August 2025

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August 5th

12:05am - Sad, depressed but I can’t let that stop me.

August 4th

12:22am - Took a late afternoon nap around 7pm and woke up 11:30pm. Popped open the computer and got to editing this photo below. One thing I want to say about this photo is that I always shoot in RAW but I set the colors to black and white so I can focus on shapes and light + shadow. It’s not until I put the SD card into my computer and that I see the photos in color for the first time. With this photo I was down to having it black and white because the side light was good and you can see the shine on this beautiful dog’s coat. But then to see it in color on the computer: the red pants w/ little crabs, red shoes and red dog leash. This had to be in color:

Just discovered the work of Bulgarian flash photographer Svilen Nachev. He’s part of the Full Frontal Flash photography collective. Here’s some of his work below:

Went back to sleep at 3:30am and woke up 5:45am to get ready the rest of the day.

Went to AMC Screen Unseen (early access to a new film that is revealed at the showing for $8). Tonight’s screening was East of Wall. About fifteen people left before the first thirty minutes, the most I’ve ever seen leave during these surprise screenings. I also left exactly at the thirty-minute mark. The average rating for this film was quite good on Letterboxd (3.5 average) but I think cause all of us were expecting an action or a rom-com that we felt let down that the film was just a documentary style narrative in the American mid-west. It probably was a good film but I was so worn down with work today that I came to the movies to watch a film that would jolt me up like downing a triple shot of espresso.

August 3rd

Yesterday was the best street photo sessions I’ve had in a minute. The weather tuned down significantly making it more comfortable to walk for hours. I swapped lenses to a slightly wider focal length giving me more space to compose but still keeping the look of my photos the same. Here’s an example with a photo I took yesterday:

We like to think that since we own our bodies, we know everything about it. But intake of information can get so cluttered that it blocks how we should navigate through this world. I’ve been struggling for the past 3-4 months shooting street. I didn’t know what the problem was, it’s never been this bad before and thought whoa did I really lose the magic this time. I kept forcing myself to go downtown but would only end up with one to two “sort of” decent photos after walking for four hours non-stop. It took me yesterday after those several months to switch lenses and slow down a little bit. I was so obsessed with maximizing production thinking that that would be the way to improve myself and the quality of the photos.

If you’re stuck, simplify the process. Even if you are an expert in the field, sometimes it’s good to go back to kindergarten mentality and draw basic shapes again.

I’m so blissful right now. It’s like the freedom to stretch your limbs and bend your body in any direction without hitting an object. But a little scared that a caffeine crash will come soon. Trying to distribute the energy evenly throughout the day and week.

Got through about 40-pages while the bakery was going through it’s afternoon rush hour. Without earplugs, there was no way I could concentrate in there.

Custom drink made by good friend at the bakery. I could drink a gallon of this if the opportunity presented itself.

August 2nd

Still feeling good. Good sleep. No work today. Read the newspaper and a couple pages of *A Little Life* while charging my phone and camera batteries. Then around lunchtime head out with the camera.

What’s helped me get back to my natural flow was reading Naval’s podcast transcripts. When you do what you are truly interested in and by being authentic, you will never have to worry about competition or people trying to steal your ideas or style. I really recommend checking out his website and subscribe to his mailing list and all of his social media accounts: Naval

August 1st

Bought some new lighting equipment for this portable studio I’ve been slowly building. I would love to buy a new camera and a new lens but the camera is perfectly fine and I have all the staple lenses you need for any kind of portrait work. There’s a flash I’ve been wanting for a while and finally have a bit of money that allowed me to hit the purchase button this morning. Really excited for it to arrive later this week and ask a couple of my friends to sit down for a portrait session.

Also bought a portrait posing book. My strength is capturing candid moments and knowing when to hit the shutter when the posture snaps into place. But to have someone sit down in front of me and building a pose and expression from scratch is something I know very little.

You can have all the correct lenses and lighting equipment, but if you lack the skills to direct and shape body posture for someone that doesn’t know a thing about modeling, the photo is not going to turn out great.

There’s a book I bought a while back that I need to re-read again The Portrait Book by Thorsten von Overgaard. It’s not a guide on how to pose your subject but the philosophy behind posing and working with people. I remember reading it a while back and thought, “Whoa even an extreme introvert like me can be a portrait photographer!” but since I wasn’t even shooting portraits at the time, I forgot everything he wrote.

When it comes to portrait photography, the camera and the lighting is the least important part. It’s more of being a good host to your guest to make them feel relaxed in that chair. Having a one-light set up but being skillful in eliciting good reactions will result in a better photo than having a three-light set up and not being able to connect with your subject even though the photo will be technically better.

But if you can have good equipment and be a good conversationalist / listener / therapist you going to create some magic.

Regarding street photography, I’ve been so hard on myself. Putting too much pressure on something that should feel like fun and not work. I feel like a failure if I can’t get several good photos in one afternoon like I used to. But I got to remember that people would kill if they can get one good street shot in one week. I’ve had an amazing run and felt like “shit, I guess my luck has run out” and have been in a slump ever since. But I’m slowly getting back into it just trying to get one good photo and being satisfied and calling it a day.