Esquire Kazakhstan

I recently had the opportunity to shoot a men’s fashion story for Esquire Kazakhstan.
I’ve always had a hard time describing what kind of photography I do and that is still true.
I’m so in love with taking photos that I find it difficult to not shoot something but that doesn’t have to be the case.
It is okay to shoot everything from weddings to your friend’s birthday, sports, and even fashion if you want to.
The important thing is the way you curate your work.
For example, you wouldn’t expect Brittny Spears to have a metal song on her album full of pop hits.

Consistency is one of the most difficult and elusive parts of photography.
I try to find a balance in 3 ways.
1. Similar lighting and editing style throughout my images.
2. Subject matter. (what/who are you photographing)
3. Restricting myself to one lens per shoot. Too many options can make things messy.

The shoot featured below was particularly interesting to me because the model is a US Olympic gold medalist for fencing.
The model Race Imboden also uses his platform to advocate for the end of gun violence which is a topic very near to my heart.
I wish I knew this beforehand because it’s something I would have strived to convey in the images.
If you have time do your research before any shoot but unfortunately, I shot this one a couple of days after I found out about it.

To wrap this up I’m very stoked to be seeing my images printed more often than they ever have been this year and I’m looking forward to keeping this going.

The key to ideas.

Regrettably the first thing I do every morning is look at my phone.
There was a time when I used to notice how distracted I would be for the entire day if I gazed at my phone as soon as I woke up.
Just 15 to 20 minutes could throw my concentration off entirely.
Now I hardly notice the lack of focus as this morning routine has become so natural again over the quarantine.
This is a problem because all of my best breakthroughs have come from boredom, early morning writing, or late night editing.
This is something about monotony that inspires the shit out of my brain.

Rewind to about 7 years ago I was in college doing anything I could for a few extra dollars.
I got rid of tree stumps in peoples yards, dug holes where machines couldn’t fit, and fabricated marble counter tops.
All of these things took a lot of time and to the hum of a machine some of my best photo ideas were born.

Each day after work in the summers I had 2 hours of sunlight left to shoot with and wether I had friends to model or not I’d go and take photos.
At the time I couldn’t wait to stop doing manual labor but looking back I miss how full mind mind felt after a long day of work.
I still get the same feeling if I have a long hard day of work.
It doesn’t drain me it fills me with excitement.

I can’t say this technique will work for everyone but for myself doing something monotonous like folding clothes, or a long day of yard work seems to fill me with a flood of ideas.
In direct contrast looking for inspiration online seems to jumble my thoughts until there is nothing left but scrambled eggs.
I envy people who can make sense of all that information but for myself it just leads to a dizziness I can’t undo to the next day.

Lastly I find a lot of my photo ideas come from just taking photos.
Walking in itself is a long boring process but it’s one of my favorite things to do.
This is probably why none of my photo composition ideas come from biking, it’s too much information all at once.
I’ve also haven’t been posting much on instagram and over the next few weeks I’m going to try to be more present during my mornings.
Less phone time equals more focus.

Hope this helps,
Atticus.

11 things that helped me learn photography.

1. SHOOT MANUAL - When I first started taking pictures I was constantly getting blurry images in low light or under exposed images in broad day light. Once I realized how exposure worked within the camera than I was able to determine how I wanted my images to look. This is super easy to understand so if you’re looking to figure it out I’ll link a tutorial video here.

2. SHOOT OFTEN - I take a few photos every single day but when I was getting started I made it a point to shoot at least an hour a day. Reviewing the images on my computer after each session helped me to understand what worked well for me and what didn’t work at all. This practice also helps you make the most of what little you have to shoot so when it comes time to shoot for a client you will be comfortable knowing that you can get the shots you need in any situation.

3. YOUTUBE EDITING TUTORIALS- We’ve all taken a picture of something we thought was beautiful just to look down at our camera and see that the image does it no justice. This can be because your eye sees better than your camera. If you dig deep into youtube editing tutorials you can get the tools you need to fix this issue and best of all it’s FREE!

4. PUT YOUR OWN SPIN ON YOUR EDITS- It’s becoming way too easy to copy someone’s editing style especially with all the presets and tutorials on youtube. Copying too much will only make you blend in, in an industry designed for standouts.
   Put your own little touch on your editing and remember that clean is timeless and over editing an image may date it or just muddy up the image.

5. HAVING A COMMUNITY HELPS- I wish I understood or knew this sooner but having friends to shoot with or style for your shoots will make your knowledge of photography grow exponentially. I remember when I first started taking photos and every question I asked photographers was ignored or met with harsh criticism. I really took this to heart at that time and I realized that if I wanted to learn this I’d have to do it on my own. If you want to grow your photography skills super fast do the opposite of what I did. Join groups online (Ex. Looks like film on Facebook) share your images and comment on other people’s images. If you become a familiar face in any photo group people will naturally be inclined to help you when you have questions. Lastly, the most important part about building this community is sharing new things you’ve learned that can help others improve their craft. No one likes someone who only takes but never gives.

6. PLAN TO TELL A STORY- For me this is huge. My best work has always come when there was a story in my head before I went and made the photos. For example, the photos below are taken on a rainy Sunday morning playing basketball with my roommate. I knew that I wanted to bring the camera to show basketball played in the rain. If I went out with no intention or story in mind you might see photos of people on the street, my coffee, and other random things. Telling a story helps people digest your work.

7. COMPOSITION- This takes a while but if you look at enough photos you’ll start to see angles photographers often use. I personally love finding my own angles to shoot things so that they make a shape in my frame. Again composition will make your photos easier to understand and more aesthetically pleasing but with that being said composition isn’t everything. The most important part about photography will always be what in the photo and what is it saying.

8. COPY TO UNDERSTAND- I’ve always strived to not copy while making work. My goal is always to progress my practice to somewhere it hasn’t been that’s better than where it was but…… when you’re learning to take photos and you want to understand light it’s super important to copy. I’m not saying you should add these copies to your portfolio (please don’t) but the skills you can learn from copying an image or an edit is akin to sharpening a chief’s knives.

9. LIGHT- You have to have a relationship with light to be a photographer. Light is what develops the image onto your sensor or film and it can be your best friend or worst enemy. Find out what time of the day has the best light for you and shoot during that time every day. This will also help your images look more consistent over time. Another thing to note is that your camera does not produce the best images, the light and your vision does. Focus on better lighting rather than the most expensive camera equipment.

10. A GOOD EDIT ON A BAD PICTURE IS STILL A BAD PICTURE- What’s going on in the image is always going to be what’s most important. I had a teacher who used to like my edits but the images were of nothing so he would tell me you can polish a turd but at the end of the days it’s just a shiny turd. Don’t polish your turds.

11. KEEP A PHOTO JOURNAL- This is number one for my guys. Nothing has helped me in photography more than keeping a photo journal. If you want to see what that looks like I’ll leave a link HERE.

If you have any questions don’t be afraid to leave a comment below I’d love to discuss.

Camera Review Fuji x100F

Yesterday my friend let me borrow his Fuji x100F.
I was pretty pumped on this because one of the most annoying things about taking photos is lugging around a huge camera and tons of other lenses.
With this pocket-size camera the lens is fixed and you can fit it into any bag.
On top of that, you don’t have to edit the photos because fuji has film simulations built into the camera.
Yeah, they aren’t perfect but for snapshots and quick trips out of the city they are great and will save you a ton of time on editing.

Beyond that, this camera is extremely easy to use.
After a few minutes I knew where all the settings were and it’s painless to fine-tune the camera to the style you desire.
The fuji x100f is seriously making me want to invest in fuji.

This camera is 100% a point and shoot camera much like the ones your parents used to photograph your birthday party’s in the 90’s.
If I had to critique this camera it’s really only lacking in the video department but that’s just not what this camera is for.
I’d also say that this is not a camera I’d ever use for client work because of how small the sensor is because you lose some detail in the color if you are really trying to edit your images.

With that being said this camera kicks ass for anyone looking to take travel photos, street photos, or to capture family memories and the images that come straight out of the camera with the fujifilm simulations come out rad.

I give this camera an 8/10
The skin tones are really good.
Greens and blues are a little funky.
Very high usability with a basic understanding of exposure.
Battery life is decent.
Size is everything with this camera, it’s smaller than an iPhone 11 plus but obviously it’s thicker.
This camera can fit in your back pocket!

Morning walk 4/4

The final walk from last week.
This one was great because I was able to go surfing with my buddy Herms out in Rockaway beach.
I didn’t shoot a bunch as I was surfing the whole time but at the end of our morning I took a few photos to finish my weekly goal.

For these photos, I wanted to do something a little different as I’ve been having trouble editing my images lately.
Typically I am editing in Capture one and there are some things I love about it and others that I can’t stand.
I hold the same sentiment for lightroom.
It is a great tool but it has its limitations.
If you are having a tough time editing I find that using a different tool can help make you realize the things you may be doing wrong or the things that you are overdoing.
For myself, it’s typically the latter.
While editing I tend to have a photo right where I want it to be then in my doubt I go overboard.

Clean and timeless editing will always be better than a unique edit because what is in the photo is more important than the makeup you put over the top of it.

With that being said here are a bunch of over-edited photos to prove my point.

Morning walk 3/4

Whenever I get down on myself about my life it can be hard to want to stay with photography.
It’s an extremely difficult field to make a living in and with such easy access to cameras everywhere day rates are plummeting.
The supply far outweighs the demand.
How a working photographer gets around to making money is a conversation for another day.

My point today is to talk about what to do when facing difficult times in your career.
No matter what we do we all have struggles that can make us feel hopeless but if you truly love what you do or if you receive a fat check every week that can make all the difference.
When I go out and shoot all my problems seem to dissolve, especially when I am trying to photograph ideas I have drawn out in my notepad.
This simple action fills me with hope and makes me excited to one day make a better living with photography.

So why stress now?
Shit gets hard, yeah but you have to keep your head down and keep doing your best.
But what if doing your best isn’t enough?
Your best might not be enough unless you have a specific goal in mind.
This is something I’ve only just realized about my photography.
I’ve always just wanted to make great photos and to make a living off of it.
I don’t think that’s a specific enough question to ask of the universe.
Looking back on my life everything I ever truly wanted I have received, whether it was my dream girl, a job, a car, a trophy etc. I got it but I always saw it first.
If I didn’t get it I really didn’t want it bad enough and most times I couldn’t envision it.

At the point of my career I am at now I know I need to narrow my focus and to ask to be the best photographer in a specific genre.
Whether it’s to be the best documentary photographer, celebrity portrait photographer, or product photographer.
What do you really want?
I find that the more specific I am the more likely I am to get there.
It’s like driving west or driving versus driving to Santa Monica, California, you’ll get to where you want to be a lot faster if you have an exact location.

Ask for what you really want.

All the best,
Atticus

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

Beach Weekend.

The best weekend I’ve had in a while.
I am grateful to have people like these ones in my life.

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.