{"id":67297,"date":"2017-10-13T10:05:50","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T17:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=67297"},"modified":"2017-10-13T10:05:50","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T17:05:50","slug":"how-to-simplify-your-photography-and-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/13\/how-to-simplify-your-photography-and-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Simplify Your Photography and Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

Some ideas on how you can simplify your photography and life.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

OPEN SOURCE<\/h2>\n

DOWNLOAD PDF: How to simplify your photography<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Less is better<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

First of all, seek to REDUCE complexity in your photography and life.<\/p>\n

That means, use a simpler camera. Use a simpler workflow and editing process.<\/p>\n

Rather than trying to make more complicated and complex pictures, seek to make them more simple. Fewer elements. Fewer distractions. More focus.<\/p>\n

2. Simple camera settings<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When you shoot, use simple settings.<\/p>\n

Keep your camera in P (program) mode, center point autofocus, and ISO 1600. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Set it and forget it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d should be our mantra.<\/p>\n

3. I SHOOT JPEG<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nowadays, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just shooting only<\/em> JPEG. Why? It simplifies life.<\/p>\n

I just point, click, transfer my pictures to a device, and upload them directly to this blog.<\/p>\n

Lately, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve realized the zen of shooting with digital medium format photography in color is this\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to post-process the pictures or add any filters. The pictures look good to me \u00e2\u20ac\u0153out of camera.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That means less time fiddling around with a computer, and more time shooting and enjoying life.<\/p>\n

4. Seek to REDUCE complexity<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d once said Leonardo da Vinci<\/a>. You know how smart someone is by how simple, clear, and direct they can make their thinking.<\/p>\n

A consultant in business should help you SIMPLIFY your work and processes, rather than adding<\/em> complexity. The ultimate consultant would be like a Zen monk\u00e2\u20ac\u201d subtracting the superfluous and fat from your process, rather than adding<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153efficiency\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or other processes.<\/p>\n

5. Why I love simplicity<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Simplicity has helped my life in many ways. I wear a simple all-black outfit\u00e2\u20ac\u201d same one everyday. Less stress about what to wear, and more time to think, meditate, and do creative work.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m doing 95% of my computing on an iPad. This helps me to prevent myself from multi-tasking, and it helps me focus. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153best\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153perfect\u00e2\u20ac\u009d device\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good enough\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for me, and simple enough. I do all my writing on the IA writer app, which encourages me to just focus on writing, with the simple interface.<\/p>\n

With web design, simple is best. Have fewer options.<\/p>\n

6. What is minimalist isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always simple.<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A key thing:<\/p>\n

\n Minimalism and simplicity is different.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For example, a lot of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153minimalist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d interfaces are actually very complicated to use. For example, a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153minimalist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d touchscreen in a car is actually more difficult and complicated to use than physical knobs and dials. The physical knobs and dials may look more clunky, and less \u00e2\u20ac\u0153minimalist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in terms of the aesthetic\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but they are simpler to use, and more functional.<\/p>\n

7. My definition of simple<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

To me, simple means direct. Unpretentious. Clean. Efficient and effective. Powerful, with minimum of waste and excess. No superfluity.<\/p>\n

8. Simple suggestions<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So friend, consider how you can make your photography and life more simple. Some ideas:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Use the simplest photography processing and editing app. Try out the default Apple Photos app, or VSCO. Or try to simplify your Lightroom workflow, to use fewer<\/em> filters and functions. <\/li>\n
  2. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Set it and forget it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in terms of your camera settings. If you shoot with a phone just use the default or simplest app. For your digital camera just shoot \u00e2\u20ac\u0153P\u00e2\u20ac\u009d mode, ISO 1600, and center point autofocus. <\/li>\n
  3. Just shoot JPEG only. Or shoot RAW, but automatically apply the same preset to all your images (download ERIC KIM PRESETS<\/a>). <\/li>\n
  4. When shooting street photography, have a simple approach. When shooting street portraits with permission, approach them and just give them a simple compliment before shooting them. <\/li>\n
  5. Seek to SIMPLIFY your composition, by REMOVING distractions and superfluous distractions. <\/li>\n
  6. To make a good picture, make a SIMPLE yet DYNAMIC picture.<\/strong> Simple background, or simple subject. Dynamic lines, tilt, or expressions or emotions. <\/li>\n
  7. Simplify your equipment\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I prefer the zen of one camera and one lens<\/a>. <\/li>\n
  8. Simplify your travels: travel to fewer cities, and spend more time in fewer places. Better to get to know one neighborhood very well, instead of many neighborhoods in a superficial way. <\/li>\n
  9. Simplify your thinking: try to make your ideas concise, and direct. Nip away the buds of superfluity. <\/li>\n
  10. Study ZEN<\/a>, Taoism<\/a>, or any philosophical system that allows you to SIMPLIFY your thinking and life\u00e2\u20ac\u201d rather than \u00e2\u20ac\u0153adding\u00e2\u20ac\u009d shit to your life. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    KEEP IT SIMPLE,
    \nERIC<\/p>\n

    ERIC KIM EXPERIENCES<\/a>
    \nX
    \n    HAPTIC INDUSTRIES<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Dear friend, Some ideas on how you can simplify your photography and life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[],"class_list":["post-67297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/ERIC-KIM-STREET-PHOTOGRAPHY5.jpg?fit=4928%2C3264&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67297","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=67297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67299,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67297\/revisions\/67299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}