![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-12-29-at-9.28.09-PM.png?resize=1030%2C1338\")
For a limited time, download the following FREE visualizations designed by Annette Kim.<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0Keep these guides on your phone, tablet, computer to read on your commute, as reminders when shooting on the streets, and for daily inspiration.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n I think for myself \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I am addicted to a sense of progress. I also set high expectations for myself.<\/p>\n Whenever I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reach my expectations, I feel disappointment.<\/p>\n Now, why do we feel disappointment in photography? Some ideas:<\/p>\n So what is the solution?<\/p>\n So progress is all relative. We compare ourselves with our past selves.<\/p>\n I say -let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s do a hard reset. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s empty our minds, and empty our memories of the past.<\/p>\n Every day is a clean, new slate.<\/strong><\/p>\n One thing I like to do on my computer is to regularly clear my cache, and clean my browser history, and clean my download folder. I try to do this every day \u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich means every new day, I have a fresh start.<\/p>\n Having a fresh start is refreshing and encouraging. It means you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not stuck to your old expectations of yourself. Rather, every day you treat your photography with the same enthusiasm you had when you were a beginner.<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m prone to envy my peers. I see others who I perceive are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153succeeding\u00e2\u20ac\u009d more than myself, by either getting more prestigious awards, more prestigious book deals, exhibitions, having more followers than me, making more money than me, or traveling and doing more interesting things than myself.<\/p>\n The solution? To be genuinely happy for them \u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut also to realize that in reality \u00e2\u20ac\u201dyour situation is probably better than theirs.<\/strong><\/p>\n For example, if someone else is traveling the world, and doing all this exotic photography \u00e2\u20ac\u201d they probably miss their family or loved ones. If we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re stuck at home, we should reshape our perception \u00e2\u20ac\u201dwe should count our blessing of being at home \u00e2\u20ac\u201d after all, Ulysses wandered the seas for over a decade to achieve his dream (going back to his home, Ithaca). The concept of being a world traveler and living an exotic life is a pretty new concept \u00e2\u20ac\u201dalmost all the ancient Greeks preferred growing old in their own home country and city.<\/p>\n Also, realize \u00e2\u20ac\u201d everything has a price.<\/strong> If you want to gain prestige, and gain all these prizes and awards, you need to spend a lot of time making the right connections, networking, sucking up, etc. I feel that almost all of us can achieve this \u00e2\u20ac\u201dif we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re willing to devote the time and energy to do so.<\/p>\n Therefore, realize that everyone who achieves much in life, sacrifices much.<\/strong> So in a sense, we should tip our hat to them, for their hard work, dedication, and hustle. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just think they \u00e2\u20ac\u0153got lucky\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d no, they worked hard for what they desired.<\/p>\n So rather than feeling envy, just ask ourselves \u00e2\u20ac\u201dwould we sacrifice that much to achieve what our peers do? If so, we should complain less, and just do it.<\/p>\n Also, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think we should compare our photography to anyone else. After all, all of us have our own unique vision and pair of eyes.<\/p>\n Even physically\u00e2\u20ac\u201dsome of us are color blind. Personally, I have astigmatism \u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure affects my vision somehow. Some of us are taller \u00e2\u20ac\u201dand thus perceive the word from a different perspective.<\/p>\n My formula for avoiding frustration:<\/p>\n \n No expectations for your photography. Put in a lot of work, and hustle hard, but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be disappointed if your effort doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay off.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Also, to achieve your artistic vision, you need to know how to create images that you have in your mind\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eye. That means, perhaps learning the right technical settings for your camera, or knowing how to process your photos.<\/p>\n One idea: devote yourself to one camera, one lens, and one processing style for an entire year.<\/strong> By devoting yourself to consistent gear, you will be able to better create images you want to. If we are always switching our gear, we will never be able to master our equipment, and thus, we will be unable to master our creative vision.<\/p>\n To conclude,<\/p>\n Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always count our blessings. Spend less time on social media, to compare ourself less with others. I deleted my Instagram<\/a>, and now \u00e2\u20ac\u201dI feel a lot less envy and jealousy. I stay focused and centered in myself, and I try my best to feel genuine happiness for my friends who I perceive are succeeding \u00e2\u20ac\u0153more\u00e2\u20ac\u009d than me.<\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a reminder \u00e2\u20ac\u201d memento mori<\/a>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna die one day, and probably sooner than later. Therefore, for me to focus living a meaningful life \u00e2\u20ac\u201dempowering others, and empowering myself.<\/p>\n Treating every day like a blessing. To take my photography less seriously, and having more fun, and shooting more with a childlike spirit of experimentation.<\/p>\n So friend, smile, and have faith in yourself that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re (already) on the right path.<\/p>\n BE STRONG, Conquer your fears and meet new peers:<\/p>\n For a limited time, download the following FREE visualizations designed by Annette Kim.<\/a> Keep these guides on your phone, tablet, computer to read on your commute, as reminders when shooting on the streets, and for daily inspiration.<\/p>\n Find more Personal meaning in your photographic life with PHOTO JOURNAL ><\/a><\/p>\n STREET NOTES: Push Yourself out of your Comfort Zone in Street Photography ><\/a><\/p>\n Learn timeless lessons from the masters of street photography ><\/a><\/p>\n How to find more joy in your life with photography:<\/p>\n Dear friend, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know about you\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m prone to disappointment in my photography and life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75323,"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-75379","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\/12\/camera.jpg?fit=1200%2C1210&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75379","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=75379"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75427,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75379\/revisions\/75427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nI feel disappointed often<\/h2>\n
![\"Advertisement](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/51335CA4-A40B-497B-ADB1-834EAE0FFBD3.jpeg?resize=800%2C530\")
<\/p>\nWhy do we feel disappointment in our photography?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/A7C500DE-F4FF-4868-A54D-1A863C0A2425-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
<\/p>\n\n
1. How to get unstuck<\/h2>\n
![\"Abstract](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2B9C79AD-441A-421D-AD85-285EA5B7E075-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"Cindy](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/8C0EC1C5-0FDC-4871-90D2-5A52D8F10556-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"Cindy](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/1F58B087-7D9B-4796-8655-76EE508A521B-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
2. Envy<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/84189A88-BC76-45A3-911E-CD49FA9677E6-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
<\/p>\n![\"Red](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/48388316-0F69-4B9B-9B8C-72228564CE21-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"Hand](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/8A75FD1B-8CE8-4EED-92CD-F25F63CF7827-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
![\"Callisto,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/52731AD9-D991-45B3-933B-10C10FCBE34A-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
3. Feeling frustrated<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/7DE376F3-0403-467C-AF4D-5E29D195D244-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2DE1C1A0-0282-4B0D-999B-4CF85EC7E453-1325x2000.jpeg?resize=1180%2C1781\")
<\/p>\n![\"Cindy](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/9BE4BADA-76E7-424B-9C8E-5A61447713F0-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on the right path.<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/camera.jpg?resize=1180%2C1190\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/D4323474-B50F-409B-A4B5-C13EDBB4F9C2-2000x1325.jpeg?resize=1180%2C782\")
<\/p>\n
\nERIC<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/125F3806-F32D-487E-8599-8771FC6B511C.jpeg?resize=1180%2C411\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n\n
\nPHOTO JOURNAL<\/a><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/PHOTO-JOURNAL-by-ERIC-KIM00001.jpg?resize=1003%2C1500\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSTREET NOTES: Mobile Edition<\/a><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_0894.jpg?resize=1180%2C789\")
\nMASTERS<\/a><\/h2>\n
![\"LEARN](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/4C0C3B20-37A8-466C-8B4E-9F2247A5B262-1544x2000.jpeg?resize=1180%2C1528\")
<\/a>
\nPHOTO THERAPY<\/a><\/h1>\n
\n