I believe the path to the greatest happiness as a photographer is becoming more productive as a photographer. This means, literally just producing more photos.

Investing in production

For example, the secret to true wealth is through production. To produce things, ideas, concepts, etc.

I think the problem in today’s world is that we strive to create wealth through “investments” and other insubstantial sources of capital swapping. For example, let’s say you speculate in some sort of asset, and the price goes up and you sell it. Have you created any new wealth? Not really.

I believe that true wealth, true capital is created through production. For example, producing new knowledge and information, like I have done with all of my books, e-books, presets, my infamous start here page, learn from the masters, etc. Truth be told, simply through my blog and my series of blog posts, I think I’ve created more valuable information on photography education than all of the photo books out there published combined, times 10.

The education mafia?

A secret expose; Pearson, the UK-based printing house and publisher, I think they blacklisted my 100 lessons from the masters of photography through a fraud millennium take down request. There is nothing in my 100 lessons from the masters of photography book which is “copyrighted”. My theory:

Apparently Pearson also publishes photography education books. Therefore, I think they thought my ebook as a threat, and put down some phony take down request to Google, in order to blacklisted, in order to peddle more of their mediocre photo education books.

Becoming a missionary?

One of the very interesting thoughts from Peter Thiel in his zero to one book what is the difference between a mercenary and a missionary. A mercenary simply does something for money, a missionary does something because he or she believes in its true mission.

I have an unorthodox theory on “success“:

Missionaries who so insanely believe in their mission end up becoming insanely successful because they care so much about the mission.

This means, true missionaries start with a deep intrinsic mission, and strive towards it with all of their strength and might. Money success and fame simply comes after the fact.

For example, Elon Musk didn’t set out to initially to become the worlds richest and most tycoon of a man. Rather, he simply had a vested interest in colonizing space and Mars, and everything else was a byproduct of that.

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So what is my mission?

For myself, my personal mission is to propagate the joy photography to all. Also, to seek practical solutions to help us seek more joy satisfaction and thriving in photography.

For example, personal annoyances and other things drive my photography. My never ending quest to seek to make more beautiful photos, practical and philosophical theories on photography as well as pragmatic thoughts on travel, living, life, fitness, etc.

In fact, most of my epiphanies, takeaways, and thoughts simply are derived from a personal quest in hunger for seeking greater answers.

A self driven mission

VIDEO FILE

TOPICS COVERED:

1. COMPOSITION
2. PHILOSOPHY
3. WHY?
4. MOTIVAITON
5. TECHNIQUE & APPROACH
6. SELF VALUE
7. OPEN MINDEDNESS
8. CHILD’S MIND
9. ‘SUCCESS’?
10. COURAGE
11. HAPPINESS
12. INSPIRATION
13. HOW TO SEE
14. NEW PHOTOS
15. SOCIOLOGY
16. WHY I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY
17. WHY I LOVE VIETNAM
18. DETAILS
19. EVOLUTION
20. USE YOUR KIDS!
21. MALL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
22. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AS AN ETHOS AND APPROACH
23. THE SUCCESS TRAP
24. HOW TO BECOME A ‘BETTER’ STREET PHOTOGRAPHER
25. HEALTH
26. HAPPY PHOTOS
27. MOOD
28. FLASH
29. MUSE
30. AESTHETICS
31. MYSTERY
32. NOW WHAT?
33. CREATIVE SCREENSHOTTING
34. YOU NEVER KNOW!

PODCAST

AUDIO

https://erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ERIC-KIM-CHU-VIET-HA-FUJIFILM-TALK.m4a

PDF GOOGLE DRIVE

DROPBOX PDF

Dear friends, with great pride and joy I am insanely pumped to share the official launch and release of HAPTIC ARMOR, MARK I. I truly believe this to be a fabric and a lifestyle revolution:

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Why?

Life is too short for inferior fabrics. HAPTIC ARMOR is forged and engineered to be the most supreme fabric, the fabric to conquer them all.

How?

The science and technology behind a HAPTIC ARMOR lies in our unique HAPTIC WEAVE pattern; a three dimensional octagonal weave, which maximizes surface area, well also reinforcing strength.

The philosophy is this:

How can we take and utilize the worlds best linen in the world, the supreme raw linen from Lithuania, forge it with cutting edge South Korean technology, to make a sublime cloth?

Cloth talk

I want everything I own to be part HAPTIC ARMOR. In my clothes, my everyday lifestyle etc.

Distinguish yourself

It seems apparent to me that the elite refuse to wear basic fabrics. The elite wear linen, wool, cashmere.

And now that the hot and humid summer is upon us, with the relentless sun, how can you continue to venture, explore, and journey further? HAPTIC ARMOR is your solution.

Skin in the game

I am currently 35 years old, and I’ve been on the road ever since I was 21. 14+ years on the road, nomading around, lots of time in airplanes, in foreign hotel rooms and Airbnb’s, and out of all of it, what have I gleaned?

All of it all, I have discovered that clothing is critical. Nowadays the only clothing I wear is linen, merino wool, nothing else.

When you travel and if you’re on the road, you can’t take your Lamborghini with you, you can’t take your Tesla with you, you can’t take anything with you. An interesting philosophy that I have is that when you’re traveling, your clothes almost become like your mini house. Let us consider that your clothing protects you from the elements, infuses you with self-esteem and confidence, and also pragmatically, it is illegal to go outside naked.

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HAPTIC ARMOR

It is my personal ambition that with HAPTIC ARMOR, you can venture further, more courageously. With less heat, less weight, less annoyance with having to launder your clothes while on the road.

A simple observance that I have made is that linen is even better at drawing moisture away from your body, even superior to merino wool!

This phenomenon is called “hygroscopic”— that when you’re wearing HAPTIC ARMOR, if you sweat, HAPTIC ARMOR will naturally absorb the sweat away from your body, and absorb into the three dimensional haptic weave pattern, and then due to its increased surface area, it will dry instantly when you’re out in the sun.

The result is you are not sweaty, and also your clothing is not drenched.

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Suitable for all climates

HAPTIC ARMOR is suitable during the relentless summertime, but also practical in the fall and winter time. Linen is naturally elegant, and effortlessly simple.

Linen is also insanely strong and robust, and with our unique octagonal HAPTIC 3D WEAVE pattern, it will be able to withstand any sorts of puncture wounds, and metaphorical arrows.

Nothing lasts forever

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Nothing last forever. It is doubtful that HAPTIC ARMOR will last 1000 years.

However, why not try? We only got 19 suits of HAPTIC ARMOR left in stock, seize your destiny now!

ORDER HAPTIC ARMOR NOW >

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Where in the world is ERIC KIM?

Currently going to be a month here in Saigon Vietnam. Housesitting for a friend in an insanely epic high-rise apartment. Floor to ceiling windows, great amenities, etc.

Some turbo thoughts:

1. First, Cindy has made the interesting observation that at least in Vietnam, our spending power is at least 30X. Example, we can go to an all you can eat Korean barbecue restaurant or even an all you can eat shabu shabu restaurant, for only around eight to $10 USD! We also made the funny observation that in theory, this is even cheaper than ordering meat and cooking at home! Plus the upside is that we don’t have to clean up when we’re at a restaurant.
2. Coffee here is insanely good: And if you ever visit Saigon Vietnam, go to 96B, our favorite coffee shop here. I rate the coffee there at least 100X better than any third wave coffee I’ve discovered in the states, even in Australia! What is the secret? A tighter source. The beans are grown locally here in Vietnam in Dalat, and also roasted and crafted here. The result? Insanely fruity and fragrant. Even the robusta here is phenomenal!
3. I still prefer the states: a very nice epiphany that I had is that even though life here is insanely good, ultimately, I still prefer the states. Why? First and foremost, crypto and cryptocurrency. While I was here in Vietnam, I actually had some weird difficulty and strange error messages when trying to load up my crypto assets. Funny enough, I think I’ve made a fatter profit off of my speculative crypto and bitcoin speculations than I have ever in all of my photography workshops combined.
4. Also, the pollution in Vietnam is actually really bad. When Cindy and I lived here in around 2017, while the pollution in Hanoi was bad, it wasn’t that bad in Saigon Now, the pollution actually feels pretty unbearable. For example, I can’t even go outside for too long without choking on the pollution here. This is an interesting epiphany, as what it means is that even though you have all the worlds best amenities, without fresh air, none of it is worth it. Now I think I understand why the rich mainland Chinese people are buying up property in Vancouver and other places, in order to escape the relentless pollution back in the mainland.
5. Perhaps California banning gasoline cars is a good idea — why is California so overpopulated? Even though there are lots of bad things about California, my thought is the reason why traffic in LA California Southern California etc. so bad is actually because everyone wants to live there. Also, the thought of banning gasoline cars is a good idea, because although generating electricity via sustainable sources is a little doubtful, at least it directly stops the injection of pollution fumes into the air. In fact, once again after experiencing the pollution here in Saigon, it almost feels unethical to purchase a brand new gasoline powered car, even a hybrid. Why? As Elon Musk said, even a hybrid car is 100% reliant on gasoline. How about the Prius prime brother plug-in hybrids? Fuck it, just go 100% electric. 30 miles on an a plug-in Prime Prius electric charge is hilarious.
6. Sustainability and the planet? Certainly humans can live even in polluted areas. It will not directly kill you, at least not in the short term. However the downside is that it makes every day like to life living terrible. Nobody wants to live in the mall for the rest of their lives.

Photo Updates

This month while in Vietnam I am doing two free photography talks, one in Saigon this weekend and another in Hanoi next weekend with my friend Chu Viet Ha.

Will try to see if I can get it recorded and will share with you later.

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Camera thoughts?

Currently looking at the camera landscape, everything seems uninteresting to me.

Car thoughts?

It seems that if you want a car or a new car, the most economical is to just buy used Prius.

For a new car, just buy the cheapest base Tesla model 3. Or if you plan to lease, just lease the cheapest price Tesla model Tesla model 3.

Crypto thoughts

For any recent crypto developments, the chain link blog seems to be the best resource. However, some nuances:

1. There is no web 3.0. Whenever you see anything written with Web 3.0, don’t trust it.
2. I see a great future ahead for AI.
3. International money: while bitcoin may still not be the future, it seems to not be totally bad of an idea. Why? My frustration being here in Vietnam, from any normal ATM machine, it is difficult to withdraw more than $100-$200 USD a day. Insanely annoying.

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Future developments?

1. If you want critical and honest feedback on your photos, upload it to arsbeta. I am still shocked and amazed, even building it three-four years ago, the platform is still insanely robust!
2. Why? am I a genius? Building why app before ChatGPT was announced? Thinking of the idea almost 3 to 4 years ahead, in 2017?

New ideas

My new current idea is regarding photo selection and curation. For example, let us say that you shoot 1000 photos a day. Having some sort of AI assistant help you cull through the photos seems like a good idea.

HAPTIC DRIP

HAPTIC SHOP: CONQUER IT ALL.

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Forward the turbo!

ERIC KIM NEWS

Or if you’re new,

START HERE >

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Dear friends, a thought on my mind: seek to become more robust, more anti fragile.

Why robust?

Robur, oak. Red. Same word as rubber.

The oak tree is a good analogy because it is insanely big and strong, hard, unyielding.

Robusta coffee

Currently here in Saigon Vietnam, and a new passion and interest; towards robusta coffee, which has a higher caffeine content, and also less sugar. So purely from a health and physique perspective, robusta coffee should be superior to arabica because arabica is sweet, arabica has more sugar molecules in it than robusta.

How to lose fat

The secret of losing fat, body adipose tissue is very simple and straightforward: simply abstain or do not consume any starches, carbs, starchy vegetables, fruit, anything sweet, whether real sugar fig sugar or some other silly “zero calorie”. this means no Coke zero, no diet coke, no monk fruit, none of that nonsense.

I have a theory that if you want to become more robust, it is simple, only consume a 100% beef-based diet, and the only non-meat items you consume or bitter ones. Don’t eat anything sweet. That’s your side dish is simply really bitter dark leafy greens, whether it be Collard greens, mustard greens, perilla leaves etc.

Become more primal

Who is that the reason why so many people are miserable in modern day living is that we no longer have the privilege or opportunity to be primal. For example, we are no longer permitted to be loud, yell, scream and shout, cry, express anger, thump our chest etc.

For example something that I have observed is traditionally, in modern day society at least in the more “modern” ones, to be quiet, silent, unobtrusive, low-key, avoiding eye contact or confrontation is seen as a virtue. We often scorn people who are loud, rambunctious, having a jolly old time.

For example, what is K-12 education? Learning how to deal with boredom, learning how to become silent, sitting down and shutting up, obeying the teacher etc.

A new path

Assuming that happiness is indeed your life goal, or perhaps becoming more, allow yourself to become louder, more rambunctious, more flagrant.

For example, I think the reason why people hate Kanye West so much is because of several reasons; first and foremost, they hate how outspoken he is, how he speaks his mind without any self-censorship. Yet this is precisely what gains him diehard fans like myself, Because indeed he speaks his mind, he doesn’t lie, whether you agree with him or not, at least you know he’s not lying.

Robust thinking

With words, thoughts, philosophies, techniques methodologies etc., I believe that the robust ones are supreme.

For example, any thoughts or topics in which the ancients have touched upon, or any words and etymology which has gone back to the Proto Indo European, tend to be robust. Much of modern-day thinking is fragile at best, notions of “equality“, “justice“, “fairness”, etc. are modern day notions. In ancient times, ancient Greek times, some ancient Roman times, it was more about rank, hierarchy, power, courage, bravery, lethality etc.

For example, Achilles was seen as supreme because he was the most lethal. Nobody was even half a chance to him, he was even so lethal and powerful that not even the gods could take him. The only difference between Achilles and the gods was that Achilles was mortal whereas the gods were not.

Modern day times

What makes one fragile in modern day times? Social media numbers and followings, numeration of money, popularity, fame etc.

What makes one robust? Self-confidence, self faith, self assurance, etc.