Morning Walk 2/4

As promised I said I was going to walk for 4 mornings last week and that’s exactly what I did.
Although the walks were brief I wanted to shoot more photos of people rather than just things.
I wouldn’t say I’m a street photographer so this style of shooting is a bit out of my wheel house.
For one I hate getting yelled at for taking a picture.
It’s something that is a bit out of my comfort zone and I firmly believe in pushing myself to the edge of my comfort from time to time.
The reason I do this is because it helps with my confidence while working.
Even if you shoot in a studio with your clients it’s important to have confidence to let your client know that you know what you are doing and they are getting what they paid for.
No Art director will ever be as intimidating as a stranger who wants to punch you in the face for taking their photo.

Whenever I shoot photos of strangers I will always get messages on instagram from people wondering if I asked permission to take the photo or not.
The truth is I feel out the situation.
Sometimes I formally stop and ask and other times I get by with taking the photo and then smiling after words.
If I can take the picture without doing either I prefer to sneak it.
This for me isn’t to trick anyone it’s to capture life in it’s natural form with out the person feeling like they have to look good for the photo.
In some cases a posed photo can come off as fabricated and when shooting street photos I like most of my interactions to be natural.

Tomorrow I am going to continue showing some images from my final 2 morning walks.

All the best,
Atticus

Morning walk 1/4

My morning walk yesterday was spent in my girlfriend's neighborhood. It's a quite Italian suburb of Brooklyn in between Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The differences between my neighborhood and hers are pretty jarring which will be pretty evident in my photos on tomorrow's blog as my neighborhood is filled with people. Her area of Brooklyn is much quieter and I saw fewer people on the streets and even fewer people without masks. This brings me to a crutch I've been leaning on. After taking these photos I could tell I was avoiding people. It's something so easy for me to do but as an extrovert, I have absolutely no reason to shy away from photographing people. For myself, it is much more important to photograph people than it is to photograph objects because I'm interested in the human condition. I'm interested in why we do things and how I can make my own life better from observing other people.

The point here today is we all have that little thing in our life that we're avoiding that can propel us to the next level. What makes you a little nervous? Go conquer that thing before it conquers you!

With that being said my promise to you guys is that tomorrow's morning walk pictures will have more people in them.

I'm not writing anymore.

I haven't been writing consistently for months now. It feels as if I have no aim for the words I'm placing in my journal. Yesterday I sat down to write about 5 times and each time I wrote a line I felt my brain stop. It felt like hopping in your car starting it and driving 20 feet into a brick wall. For someone like myself who has trouble focusing routine and persistence really helps limit distractions. When there are noises around me I can't focus so I play binaural beats in my headphones to limit distractions. Having clarity for me also has a lot to do with lifestyle choices. The more I exercise the easier it becomes for me to sleep and the easier it becomes for me to focus. That sense of clarity is only heightened in the early morning around 4-5 am. Not sure why but that's when all my ideas come to me.

Now onto the point of awareness, this is why I write in the first place to realize what in my life serves me and what doesn't. So here are the 4 things that ruin my focus for the day.

#1. CELL PHONE Waking up and starring at aimless videos on my cell phone for an hour. I feel like an idiot admitting it but when I'm sluggish in the morning I should put my feet on the floor and make my bed immediately because then I can't get back in it. When I aimlessly scroll until my body wakes up my brain is already fried like scrambled eggs for the day. This mindless action takes all the good thoughts I woke up with and mixes them with thousands of random and useless ideas from the internet. Plus Instagram and Facebook will endlessly show you peoples highlight reels of their life when it's most likely a timeline that wouldn't serve your life goals anyways.

#2 Not having a schedule made the day before. This one keeps my ass in check. It allows me to know what to do and when to do it. A big thing that also helps me with this is making sure you have the big goals set for different days as some of them cannot be accomplished in a single day. When I have a set schedule for the week life seems to get a little more organized.

#3 Overthinking and comparing. Holy shit does this take my train right off the tracks. Doing is the secret sauce to any focus so when you sit and overthink on how to accomplish something it can be a major distraction from actually doing it. Overthinking at night also stops me from getting a good night's sleep. Comparing is also a waste of time because no one you are comparing yourself to is the same as you. This comes down to knowing yourself and knowing what fills you up in life. #4 The last distraction. Bad lifestyle choices. When I'm not exercising or spending too much time on things like drinking and beach days with friends I feel useless and unhappy. Every once in a while is nice, yes but I always wanted friends that wanted to make things over a night out at a bar. So the last thing I'd say here is having a healthy body helps your mind stay healthy. Everything you put in your body feeds your brain, that goes for food, videos, books, friends, and everything we consume. I need to do a better job of consuming more things that empower me not belittle me. As this is somewhat of a photography blog and part personal journal I'd like to relate all of this back to photography. Everyone has that one activity that quiets there mind. For myself, it's walking with my camera, for one of my brothers it's drumming for my other brother, it's woodworking. If there is one activity that quiets your mind and helps you have more focus throughout the day make it a point to do it at least 3 times a week. With that said my goal for the rest of the week is to shoot pictures every morning.

Hope this helps,
Atticus.

The secret to editing.

Holy shit was this a hard shoot to edit.
I shoot all the time probably a bit more often than the average photographer but rarely do I shoot in light that doesn’t really fit my aesthetic.

This week I finally started shooting for clients again.
It’s been what feels like an eternity and sitting down to edit these photos today was extremely frustrating.
The typical way I color my images were just not working at all so I really had to stretch my brain to find a solution.
Although the photos are not 100% where I wanted them to be I definitely learned some things today.

Which is the entire point of why I am writing this blog.
I’ve never learned anything from editing pictures that are easy to edit.
If you can slap a preset on a picture because the lighting is so perfect in camera then that’s an amazing day.
I always try to get my images as best I can while I am shooting for 2 reasons.
One is that you never want to rely on editing to correct your image afterward and two being because retouching takes way longer than shooting.

Whatever struggle you’re going through in your photography or editing process doesn’t give up on it because it can be worked through. Even if there are no resources on the internet to help you through the problem keep trying different ways to solve it.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at my wit’s end with a photography issue and I kept cracking on it until my brain cracked the code.

Full circle.

Before heading back to New York I was lucky enough to catch up with some old friends and if I didn’t write about things like this I may have missed the symbolic nature of this experience.
Yesterday Dylan, Jake, and I accompanied by there girlfriends went for a little Sunday skate session.
Despite the ridiculous temperatures and humidity so dense you could almost chew on it, this action seemed all too familiar.
We all met at a skatepark when we were little kids and no matter the temperature back then we didn’t let it stop us, so hanging out this way after not seeing each other for some time felt like picking up a book and starting right at my favorite chapter.

That’s a huge part of why I loved growing up with my friends, there was never an excuse as to why we couldn’t do something. The weather was never a valid reason to stop us unless there was a hurricane.
The conversations are also what make these friendships so interesting to me because they are always focused on growth.
You will never find a topic that is off-limits with these people and with how easily people are offended these days it is a refreshing change to not have to worry about looking like a fool.

After we skated we went for some sushi at our favorite sushi spot (Singo Sushi) where the unscripted conversations seem to flow out as naturally as the beers did.
All of this really puts life and happiness so into perspective to me that I really question why I ever let myself muddy it up.

A little movement, a community, a full belly, and good conversation makes life a hell of a lot more enjoyable.
I hope everyone had a great Sunday yesterday.

All the best,
Atticus

Photograph your Friends.

Today was a good day.
I finally had my first little shoot after this long-ass quarantine.
It wasn’t a gig or an officially planned shoot but whenever Jahkeem comes over I love making pictures with this guy.
One he’s got quite the physique and he always wants to do something that involves movement.
For me, that makes it pretty easy to get exciting photos.

One thing I’ve realized over the past few years is that it’s really important to photograph your friends for a number of reasons.

1. You’re creating a lasting memory of a time you spent together and it’s gone just as fast as it happened.

2. Trying out your photographic ideas with your friend can lead to pleasant surprises.
If the idea works you can always take these images to a company and show them what you can do.
This really goes along with my rule show don’t tell. When you can hand a company finished work as an example of what you can do they are twice as likely to hire you for a job.

3. It’s just good to shoot often even if it’s just for practice.

Below are some photos I shot of my buddy Jahkeem in between us playing handball.

Quick to Cancel.

It amazes me how much of a “Cancel culture” we live in today.
Everyone is so quick to cast the first stone on social media but rarely do you see people sitting down with their neighbors to have an actual discussion.
A big part of this is due in part of how the media portrays people and how easy it is to get viewers off of controversy.
Misery and outrage sells.
The other side of social media that plays a huge part in what we see is due to the algorithms.
Wether for better or for worse we get fed what we look at most often.
If you’re republican you will get republican videos and if you are democrat you will get democratic videos.
Or if you’re like me you’ll just get more videos of puppies.
The problem here is what we see becomes an echo chamber essentially leaving new information on the internet available to only those who dig deep for it.
Even your google searches use an algorithm which make it harder to find new things when you are searching outside of your normal life.
It’s super important to get opposing information to your own opinions as new information is what makes us grow.
I fear now that empathy and the old school bar room conversation is what is being lost in 2020 and that with the algorithms our opinions are only strengthened by repeated ideas that we see on the internet.

Social media has been a mix of emotions lately.
I go on and I am amazed by how supportive people are, how talented some are, and then I am shattered by how mean people are to each other.
It’s easy to be a dick on the internet but it’s much harder to be a dick in person which is why it’s so important to talk to people in real life.
Empathy is something I frequently right about in my morning journal and I hope over the coming months I can continue to grow that side of myself.

Now to get to the photos that are posted below.
This past weekend I was in Connecticut for the 4th of July and although it was a blast I feel like each time I visit I am in a flurry.
Too many people to visit and too little time.
This Sunday was time for me to do something for myself so I dragged my girlfriend and my roommate to my favorite spot ever.
It’s a reservoir deep in the woods of my hometown and man what a blast it was.
Nothing clears my head like spending time in the woods and when there is a lake to swim in at the end of a long hike it’s even better.
I’ve never had that feeling in New York and I haven’t been back to this spot in quite sometime.
I hope you guys enjoy these photos.

All the best,
Atticus

Film vs Digital

It’s been a while since I’ve taken photos with nay of my film cameras.
It’s a process I really enjoy as it’s much more methodical than shooting with digital.
Most of the time you shoot one image one time and you move on.
What film does most for me though is that it makes me pay attention to what is going on.
Sounds stupid I know but for some reason with digital I get caught up in the lighting or the exposure and it takes away from the moment.
Using a digital camera I also think about the editing process as I am taking the image.
I know certain colors edit better than others and that again takes your mind off of what you are shooting.
This is why I am a big fan of shooting with a digital tech for my client's work.
With a digital technician on a photo shoot, they’re like your spell checker while you’re writing.
They look at every image as it comes into the computer and they look for mistakes Ex. overexposure, bad crops, unexpected glares in the image etc.

Another point I like about film is that I am much more confident with my film camera than I am with digital.
People seem to be more excepting of me getting in there face with a smaller camera and a big digital camera almost screams journalist. (Most people don’t want to end up in the news)

When it comes to film vs digital it depends on so many factors.
I’m not into the technical side of photography. Yes, I know it but I don’t think it makes much of a difference in anyone's work because at the end of that day what is in your photo matters most.
Film is also very costly every time you shoot and then get it developed and scanned.
To get to a conclusion here is money wasn’t an object I would be shooting film all the time but it is so I shoot almost exclusively on digital cameras.
If you’re thinking about shooting film give it a shot and I’m sure you’ll have a blast.

All the best,
Atticus

(All the photos featured below are photographed on 35mm film.)


Rinse and repeat.

Over the past few years, I’ve been pretty obsessed with photographing bodies.
Even if it’s just off the cuff walking on the street, of my girlfriend walking around the apartment or between takes on a shoot with a model.
It’s not a popular type of photography that’s going to get me tons of likes etc but to be honest I couldn’t give a hoot.
Once I get obsessed with something I’m always looking for it.
This has always lead to me creating things I’d never imagined I could make.
I believe this is the beauty of studying a craft and a specific subject matter over time.
At first, it just looks like a boring picture of someone’s stomach or their back but after a few years of photographing the same thing, the work starts to take shape.
Looking back at the past 3 years I can now see some patterns in my work.
I don’t often show faces as much as I’d like to, I photograph certain objects often with the same angels, I favor certain types of light and subjects.
Another thing I love about photographing something consistently is that it pushes your mind to the edges of what it knows and makes new connections and eventually you will see past the obvious.

I really love photographing people’s bodies and that’s made me realize my interest in people’s skin.
It’s something I’d like to explore over the next few years and with everything going on in the world I think skin is only becoming more important as time goes by.

Are you too hard on yourself?

What does it mean to be hard on yourself, and does this even help us achieve our goals? After speaking with some friends this weekend, I realized how little credit I give myself. I often focused on the issues I am facing while neglecting any positive strides I have made in solving those problems. This used to work for me but being too hard on yourself is a short term game. Eventually, that self-deprecating voice in your head will catch up with you. It hard for me to explain but all I know is that being your biggest critique has to take the form of standards and values, not insults that belittle your self-worth.

The alternative is often what I see my friends doing every day. They stay active, no matter what it is they have some form of movement in their days. A healthy body helps your mind stay healthy there is no denying that. My friends also give there best effort wherever they can and if they can't they tackle it again the next day. It's not good to be all or nothing or too extreme in your life because it is not sustainable. Take fitness or business for example. Going from no activity to 16 hour days will break you fast and if you are hard on yourself like I have been you might tell yourself you're a worthless piece of shit for not being able to handle that workload. Very few people can handle that right off the bat and if we think of that in terms of fitness it's safe to say not many people can run a marathon without ever training. What I'm learning from the successful people I have around me is that things aren't as hard as we make them out to be. A healthy body is a few smart meal decisions and a 30-minute workout 5 days a week. A good worker wakes up every day and gets to it.

Health and wealth shouldn't be looked at as hard they are a privilege and they are things to be excited about. If you are having a tough time being hard on yourself and it doesn't seem to be motivating you, try encouraging yourself instead. Give your best every day and eventually, the bar will be higher than you ever expected it to be or be hard on yourself and you'll quit and stop over and over again.

Working out.

This weekend my roommate (Ryan) and my girlfriend (Meg) made our way up to Ryans hometown in Rockland County, Ny.
It has been amazing being out of the city and waking up to birds chirping rather than sirens.
I’m going to keep this short today as I haven’t felt very passionate about writing lately.
Below are some images of Meg and Ryan doing what they love to do working out early Saturday morning.

Habits and Stories.

Just a second ago I had just finished writing this blog and then my pinky hit the escape button and I lost everything lol. (So heres my attempt at trying to remember what I just wrote.)

Writing this blog again over the past week has really given me a kick in the ass.
Realizing how little I’ve been shooting and writing and I’ve started to take my camera with me whenever I am going somewhere.
Although I’ve only been shooting in transition ex. shopping, getting a coffee, or taking the dog to the park I firmly believe that action builds momentum.
Just a few photos a day will really help train your eye and once you get that ball rolling it becomes harder for it to stop.

This is also why I’ve been creating new layouts for the photos on this blog.
I’m a pretty shit designer and curator so I figured why not just try it.
Since I’ve been taking photos I’ve always wanted to make a book and the only way to build those skills is to do it as often as possible.
The hardest part about learning a new skill for me is starting, and the second is liking the process.
It’s not enough to do something once a month when you’re looking to build a skill so I try and add it to an existing habit.
With these new designs, I start creating a layout as soon as I’m done editing my photos.
This is also the most important part about photography which is storytelling.
It’s a skill I really want to master in my life and I think it applies to every art wether it be music, painting, movies, or photography.

My 2 takeaways from this blog.
1. Whatever you are trying to learn make a habit of it.
2. Story telling in life is one of the most valuable skills you can have.
It’s how we transfer information, it’s what keeps life interesting, and everyone in the world is obsessed with it. (Think about anything you entertain yourself with, it’s either a story already formed for you to ingest or a story being made for you to tell later)


Evening walk.

Walking through this neighborhood is always interesting.
There is never a dull moment here which is kind of ironic because I look for quiet in my photography.
Whenever I walk and shoot it’s more of a practice and a process for me to find things I may have walked past. I wouldn’t really call it street photography because I’m not looking for moments on the street so much as I’m looking for the often looked over parts of it.
Less obvious images draw me into practice it feels like uncharted territory for my brain.
In any practice I think this is where people learn the most.

The photos below were taken yesterday on my walk to pick up some groceries.

Helping or Hurting?

After I finished editing my photos yesterday I felt so bored and at a loss for what to do.
I’ve always been okay at being my own boss but with the city still being shut down I really have idea what to do next.
It’s moments like this where having a boss would be a huge help.
With this on my mind I’d really like to hire a business coach but I’m not really sure where to start amongst the slew of dirtbag business coaches on the internet.
I also had to ask myself yesterday when I consider what to do next I have to ask myself one thing, “Does it help or does it hurt?”
Ultimately my goal is to be a wealthy photographer and to live a lifestyle with creative freedom.
If something does not help me get there does it hurt me from getting there.
Often the answer is yes and I understand we all need our downtime but over this quarantine I’ve had too much unhealthy down time. (Ex. drinking on the roof, bad food, binging movies.)
Luckily I’m getting past this behavior but I’m still in a bit of a conundrum.
WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO NEXT?
My intent this year was to build a photo community through events which clearly can’t happen anymore.
Now I’ve been trying to find alternatives to in person meetings via the internet so I can still build a community but adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines.
I guess my point here is no matter what your goals are I think it’s important to weigh your actions against your goals.
For me it’s a great way to keep myself honest about my actions v.s. my intentions.
Is what I am doing true to where I want to be in 5 years?
If it isn’t it’s time change somethings to realign yourself with your values.

Making do with little time.

I haven’t been taking photos at all lately which is very unlike me.
I’ve maybe taken 50-60 photos this month on my work camera and besides that I’ve mainly been shooting with my phone.
This past Friday a few friends stopped over and before we went out to a block party I decided to take a few photos as the sun was setting.
Those photos below feature my friends Nik and Jahkeem.

Routine without Monotony.

Time moves like a rolling stone, especially when life becomes too repetitive. This quarantine has been a lesson in how monotonous routine living can be. It's a bit of a conundrum though because I find the best way for myself to stay productive is to have a morning ritual. Wake up, hit the peloton, shower, coffee, and journal for 20 minutes. This routine always seems to put my head in a better place. So the question here is how do you have routine without it speeding up time? I like to switch my morning routine up every three months or so but the key factor is always starting it with movement. Whether it's walking and taking pictures at sunrise or going for a run movement always seems to lead to a brighter day. Then from there, I have a list of things I need to get done during the day that I have made the night before. My schedule is never the same and this had made life as a freelancer much more freeing than a 9-5. Without being too repetitive with these blogs, I frequently talk about compounding which is the power of doing one small thing daily for an extended period of time. The photos below show my roommate on one of his daily peloton rides. Like clockwork, I can count on the sounds of him huffing and puffing on that bike at 12 pm every single day. His dedication really shows in his physique and it also bleeds into other aspects of his life. From eating to walking the dog, I can tell you where my roommate will be at any given time of the day. My roommate is very rigid in his routine and although that may be repetitive he has compounded his performance as a result. In closing, if you want better results in your life a little routine goes a long way.

Bad Reactions.

I wake up most mornings and stretch my legs on a walk to get my iced coffee. Every time I do this I leave my phone at home so I can have some time with my first thoughts of each day. This morning after a small disagreement with my girlfriend I thought about what has kept our relationship healthy. In the past, it wasn't always this way. Throughout college, we would react to our problems rather than communicate through them. Sitting on that thought I noticed how much I hate my own reactiveness. I don't have sudden outbursts of anger as frequently as I did as a child but when they do arise I feel terrible about myself. This brings up an unspoken rule I've always had for myself and that is to stay away from overly reactive, and grudge-holding people. There is no grudge worth holding. Being pissed off at someone only hurts you. It's a feeling inside of yourself emotionally shutting yourself off from the world that only you can feel. Wouldn't it be better to just not give a fuck about that person and to go get some ice cream with people that actually care about you? Now think about someone being pissed off at you, holding a grudge, and reacting viciously to everything you do or say. The truth is they are hurting themselves more than they are hurting you. Do you want that same self-deprecating action to be apart of your life? Fuck no. Communication is the only way to understand each other's pain points in any relationship. Has reacting, holding grudges, and being pissed off ever made anyone any happier?

Rainie turns 1

My roommate Ryan bought Rainie almost a year ago and what an absolute treat it has been to live with this little angel. Safe to say I feel like a doggy step dad or like a funcle (fun-uncle).
We’re going to celebrate her birthday this weekend so expect more fun pictures and less lengthy writing.

Life is good.

Rooftop happy hour.

New York makes you realize a lot when you first move here.
For me the most important thing was having a private space and somewhere to decompress.
Every apartment I’ve lived in has always had a rooftop and as long as I’m living in NYC it’s a must have for me.
I can deal with the lack of space, crammed subways, smelly streets, but as long as I have a roof to breathe on and I can see the sky things just seem to be that much better.
A decent roof top is worth every penny.
Wherever you live it’s important to have that tranquil space.

With love,
Atticus