![\"Lansing,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/little-boxer-1-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\")
First of all, what are we really aiming for as photographers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My thought:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are striving to become great artists, to make great works of art.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In Latin, the notion of a ‘magnum opus’ literally means “great work”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus, it is my personal ambition to make as many great great photos and art-works before I die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saigon, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n What do I consider a great photo?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Berkeley, 2015 #cindyproject<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n To me, a great photograph is simple yet elegant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Simple<\/strong>: Simple aesthetics (black and white)<\/li>
- Elegant<\/strong>: Movement, soul, motion, dynamism.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, generally speaking– great photos last. Great photos should look great 300 years from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to determine which of your photos are great<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
San Francisco, 2015 #cindyproject<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n For myself, my ultimate counselor is time. I make it a practice to always look at my older work, to continue to distill my photographic portfolio<\/a> — to keep curating<\/a> my work, and to keep pushing myself to evolve as a visual artist<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hanoi, 2016 #cindyproject<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Throw your photos into the iron jaws of time, and see if they will last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look back at your old ‘classic’ photos, and ask yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do I still like this photo?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Be ruthless to yourself. ‘Kill your babies<\/a>‘ — be more ruthless and objective to your photos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hanoi, 2016 #cindyproject<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Remember, you’re not your photos. Thus when you’re killing your old photos, you’re not killing yourself<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nShooting great photos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Camping trip, 2015 #cindyproject<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n To shoot a great photo means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strive to make an epic photograph, by combining your skills in composition, light, and ‘working the scene’.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
When you witness something you want to photograph, it is impossible to know whether it will become a great photograph or not. Thus, what we should strive as photographers is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shoot a scene in a way that will increase the likelihood<\/em> of making a great photo.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
How to increase the likelihood that you will make a great photo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Istanbul, 2013 #portra400<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Some tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Photograph more situations which scare you, or feel ‘risky’. The more risky<\/a> photos you shoot, the more likely you are to make a great photo<\/strong>. I know this is especially true in street photography; the more ‘risky’ photos are more likely to become great photos.<\/li>
- Work the scene<\/a><\/strong>: Photograph MANY photos of the scene! Then later choose the 1 version of the photo which you believe is the strongest. <\/li>
- Strive to make the best composition while you’re shooting a scene<\/strong>: To make a great composition while you’re shooting, strive to SIMPLIFY<\/a> the scene. Furthermore, experiment shooting with a flash<\/a>. Also experiment with different composition techniques<\/a>. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Keep distilling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
NYC, 2015 #streetportrait<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Become more exacting of yourself. Strive to continually to push your own visual artistry to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seek greatness from yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ERIC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Practical ideas on how to make great photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/little-boxer-1.jpg?fit=2500%2C1656&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127033,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126949\/revisions\/127033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Saigon,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/black-white-texture-1-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"Berkeley,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cindy-blur-1-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"San](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cindy-flash-san-francisco-elevator-1-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"Hanoi,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cindy-diagonal-hanoi-1-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"Hanoi,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cindy-split-1-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"Camping](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/cindy-sunset-light-1-2000x1325.jpg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/istanbul-bus-1-2000x1327.jpg?resize=1180%2C783\")
![\"NYC,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/eyes-closed-new-york-1-1325x2000.jpg?resize=1180%2C1781\")