{"id":327074,"date":"2021-09-02T15:29:43","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T19:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=327074"},"modified":"2021-09-02T15:29:55","modified_gmt":"2021-09-02T19:29:55","slug":"how-to-become-a-more-aspirational-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/02\/how-to-become-a-more-aspirational-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Become a More Aspirational Photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/newsletter\/\">ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER ><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Life is all about aspiration. The more you aspire, the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is aspiration?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To aspire, &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/aspirare#Latin\">aspirare<\/a>&#8216; (Latin) which means: &#8216;breathe on, approach, desire&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/aspiro#Latin\">Aspiro<\/a> &#8212; to breathe or blow upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consider, we never think about breathing, we do it without thinking. And you cannot force yourself to <em>NOT<\/em> breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">To desire more<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As photographers, our aspiration is our life-blood. To keep breathing and moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inspiration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To inspire, means to &#8216;breathe in&#8217;. In some ways, getting fresh air (outdoors) is the best way to become &#8216;inspired&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To explore more, to walk more, to travel more, to see and witness more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Allow yourself to become a renaissance photographer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Renaissance comes from the notion of &#8216;rebirth&#8217;. To rekindle your passion for photography (like when you started).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consider <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/05\/30-lessons-leonardo-da-vinci-has-taught-me-about-photography-art-and-life\/\">Leonardo da Vinci<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/30\/simple-lessons-photographers-can-learn-from-leonardo-da-vinci\/\">Photographers can learn much from Leonardo da Vinci<\/a>. He wasn&#8217;t just an artist, he was a mathematician, a scientist, a physiologist (he loved to dissect human beings and cadavers to figure out human anatomy, which he cross-pollinated into his paintings), he created war machines, and even set designs (thanks to my friend Jeffrey who told me about this when I was in Seattle).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consider that we as visual artists, the camera is a &#8216;god-tool&#8217;. We can capture light, and transfigure it into our visual art work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don&#8217;t limit yourself to just photography. Use all technology. I am very interested now in <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/20\/lidar-as-a-creativity-tool-for-photographers\/\">LIDAR<\/a> [on the iPhone Pro and iPad Pro] to do 3d scans of the world. A new way to perceive <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/09\/how-to-visualize-depth\/\">depth<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Use the iPhone, use your <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/02\/why-ricoh-gr-iii-is-the-goat\/\">RICOH GR III<\/a>, or whatever camera you are shooting with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Bridge into video<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don&#8217;t just shoot still photos, shoot videos. RICOH GR III High Contrast monochrome video function at 24fps is hugely fun! And <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/25\/how-to-start-your-own-photography-youtube-channel\/\">start your own YouTube channel<\/a> as a way to host your videos. Look at artsy things in real life, and just shoot 30-second or 1-minute clips of what you find beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also study <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/cinema\/\">cinema<\/a> as an effective way to level-up your photography composition game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Seek to become greater than your masters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/learn-from-the-masters\/\">Learn from the masters<\/a> then learn to <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/20\/why-you-must-kill-your-masters-in-photography\/\">kill your master<\/a>. Up until this point, <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/09\/17-lessons-henri-cartier-bresson-taught-street-photography\/\">Henri Cartier Bresson<\/a> was the GOAT [greatest of all time], but our goal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>To jump <em>over<\/em> Henri.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/product\/masters-volume-i-mobile\/\">Learn from the masters mobile version 1<\/a>, extract their knowledge, and harness that information for you to become an even greater master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Just blog it.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My friend Richard Reed just started his own blog (Blogspot) and find it to be great. Also starting your own self hosted blog (wordpress.org) is the way to gain true &#8216;artistic freedom&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Longevity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To continue aspiring for more in your photography is all about longevity. <strong>Longevity is more important than &#8216;success&#8217; in photography<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Never run out of inspiration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/books\/\">Write books, and share the books<\/a>. Create your own <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/shop\/\">products<\/a> [<a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/02\/luxury-free\/\">luxury and free<\/a>].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This seems to be the best way to stay connected to reality [<a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/shop\/\">selling products<\/a>] and also providing services to other photographers [<a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/01\/in-praise-of-solo-photography-business-entrepreneurship\/\">in praise of photography business<\/a>].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">7. Give feedback and get feedback<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/arsbeta.com\/\">arsbeta.com<\/a> to give and get feedback on your photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The more you critique, the more self-critical you can become of your own work [in a good way].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8. Why do you photograph?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/why\/\">Why App?<\/a> to ask yourself at least 5 times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>Why<\/em> do I photograph?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you figure out <em>why<\/em> you photograph, you will no longer need &#8216;inspiration&#8217; to photograph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SHOOT ON!<br>ERIC<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/start-here\/\">START HERE<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/books\/\">Books<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/shop\/\">Products<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/workshops\/\">Workshops<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/PODCAST\/\">Podcast<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/erickimphotography\">YouTube<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s?me=A1CPP082RBZJAC\">Amazon<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/\">Blog<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If this inspired you, feel free to share or forward to a friend. <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/newsletter\/\">Newsletter Subscription Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER > Life is all about aspiration. The more you aspire, the better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":326946,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-wide.php","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-327074","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\/2021\/09\/EK065216-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327074","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=327074"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327076,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327074\/revisions\/327076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}