{"id":52421,"date":"2017-06-07T22:55:02","date_gmt":"2017-06-08T05:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=52421"},"modified":"2017-06-07T22:56:10","modified_gmt":"2017-06-08T05:56:10","slug":"crush-the-blacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/07\/crush-the-blacks\/","title":{"rendered":"CRUSH THE BLACKS."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

In photography, I love to crush the blacks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I. Don’t listen to Eric Kim<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

My friend Charlie Kirk hates crushing blacks (increasing the contrast and black slider in post processing, until there is no detail in the shadows). He says:<\/p>\n

\n Don’t discriminate against the blacks!\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For myself, I love crushing the blacks– maximum high-contrast black and white photographs.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

II. 50 shades of black.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Aesthetically speaking, I love minimalism. Also, in life– I only see black and white. For me, I see no grey.<\/p>\n

Philosophically, I see moral evil and moral good. I see reality like a dualist: right and wrong, good and bad, boring or entertaining.<\/p>\n

That’s just me. Aesthetics is something personal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For example, I always loved vanilla ice cream. I always hated chocolate ice cream.<\/p>\n

So if I meet someone who likes chocolate ice cream, is that person an idiot? Of course not. Their taste is just different.<\/p>\n

I personally hate HDR (high dynamic range) photographs. To me, aesthetically, it looks like clown vomit (as Kaiman Wong says). My mom also hates the look of HDR photos.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tokyo, 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But, if someone likes to put sugar and cream in their coffee, I don’t mind. I prefer straight black, single origin espresso. But I’m not gonna be a coffee Nazi, and super-impose my coffee taste on others. Let everyone have coffee they want it.<\/p>\n

III. Have it your way.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I am the Burger King of photography. I believe:<\/p>\n

\n You can have it your way.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Post process your photos the way you like to spice your food. I prefer crushing my blacks, via my free Lightroom ERIC KIM presets<\/a>. You might prefer a softer pastel aesthetic. Or you might like HDR. Just know what you like.<\/p>\n

IV. Simplify.<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Provincetown, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I like to crush the blacks and add maximum high contrast black Nd white because it simplifies the photos.<\/p>\n

When I shoot on the Ricoh GR, I keep the preview high contrast black and white. It helps me simplify reality.<\/p>\n

Also, I think a good composition should be simple. The rule is:<\/p>\n

\n Your photos should work as small thumbnails, to judge whether your compositions are simple and strong.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, as Leonardo da Vinci<\/a> said. To make a simple photo is more difficult than making a complicated photo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Amsterdam, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For me, I try to subtract distractions from my photos. I generally start off by simplifying the background, by starting with a blank white or black wall (like Richard Avedon<\/a>). Then I add my subject afterwards.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tokyo, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In street photography, making a simple street photo is very hard. Reality is messy, and distracting. What I’m trying to do in my photos is to distill reality.<\/strong> I’m trying to simplify reality.<\/p>\n

My style is anti-Alex Webb, who tries to complexify reality. I’m more of a Josef Koudelka<\/a>; seeking minimum distractions, but maximum emotions.<\/strong> Or like Henri Cartier-Bresson<\/a>, simple forms and compositions. I also try to put soul and myself in my photos.<\/p>\n

V. How to shoot black and white street photos.<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Tokyo, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you want to make high contrast black and white street photos, I recommend shooting RAW + high contrast black and white JPEG. Often the JPEG images look good enough. Or just use the ERIC KIM MONOCHROME 1600 Lightroom preset<\/a> on your RAW photo.<\/p>\n

Or in post processing, drag the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153contrast\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153black\u00e2\u20ac\u009d slider to 100%.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kyoto, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ultimately I see black and white photography like chess:<\/p>\n

\n Easy to do, but takes a lifetime to master.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Be strong,
\nEric<\/p>\n

All black everything like the ERIC KIM STRAP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MASTER MONOCHROME ><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In photography, I love to crush the blacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[],"class_list":["post-52421","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\/2016\/11\/0-eric-kim-street-photography-sweat-downtown-la.jpg?fit=2000%2C1346&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52421","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=52421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}