{"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 \u2026<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","_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":[1324,66],"class_list":["post-23671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts","tag-creativity","tag-inspiration"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/image.jpg?fit=3087%2C2048&ssl=1","_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}]}}