{"id":23671,"date":"2015-05-07T17:29:08","date_gmt":"2015-05-08T00:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=23671"},"modified":"2015-05-07T17:29:08","modified_gmt":"2015-05-08T00:29:08","slug":"photos-you-should-vs-must-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/07\/photos-you-should-vs-must-take\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos You Should vs Must Take"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kyoto,
Kyoto, 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I just finished reading an excellent book on art, creativity, and following your passion titled: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Crossroads of Should and Must<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by Elle Luna. The original idea was written on Medium here<\/a>, and then blew up on the internet.<\/p>\n

The premise of the idea is this: in life you are pulled between things you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153should\u00e2\u20ac\u009d do vs things you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u009d do. But what brings real happiness? If you want to learn more, read on.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Should\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/h2>\n

The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153should\u00e2\u20ac\u009d things in life are what others (and society) expect from you.<\/p>\n

For example, you should<\/em> go to college. You should<\/em> get a good-paying job. You should<\/em> buy a house and a brand new car. You should<\/em> care about what others say about you. You should<\/em> aim to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153successful\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and rich.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Must\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/h2>\n

However the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u009d things in life is what you<\/em> feel that you absolutely must do (regardless of what others say).<\/p>\n

For example, I must<\/em> spend time with my family and loved ones. I must<\/em> create art. I must<\/em> stay connected with my community. I must<\/em> try to live a life true to myself.<\/p>\n

The conflict of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153should\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/h2>\n

I think in life, most of us would be much happier if we followed our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d vs \u00e2\u20ac\u0153should\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in life.<\/p>\n

For example, rather than living a life according to the expectations of others (how you should<\/em> live), you would probably be much happier living a life true to yourself (how you must<\/em> live).<\/p>\n

Things you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153should\u00e2\u20ac\u009d do in photography<\/h2>\n

I think that the tension between \u00e2\u20ac\u0153should\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is something that we always have to fight with in our everyday lives. Especially in our photography.<\/p>\n

Here are a list of things that people say you should<\/em> do in photography (and my apologies, some of these concepts are actually from this blog):<\/p>\n

You should<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Shoot with one camera and one lens<\/li>\n
  • Work on a long-term project (if you want to be taken seriously)<\/li>\n
  • Get honest feedback and critique on your work (if you want to improve)<\/li>\n
  • Shoot with the newest and best cameras and lenses<\/li>\n
  • Aspire to have an exhibition or a book<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    But honestly, screw all of these \u00e2\u20ac\u0153should\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. These are simply the expectations others have for you.<\/p>\n

    Things you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u009d do in photography<\/h2>\n

    Live the photography life you<\/em> want to live. Follow your own heart and intuition.<\/p>\n

    So instead, consider the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in your photography life.<\/p>\n

    Here are some of my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

    I must<\/em><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Shoot everyday (or feel crappy)<\/li>\n
    • Collaborate with other photographers<\/li>\n
    • Make images that make me happy<\/li>\n
    • Work on projects which are personally meaningful to me<\/li>\n
    • Surround myself with photography books and other inspirational resources to feel creatively alive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Focusing on your \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in photography<\/h2>\n

      It is hard to figure out what your own \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are in photography.<\/p>\n

      A way you can figure out what is your \u00e2\u20ac\u0153must\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in photography:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • If you could only do one thing today as a photographer, what must<\/em> that be?<\/li>\n
      • If you were 90 years old and on your deathbed, what must<\/em> things in your photography would you have wanted to accomplish?<\/li>\n
      • What is a photography-related activity that you must<\/em> do everyday (otherwise you feel like you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re dying creatively?)<\/li>\n
      • If you were the only photographer in the world, what must<\/em> you do as a photographer?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        A must<\/em> in photography is much more internally driven. A must<\/em> in photography is something that makes you feel spiritually and creatively alive. A must<\/em> in photography is what keeps you going. A must<\/em> in photography is what brings inner-peace, satisfaction, and achievement.<\/p>\n

        Also a photograph you must<\/em> take is an image that you will deeply regret if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shoot.<\/p>\n

        For example, sometimes I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m out shooting street photography and I see a photograph I must<\/em> shoot. Sometimes I get nervous, and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t end up taking the photograph. I end up deeply regretting those moments when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in bed at night.<\/p>\n

        But most of the time, whenever I feel that a certain image is a photograph I must<\/em> take, I am able to overcome my own fears to take that image.<\/p>\n

        Photograph and live your life without regrets.<\/p>\n

        You are in control<\/h2>\n

        Know at the end of the day, you are in control of your own art, creativity, and photography.<\/p>\n

        So disregard the things you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153should<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d do in photography. Follow what you must<\/em> do in photography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        I just finished reading an excellent book on art, creativity, and following your passion titled: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Crossroads of Should and Must\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by Elle Luna. The original idea was written on Medium here, and then blew up on the internet. The premise of the idea is this: in life you are pulled between things you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153should\u00e2\u20ac\u009d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1324,66],"class_list":["post-23671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts","tag-creativity","tag-inspiration"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/image.jpg?fit=3087%2C2048&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23671","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=23671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}