau
“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.” – Robert Doisneau
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25 Ways How to be a Bad Street Photographer
Note: I love making lists, as I feel that they are fun ways to learn and gain more insight about street photography. Please do not be offended by this list, as they are some of my own personal opinions about street photography. However I feel that these “rules” are broad enough to apply to most…
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3 Ways How Being Injured Helped me Become a Better Street Photographer
About two weeks ago, I was playing basketball and when I went up for the rebound, I landed on someone’s foot and fell my entire weight roll onto my left ankle. Then I proceeded to hear the cracks (like cracking your knuckles, except times five) and then the final pop at the end. It was…
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“The Conductor” – Poem
Note: Remember that great poem that my student Edward Lim wrote about my photo, “Midnight Dining“? Well he is at it again and this poem that he wrote is on one of my favorite photos, “The Conductor.” Show him some love and leave a comment below! Eyes blind in concentration, Hands perched in the air,…
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Featured Street Photographer of the Week: Jimmy Dovholt
Note: Every Wednesday, I try to feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature street photographer Jimmy Dovholt! The brother has a great eye and is representing the streets of Stockholm, Sweden. I remember stumbling upon his blog one day, and being totally blown away by his great…
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“Mime at St. Pancras” at Tom Kaszuba’s Crib
Tom Kaszuba is a very talented street/architecture/landscape/HDR photographer based in Norwich, Connecticut. He is a photographer that I look up to highly, as he was one of the first people who gave me a ton of support and love when I was starting off my street photography. We originally met at the Black & White Vision…
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Which is better? Film vs Digital for Street Photography
As of late, film has been having quite a comeback. Many photographers enjoy the “look” of grainy analog film, and many people even say that they enjoy the experience of shooting with film as well. In an article published by Wired, Charlie Sorrel states: “Kodak’s US marketing manager of professional film, Scott pro film Scott…
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The 5 Most Common Questions about Street Photography (and the answers)
Hey guys, I thought about writing this blog post after receiving many questions regarding street photography. I saw it as a great opportunity to help clear up some misconceptions about street photography, as well as answer questions from many aspiring street photographers from around the world! If you have any other general questions, feel free…
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3 Tips How NOT to Look Like a “Creep” when Shooting in the Streets
One of the questions that I often get from aspiring street photographers is, “How do I not look like a ‘creep’ when shooting in public?” I believe that this is one of the main factors which bars many photographers from getting their feet wet with street photography. In many societies, taking photos of strangers on…
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What Goes on in My Mind When I Shoot in the Streets
Stumped for ideas, I recently I asked to the members of my Facebook Fan page what I should blog about next. These are the responses that I received that inspired me to write this post: Eric Houng: “What prompts you to snap a picture of someone? is it cuz you see a story about that person? stuff…
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The Ultimate Aspiring Street Photographer Resource Post
This post was originally posted here by Neal Bingham, but I thought I’d repost it here to share it with the rest of you guys. A great resource for any aspiring street photographer. Please pass it on! Also follow Neal on Twitter! — I thought it would be useful to create a topic where people…
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How to Shoot from the Hip
In street photography, one of the popular techniques that photographers employ is “shooting from the hip.” To sum it up, “shooting from the hip” it is holding your camera at wait-level, and shooting upwards without looking through the viewfinder. One of the reasons why this technique is widely popular is because it allows you to…
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The Death of Street Photography (and what you can do to stop it)
Lately on the web, there has been a ton of buzz about the phobia that people are having about street photographers. We have been called creepers, pedophiles, and even in some cases, terrorists (as the TSA would like the public to think). Is all this anti-photographer sentiment leading to the death of street photography as…
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101 Things I Have Learned about Street Photography
In lieu of the popularity of my last post about the “100 Things I Have Learned about Photography,” I decided to make a new list that pertains to street photography specifically. Also if you don’t know, I am currently writing a book titled: “Street Photography 101,” and the excerpts are being posted here. This new…
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KOREA GOT SEOUL – Black and White Street Photography from Korea
Hey fotog friends, Hope you guys all had a wonderful Labor-Day weekend! I just got back from the Bay Area (my hometown) after hanging out and visiting friends and family I haven’t seen for quite a while. Was planning on doing some street photography in San Francisco, but catching a cold over the weekend prevented…
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The Best Camera for Street Photography
Haha–tricked you. As there is no “best” paintbrush for a painter, there is no “best” camera when it comes to the street photographer. The camera is merely a tool, and there are different tools required for different situations and tasks at hand. In street photography as well as general photography, photographers can sometimes become more…
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The Top 4 Street Photography Techniques
When it comes to street photography, everybody has their own style and techniques. What interests one street photographer may not necessarily catch the eye of another street photographer. However in order for you to get a better grasp of what kind of styles there are in street photography, I have compiled a few elements that…
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“Dots” Feature on Juxtapoz Magazine
Lately I have been trying to contact a bunch of Los Angeles art magazines to have them feature my work. One of the magazines that contacted me back was Juxtapoz magazine. I was lucky enough to get featured as their “pic of the day” on their site. Hopefully one day I could get featured in…
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“The Conductor” – Framed
Inspiration from: Temujine.com
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Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and Fairfax Street Photography
So on this day, I decided I would do something fun with my street photography, which was to ride around on my road bike and take photos. I have never done this before, but I thought– hell why not. I then pondered where I wanted to go take photos, and I settled upon going to…
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Street Photography, Korea. Portrait by Charles Choo Jr.
An old image taken by Charles Choo while we were shooting street photography in Seoul, Korea last summer. I had tons of fun with the guy, and this is an image of us drinking a beer in the middle of the day in public outside a Korean “7-Eleven.” Got to miss the good times in…
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Chinatown, Downtown Los Angeles Street Photography
About a weekend or two ago, on a lazy Saturday morning, I decided that I was going to take photos that day–although not sure where or how I was going to get there. I therefore planned that I was going to check out the LA MOCA, and then took my stuff and jumped on the…
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Jacob Patterson Street Portraits
My full-series of Jacob Patterson, a Los Angeles based artist who specializes in graffiti, shoes, and street art. A truly amazing and inspirational artist and person. I look forward in collaborating with him more in the future. I got in contact with Jacob, and he gave me a tour of the “ThinkTank” in Downtown Los…
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Serendipity – Street Photography 101
Serendipity. One of the most beautiful things about street photography. Stumbling upon something totally unexpected, but so intrinsically unique and beautiful it cannot be put into words. All of your sensations tingling, giving all of your sensory features a feast from a thing or a place that you have never known existed. Serendipity. A reward…
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Adventures in Madison: Amazing Food, Sights, and Art
To continue from my last post from Chicago, Cindy and I took the bus from Chicago to Madison, where she is currently studying foVietnamese for the summer. I stayed there for a week, and was able to meet all of her friends as well as get amazing local food (thanks for the recommendations Cydney!) and…
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Chicago Street Photography
Two weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of heading to Chicago for the first time in my life. My girlfriend Cindy at the time (and currently still is) studying Vietnamese at the University of Madison-Wisconsin, and after being away from one another for a month, decided to meet in Chicago. I flew over from…
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“I Shoot In The Streets” Graphics
Hey yall, One thing that I have always wanted to do was design T-shirts and maybe have my own little “Street Photography” line. Maybe Urban Outfitters would eat this stuff up? I always have been fascinated with design–especially typography. I still definitely am a huge noob at it, but I think that it is something…
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Getting Close – Street Photography 101
Something that is imperative to street photography is to get close. Street photography is not only about documenting life, but being an active participant. Therefore in order to capture the true essence of a scene, use a wide-angle lens and get really close to your participants to capture the scene and the mood of a…
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The Soul of the Street Photographer
Here is an essay that I wrote on Street Photography that I plan on including in the introduction of my Street Photography Book that I plan on publishing. It is a bit long, but I hope you enjoy it: — The Soul of the Street Photographer I feel that street photography is the most pure…
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How to Master “The Decisive Moment”
“The Decisive Moment” was a term coined by the pioneer of street photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson. During his time, photography was still a relatively new art medium and it wasn’t taken seriously. Furthermore, photographers were often criticized for not having the same discipline and creativity as traditional artists as photographers can create their images in a…
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5 Tips How To Overcome Your Fear of Shooting in Public
One of the questions that I am asked quite often is, “How did you get over your fear of shooting in public?” To answer that question, I got over it by simply going out and constantly shooting in public. However it definitely does take a lot of practice and effort to build up that courage…
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How to Get Started with Street Photography Part I
So if any of you guys are interested in street photography, the question might be on your mind: “Where do I start?” Well, for starters you need a camera. The most important step is actually going out and taking photos . If you are new to photography, all you might have is a point-and-shoot (a…
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No Excuses – Street Photography 101
Another huge obstacle you will face as a street photographer (and a general photographer) is that at times you are not going to feel a lack of inspiration to go out and take photos and let your camera collect dust on your shelf. Although it can be healthy to put down your camera at times…
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Introduction to Street Photography
For the last year or so, I have actually been working on a “Street Photography 101” book that I plan on publishing into an ebook. However, considering that I don’t know how long it will take before I have a finished product, I plan on posting several bits and pieces of it into this blog…