Zen. Stoicism. Street photography. Bitcoin. Strength. Reality.
Dear friend, I’ve been thinking a lot about the philosophy behind compression — to make things into a smaller size. Small is beautiful First of all, I believe that small is beautiful. Smaller is easier, less stressful, and …
envy can be tamed only by death. ‘he burns by his very splendor’ ‘there is nothing hard in the inside of an olive, nothing hard in the outside of a nut.’ ‘we are arrived at the highest pitch …
Dear friend, One question I asked myself for a long time (when I had a full-time job) was this: “Should I quit my full-time job, and pursue my passion full-time?” Fate helped me First of all, I was …
Dear friend, I believe it is a good idea to shoot if each day were your last day. Which made me wonder; instead of working on these epic long-term photo projects, why not just work on daily photo …
I believe I am what I do, what I own, and how I live my life. This is a personal breakdown of me, Eric Kim:
Why I Photograph (Version II) Dear friend, I want to share why I personally photograph. 1. I photograph to make a social critique To start, I photograph because I want to make a (positive) social impact. I have …
Why do I blog? I blog because it is fun. I blog because it is a chance for me to share my personal lessons, ideas, and life with others. I blog because it is the most effective form …
‘Anima’: A current of air, wind, breathe, life. — similar to “Animus” (mind), from the root word ‘ane-‘ (to breathe, blow). — cognate of the Ancient Greek (anemos, ‘wind’). ‘Anima’ — soul in Latin “Fear not them which …
Dear friend, I wanted to share some of my personal thoughts on how to capture a soul in a photograph. 1. Why capture a soul? So when I say capturing a soul in a photograph, I don’t want …
In Praise of the New Adobe Lightroom Creative Cloud (CC) Desktop App How I Edit My Photos in Lightroom FREE: ERIC KIM ADOBE LIGHTROOM PRESETS 2020 FREE ERIC KIM LIGHTROOM PRESETS HERE: Direct .ZIP Download: ERIC KIM ADOBE …
I want to share with you how I blog. 1. Get in the zone Turn off distractions, put on hip hop beats. 2. Start writing Don’t edit while writing. Just let the words flow from my brain to …
MONOCHROME by KIM All black everything: MONOCHROME INNOVATION. MONOCHROME IS KING. Color is Too Obvious As Black as Possible (ABAP) WE MUST GO DARKER. MONOCHROME VISION Black and White to Reinterpret and Reimagine Black and White Photography as …
Dear friend, This morning — I was going to write an article on why I wear the same thing every morning. Better than that— I figured I’d write about why I shoot with the same camera, and the …
“Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” – Jesus I remember hearing this saying as a kid. It empowered me. 1. Ask, and it …
Here is my on-going study on Leonardo da Vinci. 30 Lessons Leonardo da Vinci Has Taught Me About Photography, Art, and Life In-progress: Leonardo Compositions In-progress: Leonardo Notes Learn more: Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci >
Those coral lips I kiss Pure bliss. Together; we’ll move boulders As we get older and nights get colder, and times get shorter, Together; we’ll move boulders. Honeydew eyes, I follow you Into the depths of the turqoise-blue. …
Dear umma, I want to write you this letter– thanking you for all the blessings, guidance, and love you have given in my life, and how you helped me become the man I am today: You taught me …
Dear friend, Here is a new lesson on “deep depth” in photography. Download Deep Depth PDF Examples Deep Depth Video Depth of soul > Depth of field But before we start, don’t just shoot photos for composition sake. …
I know for myself, making photographs, writing, and doing creative work always requires me to overcome resistance. What is inertia? Before we talk about resistance, let us research inertia. Below are some notes that I pulled from Wikipedia: …
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bucket, but on a lamp stand; and it gives …
‘You alone might be fond of yourself and your own works, without a rival.’ – Horace Don’t compete in your photography. You have no rivals. Be fond of your own work. Revel in your own ‘defective artistry.’ If …
“You are the salt of the earth.” – Jesus Back in the days of Jesus and the ancients, salt was prized as one of the most valuable commodities. Salt was used to preserve food, heal wounds, and also …
Dear friend, I had this thought recently — nothing unlimited is good, and nothing good is unlimited. Nothing unlimited is good We think that unlimited is good. Unlimited wifi, unlimited food, unlimited money. But in reality, all which …
“Hurl the discus and javelin out of bounds.” – Horace Your potential is unbounded. You have no limits. The only limit you put on yourself is based on your own mind. Why live life with limits? Hurl the …
I get a lot of hateful comments online, and this is one technique I just thought of which helps me deal with it. Whenever someone leaves a negative comment about you on the internet, their words are transmitted …
What makes a compelling, powerful, emotional, soulful, and timeless portrait? Leonardo da Vinci: Inspirations from Leonardo da Vinci: Personal portraits Personal portraits of Cindy, myself, and loved ones: My street portraits Richard Avedon Here are my favorite portraits …
Open source beats: SENECA BEATS x VISUALS SENECA v1 Listen on podcast All beats here are open-source and free. Feel free to do whatever you want with them! Remix them, share them, use it to make an iMovie …
Good spacing: another important part of good composition. 1. Let your subjects breathe You can see how important having ‘good spacing’ is — which allows the subject in your frame to have some ‘breathing room’. For example, in …
composition – arthur wesley dow composition – arthur wesley dow Professor of Fine Arts in Teachers College Columbia University New York City Formerly Instructor in Art at the Pratt Institute and Art Students’ League of New York Author …
Aesop Fables The Odyssey
From Aesop Fables, some personal notes for myself: 1. Choose definite gains over uncertain (future) gains: A Fisherman who lived on the produce of his nets, one day caught a single small Fish as the result of his …
Photographers to study for layers: Garry Winogrand Alex Webb Constantine Manos Learn from all the masters of photography >
For today’s composition lesson, we will discuss the Golden Rectangle. The Golden Rectangle is based on the ‘Golden Ratio’, the idea that there is this golden ratio (1.168) which re-occurs in nature. I’m not going to talk too …
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I’ve been very interested in non-traditional compositions as of late. The first thing I wanted to inspect was the ‘Dutch Angle’. Pretty much a dutch angle is tilting your camera, and making the horizon of your photo tilted. …
Silhouette v1 Learn how to make more mysterious photographs with silhouettes. Download PDF Silhouette Examples 1. Film noir and silhouettes If you’re new to film noir, I highly recommend the following films: Citizen Kane (1941) The Third Man …
Dear friend, I was walking on the streets of Hanoi today, and I was wondering: What is the point of photography? 1. Photography for photography’s sake I think the answer is this: we should seek to make photos …
Dear friend, One of the lessons I’ve learned is that in order to make more beautiful photos, we should seek to “make” (not “take”) photos. I first learned this concept from teaching workshops in Europe. In many European …
“I prowled the streets all day, feeling very strung-up and ready to pounce, determined to “trap” life – to preserve life in the act of living. Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines …
How to shoot color: How to Shoot Color Street Photography Color Manual Street Photography Composition Lesson: Color Theory Learn how to photograph colors
Post Processing Articles The Art of Post-Processing New Lightroom CC Presets Apply these to monochrome JPEG photos (to add even more contrast). Download: ERIC KIM High Contrast Presets (Lightroom CC) 2019 Monochrome Presets Download: ERIC KIM MONOCHROME PRESETS …
Download RAW photos: Dropbox Download Google Drive Download Also download Lightroom Presets.
Dear friend, One tip I have about photography is this: strive to make each of your photos a perfect pearl. 1. Strip the superfluous from our photos That doesn’t mean that each of your photos will be perfect …
Lessons Jesus has taught me: On Love You Are the Salt of the Earth You Are the Light of the World Forgive Others (70×7 times) “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and …
A ‘sermon’ is just a conversation. Blog posts: like conversations — Video: Fibonacci? — Idea: Jesus didnt hvae family; how about apostle paul? Idea: why is family so important? — What ideas, morals, to teach other humans 2,000 …
‘Poetry, created and invented for the delight of our souls, if it comes ever so little of the summit, sinks to the bottom.’ – Horace Do your photos delight your own soul? 1. How do your photos make …
You’ll never be perfect. And thats ok. 1. Forward progress We are all born defective, and we will die defective. We will never be world class artists. Our photography will always be lacking in one way or another. …
‘The envious moment is flying now, while we’re speaking’ – Horace Carpe Diem. This is mostly advice to myself: 1. Don’t waste your time Eric, why do you waste your time? Don’t you know that ‘the envious moment …
“Tomorrow we’ll sail the wide seas again.” – Horace I see life as a journey. Along this journey of life, we face storms, uncertainty, pirates, and attacks. No matter how skillful we are as a captain of a …
I have a problem, I am easily envious of my contemporary peers. 1. My envy Everywhere I look, there is someone more successful than me. Someone with more likes on Instagram, someone with more exhibitions, someone with more …
Dear friend, Here is a new lesson on “deep depth” in photography. Download Deep Depth PDF Examples Deep Depth Video Depth of soul > Depth of field But before we start, don’t just shoot photos for composition sake. …
Writing is fucking hard. Far more unnatural than writing, photographing, or any other artistic form. 1. Writing is just expressing your soul It has taken me a very long time to hone my writing skills. I’ve been writing …
Overcome writer’s block: How I Motivate Myself to Write How to Be a More Prolific Writer 10 Tips How to Overcome Writer’s Block
I have a hard time motivating myself to take photos. This is what works for me: 1. Wear my camera like a bracelet I am currently shooting on the Ricoh GR II camera. One of the ways I …
I’ve been getting a lot of inspiration from minimalist album covers as of late:
Honeydew eyes, I follow you Into the depths of the turqoise-blue. Eternal sunshine My soul and my muse I wake up in the morning and spring blooms. — Your mind is divine, sweet and sublime Let’s turn back …
I believe one of the best ways to ‘inspire’ and motivate yourself to make more photos is to always have your camera on you, and ready to shoot. 1. Always have your camera on your neck or wrist …
‘I labor to be concise.’ – Horace Let us work hard to make our photos short, and to the point: 1. It takes a long time to make things concise I once read a saying from an ancient, …
The Art of Art INSPIRE YOURSELF with HAPTIC. Self Motivation THE WILL TO ART. FULL STACK STIMULI ALWAYS IN BETA. Anything Which Entertains You Is Good. Flex Your Own Art! A Life of Artistic and Creative Leisure Creating …
envy can be tamed only by death. ‘he burns by his very splendor’ ‘there is nothing hard in the inside of an olive, nothing hard in the outside of a nut.’ ‘we are arrived at the highest pitch …
I think many of us in photography are striving to be more artistic. Is photography art? First of all, is photography ‘art’? Yes. Whoever says otherwise is a pretentious asshole. What is ‘art’? To me, art is expression …
I admit– I’m a lazy photographer. Most of the time I’m not out on the streets. Most of the time, I’m going from coffee shop to coffee shop, espresso to espresso. Sometimes cappuccinos: Funny thing though — the …
Read: “The Works of Horace” I’m really into the poet Horace– who mixed moral philosophy and poetry: Here are some of my personal notes for myself, which I hope will give you some ideas: 1. Let the world …
Pride, like a serpent in my heart Constricts me from saying I’m sorry. Two words, clogged up in my buffer There are no two words that are tougher to say. You know I’m sorry, I just can’t say …
Here are my current favorite top-10 photos:
Honeydew Eyes I’m Sorry Eternal Sunshine
Eternal sunshine My soul and my muse I wake up in the morning and spring blooms. Your mind is divine, sweet and sublime Let’s turn back the wings of time. Walking with you by the shores of the …
Chroma Suits Love yourself 1 Rep Max Wedding Street Portraits Eternal Sunshine The City of Angels Video composition: Leading Lines
I see the human soul as a diamond in the rough. We are born with a diamond, but it is raw, tough, and rare. But with enough care and love, we slowly chip away at the imperfections. We …
One of the best ways to study composition, is to study the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, and buy his books. Some tips from the master: 1. Create a relationship of form The first thing he states is that …
Will cropping make a better photo? For example, take one of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s famous photos: He cropped the photo, because apparently he was photographing it through a hole in a wall: “There was a plank fence around some …
If you’re lacking inspiration to shoot others– shoot yourself. 1. Shoot yourself: To start off, you are the best person to photograph. You give yourself 100% consent. You won’t punch yourself in the face, and you won’t become …
To make a memorable photograph, try to make a photograph with laughter. One of the emotions I love is happiness. To me, happiness as an emotion can be manifested in many different ways. A practical way is through …
How to Evoke Emotions in Your Photos: Photos without emotion are dead: How to Evoke More Emotions in Your Photos How to Capture Emotion in Your Photos How to Capture Emotion Layers in Photography Why capture emotions in …
One of the practical tips I have about composition is to establish a strong ‘figure-to-ground.’ Pretty much that means to have a good contrast between your subject and background. That means, have a dark figure against a light …
Dear friend, A simple question — what makes a great photo? For me, it is three things: Composition Emotion Soul 1. Composition To have a good composition is to make clear what you’re trying to photograph. To make …
Lately ‘intermittent fasting’ has been popular in diet circles. Intermittent fasting A lot of people say it is a fad, but honestly — the ancients have been fasting for thousands of years. The ancients knew that for a …
ERIC KIM DIET PHILOSOPHY Why Eat Meat? Unorthodox Workout and Diet Tips I’ve Learned After 10 Years of Self-Experimentation Intermittent Fasting and Ketogenic Diet for Photographers and Content Creators Ketogenic Diet for Photographers Ketogenic Diet Is There an …
Dear friend, I’ve been thinking a lot about composition— what it is for, and why it is important in photography: 1. Composition directs the eyes of your viewer First of all, I think composition is important because it …
I couldn’t have gotten to where I am without these individuals— who have inspired me, helped me, or helped me develop in my personal vision. Why write this list? For me, I know that none of my accomplishments …
I’ve been shooting more with an LCD screen lately on the Ricoh GR II — and I feel liberated. 1. Creativity with composition First of all, I love shooting on the LCD screen because I feel it helps …
How to Capture the Decisive Moment in Street Photography How to Sell Yourself Take Your Street Photography to the Next Level in Tokyo & NYC How to Have Courage to Shoot Street Photography The Art of Street Photography …
Dear friend, What kind of legacy do you want to leave in your photography after you pass? 1. One memorable photograph For some of us, we want to leave at least 1 memorable photograph. Just how Cartier-Bresson has …
COMPOSITION by KIM In pursuit of making (greater) compositions! THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY COMPOSITION VIRTUAL REALITY COMPOSITION The Game of Composition Technical compositions Composition Studies Philosophy of Composition Aesthetics Master composition for yourself: Photography Composition Concepts Street Photography …
Dear friend, I’m fortunate enough that I have a muse (inspiration) in life— who is Cindy. 1. Find your inspirational muse Cindy is the source of all my creative insight and motivation. She is my favorite subject to …
Dear friend, I wanted to write you a letter on love and photography: Shoot with your heart First of all, one of the best ways to be a photographer is to shoot with an open heart. To let …
Dear friend, A lot of us look down on selling ourselves— because we equate it with ‘selling out.’ But if you want to thrive as an entrepreneur, artist, or whatever— you need to learn how to sell yourself. …
Why wake up in the morning, and live our lives? I had this thought when walking Cindy to her archive here in Hanoi. At first, I thought about writing on how to live. But better yet— we should …
Aesop Fables Notes Horace The Odes Notes Epistles of Horace (Book 1) Notes Epistles of Horace (Book 2) Notes
Horace- the Odes: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/horace-the-odes/ Horace: The Odes Notes Poem 1 ‘My sweet glory’ Don’t be delighted by showers of dust— ignore the ‘fickle crowd of citizens’ and ignore ‘triple honors.’ Never stop sailing the seas Don’t be afraid of …
Dear friend, I want to write you a letter on not giving a fuck of what others think of you: You were born for greatness First of all, why do you care what others think of you? I …
Thucydides Horace Seneca Marcus Aurelius Epictetus Publilius Syrus Heraclitus Edward Gibbons See all philosophy >
I have a big ego— and it is hard for me to say sorry. Here are some personal remedies which have helped me forgive others: 1. Think of the positive deeds of others “Does some one offend for …
“It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor. Live bravely and present a brave front to adversity” – Horace Life is all about courage. Courage to face adversity. Courage to take your …
There is no substance stronger than diamonds (or very few).
I just re-read George Orwell’s 1984, and was creeped out how accurate many of his predictions were: I wanted to use this opportunity to process some notes I had about 1984, as an opportunity to internalize what I …