Photography Isn’t a Contest: why You Should Stay Away from Photography Contests

I wanted to write to you about photography contests — why I generally recommend staying away from them. First of all, if you enter your photo into a contest, you suddenly become a slave to the opinions of others. The most important person to please in your photography is yourself. Not judges. Not random people […]

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How to get over your fear and shoot street portraits with permission

If there is one genre of street photography I specialize in, it is “street portraiture.” I love talking with my subjects, engaging with them, and focusing on their faces. If I started shooting street portraits all over again, this is the advice I would give myself. 1. Don’t Hesitate Avoid all regrets. If you see […]

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How to use photography as self-therapy to help relieve stress and get through the tough times

Have you ever felt stressed, shitty, and overwhelmed with life — and went out with a walk with your camera, and instantly felt much better? For me, photography is all about self-therapy. I’ve used the camera as a tool to overcome my stress, my social anxiety, and as a way of creative self-expression. Photography isn’t […]

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Five tips for shooting winning Urban Landscapes

I consider “urban landscapes” as a sub-genre of street photography. But it is tricky — what differentiates a great “urban landscape” from just a snapshot of a building? In this guide, I will try to offer some tips, and deconstruct how to shoot more emotional, memorable, and powerful urban landscapes: What is an urban landscape? […]

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How to Be a Zen Photographer

I’m a big fan of Zen/Taoist, Eastern philosophy. Even though I am very pro-American at heart (in terms of our love for risk-taking, for individuality, and for freedom), I see a lot of negatives of the American/Western line of thinking. There is too much focus on “profit”, “success”, and externalizing your self-worth in terms of […]

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