{"id":101527,"date":"2018-07-05T21:14:18","date_gmt":"2018-07-06T04:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=101527"},"modified":"2018-07-05T22:08:00","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T05:08:00","slug":"dont-share-dull-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/05\/dont-share-dull-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Share Dull Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

A suggestion when you’re working on photography projects, or selecting\/editing your best work. Don’t share dull\/boring photos:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I had this idea when reading Nassim Taleb<\/a>‘s new ‘Skin in the game’ book, where in his preface he mentions that he wrote his book to be a “non-dull” reading experience. Which is interesting to me– because we don’t always know what is ‘exciting’ or ‘good’, but we generally know what is dull\/boring.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Eric<\/p>\n

Of course, what is dull\/boring for me isn’t always dull and boring to you.<\/p>\n

So the practical recommendation is this:<\/p>\n

\n Don’t share any of your own photos that you<\/em> find boring\/dull.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

\"Eric<\/p>\n

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole, studying the etymology of the word, ‘dull’.<\/p>\n

Upon going to Wiktionary, I learned the definition of ‘dull<\/a>‘:<\/p>\n

\n Proto-Indo-European *d\u00ca\u00b0wel-, *d\u00ca\u00b0ewel- (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153to dim, dull, cloud, make obscure, swirl, whirl\u00e2\u20ac\u009d)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To dull means (in proto-indo-European) to ‘dim, cloud, make obscure’. Which means, dull things lack sharpness or clarity<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Eric<\/p>\n

What is the opposite of dull? Sharp — able to cut easily.<\/p>\n

But interesting enough, the word ‘sharp’ goes into Latin with the word ‘acerbic’ (bitter\/sour), which I find interesting, because we usually relate ‘sharp’ as knives, not a ‘sharp’ taste. More info on the word ‘acer<\/a>‘ (which also happened to be the name of my first computer – the ‘Acer Aspire’ — which is a good name now that I think about it).<\/p>\n

\n

\"Eric<\/p>\n

Anyways, I don’t think you can control whether your photos will be ‘interesting’ or ‘boring’ when you’re out shooting. The only way is through the editing\/selecting process.<\/p>\n

\n You have bundles upon bundles of hay (all your thousands of photos), and you have to find the few golden needles within (your good photos).\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

\"Eric<\/p>\n

So as a practical takeaway– recognize the fact that you cannot always control whether you will make good photos or not when you’re on the streets. Rather, be diligent when you’re combing through your photos, and seek to only share photos that you find interesting, meaningful, and non-dull!<\/p>\n

\n

Here is a selection of more of my photos from my ‘CITY OF ANGELS<\/a>‘ project — painted on top with the iPad Screenshot tool. Here is a video<\/a> tutorial of me doing it with Henri Cartier Bresson’s<\/a> Photos:<\/p>\n