{"id":25304,"date":"2015-10-22T16:14:12","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T23:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=25304"},"modified":"2015-10-30T22:08:48","modified_gmt":"2015-10-31T05:08:48","slug":"free-sneak-peak-learn-from-the-masters-ipad-edition-lifetravel-updates-from-new-orleans-and-berkeley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/22\/free-sneak-peak-learn-from-the-masters-ipad-edition-lifetravel-updates-from-new-orleans-and-berkeley\/","title":{"rendered":"Life\/Travel Updates from New Orleans and Berkeley"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"New
New Orleans, 2015. Shot on Ricoh GR II<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(This was initially sent to my newsletter<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

Long time no talk! I am excited to share that I just got back safely from New Orleans after an epic two-week trip there. I have to admit; it is my new favorite city in America (top 3 cities in the world, the other two being Saigon (Vietnam) and Beirut, Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Why? It is the only city in the US where you feel like you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not there. Also, southern hospitality is real\u00e2\u20ac\u201d seriously some of the nicest human beings I have ever met.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Anyways, I am excited to share that I am working on a new ePub (iPad\/iPhone\/Android\/e-reader) version of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Learn From the Masters<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d book I recently put out. Why? I personally read most of my e-books on a Kindle or my smartphone, and I think it will make your reading experience more enjoyable.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, using the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153iBooks\u00e2\u20ac\u009d author tool by Apple is awesome; I am integrating new stuff like galleries, videos, and other goodies. I am also editing the writing in the book, and shuffling around some things. It will be a newer, fresher, better edited version of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Learn From the Masters\u00e2\u20ac\u009d book.<\/p>\n

Why do I do this? To make a ton of money. Haha just kidding, because I love you guys and I want to share this information and knowledge. I am always tempted to charge a ton of money and go out and buy a BMW, but I know the purpose of my life is to contribute to the street photography community and mankind at large.<\/p>\n

I am still drinking a crapload of coffee (it is screwing up my sleep but helps power me through the day). Today I woke up at 3:30am (slept at 11:30pm) and took around 4 30-minute naps to get me through today. Went to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Philz Coffee\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (their coffee is like liquid crack) and had 2 big cups. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even feel the caffeine anymore unfortunately.<\/p>\n

Anyways, I am back home for a few more weeks, doing a workshop in SF soon, a few in LA<\/a>, and going to enjoy the rest of the time at home with my family. Going to Yosemite for Thanksgiving with my family, and January gonna spend more time at home (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m turning 28 on Jan 31st), going to Dubai in late Feb for Gulf Photo Plus (might sneak in a workshop in Amsterdam), and am contemplating doing a Mardi Gras workshop in New Orleans, and another in NYC or Chicago.<\/p>\n

Life home is wonderful; small things I appreciate like doing the laundry, washing dishes for Cindy (and cooking), doing yoga with Cindy (gonna go in about 30 minutes with her), talking with my friends Josh White<\/a> and Neil Ta<\/a> (also my manager), and reflecting on how appreciate I am to have my simple yet humble life here in Berkeley.<\/p>\n

Cindy and I recently gave away our car to her younger sister (who got in an accident and needed a car); and being car-less has been awesome. I walk a lot more, shoot a lot more, and just enjoy the nature of Berkeley. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get me wrong; I am always tempted to buy new cars (I love the Fiat Abarth, the 1990 Miata which was my college car) but I need to stop looking at Craigslist. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re leaving to Vietnam in the summer for a year (6 months in Hanoi, 4 months in Saigon) so I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t buy extra crap I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bring with me. Riding uber has been a lot better (benefit; I can take naps while going from point A to B).<\/p>\n

A book I recently re-read was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Paradox of Choice<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which I highly recommend; it has taught me that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good enough\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good enough\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seek to be a perfectionist).<\/p>\n

Also every morning I have been reading 2 hours or so of Stoic philosophy (Seneca, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Letters From a Stoic<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201d you can get a .99 kindle edition too<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is my favorite) and also in the evening. Helps me build more emotional resilience in life.<\/p>\n

I have also tried to become less addicted to my smartphone; the thing is seriously worse than crack cocaine in terms of addictiveness. It prevents me from being present with my friends, family, and loved one. Something that has helped me; turning off my phone or switching it to airplane more when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m at dinner. Also another tip; trying to uninstall one app a day (until you are left with the essentials).<\/p>\n

In terms of music, I love the new \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Compton<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d album by Dr Dre \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always loved hip hop growing up (I loved to breakdance and freestyle rap in high school, although I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t very good). Jamming away to his new beats is always a good way to get pumped up in the morning.<\/p>\n

Also been publishing some new photos shot this summer on black and white film (Tri-X pushed to 1600 on the Leica MP). Honestly I loved the process, but it is so damn expensive (cost me $1500+ for 100 rolls for develop+scan). I am sticking to the Ricoh GR<\/a> at the moment (the original).<\/p>\n

Speaking about the Ricoh GR, I reviewed the new Ricoh GR II on the blog<\/a> (borrowed one for a week in New Orleans). Long story short: it is the same thing, but has wifi. But the price is about the same as the older one; so if you want a smaller camera, just get the newer one.<\/p>\n

Lastly; I have installed the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Freedom<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d app on my Macbook which turns off my internet to prevent me from being distracted. Best app ever. Also I am typing this in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153iA Writer<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the ultimate minimalist typing app. Pure zen.<\/p>\n

At this point; I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure what I want out of life. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want fancy cars, expensive Leicas, or a shitload of money in the bank. I just want to be happy, enjoy nice meals with friends and family, give high-fives to strangers, enjoy nice coffee, and do meaningful work (creating free and open-source information). It is a constant struggle though; I am always dissatisfied, comparing myself to others, and get easily hurt by negative feedback on social media.<\/p>\n

Last thing; I am trying to figure out ways to monetize the blog in ways where I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always have to travel 24\/7. One day when I have kids and a family; I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be away from my kids and on the road, sleeping on friends couches, and being away from family. I have no idea how I can do this.<\/p>\n

I currently make ~$900 a month off Amazon affiliate links on the blog (which links to cameras\/photo books<\/a>) which is almost enough to pay rent ($1300 a month in Berkeley for a 1-bedroom). I figure if I can make that closer to $3,000 a month, that is enough to cover a modest lifestyle. So I have reintroduced some street photography shirts<\/a> I designed a while back, and also am accepting donations on Paypal<\/a>. If you have gained value from the blog, you can help me pay my rent and caffeine addiction \u00e2\u20ac\u201d every dollar helps, and I appreciate your generosity so much.<\/p>\n

The next step for my photography? Less \u00e2\u20ac\u0153street photography\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and more personal photography. I want to continue to photograph Cindy, my loved ones, friends, and those close to me. I also love doing the close-up macro portraits of strangers in color, flash, in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153P\u00e2\u20ac\u009d mode, with the Ricoh GR. I love Bruce Gilden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Face\u00e2\u20ac\u009d book<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201d he is my hero, and his longevity as a photographer is inspirational.<\/p>\n

I guess I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just blabbing on now. I appreciate your ear, your time, love, and constant encouragement. I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do anything without you (and coffee).<\/p>\n

Love always,
\nEric<\/p>\n

Thursday, 3:49pm, @ Artis Coffee in Berkeley<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh yeah, here are two new articles you might like (in-case you missed them):<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Enjoy life, not photography<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. More megapixels, more problems.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    (This was initially sent to my newsletter) Dear friend, Long time no talk! I am excited to share that I just got back safely from New Orleans after an epic two-week trip there. I have to admit; it is my new favorite city in America (top 3 cities in the world, the other two being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25305,"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":[1297,1741],"tags":[1562,1779,1025],"class_list":["post-25304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-masters","category-travel","tag-learn-from-the-masters","tag-new-orleans","tag-ricoh-gr"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/R01518161.jpg?fit=740%2C490&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25304","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=25304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}