FIND YOUR GIFTS, THEN GIVE IT ALL AWAY

The wonderful music video above is from Canadian artist, Homeshake, for his new single, "Every Single Thing". In case you didn't notice, Homeshake never appears in this music video. In fact, we aren't even in Canada. Instead, we are in Taiwan with my two incredibly talented friends, Wen hao Chang, and Ning Han.

The back story:

Wen hao Chang and Ning Han originally uploaded a dance video on their Instagram 4 months ago just as a way to remember what they practiced. And just for kicks, they hashtagged the artist #homeshake.

Here's the original video:

台北的公園就是偶的練舞場 牛刀小試 by @hphpapa #goodnight #homeshake

A post shared by 韓寧 Han Ning (@hanninghanning) on Nov 10, 2016 at 6:22am PST

Well, Homeshake saw the video, loved it so much and decided to have the both of them create the official music video for his latest single, "Every Single Thing". 

I love this. 

It's a simple, yet inspiring example of the great things that can happen when you put yourself out there, and share your gifts with the world, regardless of imperfections.

Thank you, Wen hao Chang, and Ning Han—

For inspiring us to not just continue pursuing our passions, but to share it with the world as well.

"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." —Pablo Picasso

by Jason Lam

DON'T LOOK BACK: A BRIEF NOTE ON PHOTO EDITING

It is my suggestion that when you are editing your photos for the first time to never go back and look at the photos you did not select. When you do so you will come up with excuses as to why a weak photo is strong - which usually relies too heavily on technical hoo-haas versus the photo moving you on a gut level. 

If, however, you are to go back and look for photos that you feel you may have missed. Then do so with a specific goal in mind. And I suggest, for you to write it down and commit to it before you start. 

For example, if you need more portraits, look only for portraits. If you need more close-ups. Look only for close-ups. Do not go in there and just wander around. That would be like wandering into your closet trying to figure out what to wear and doing nothing but wasting time because you have not chosen a specific occasion or activity to guide what type of clothing you should be selecting.

When I didn't have this guideline for myself, I'd often go back and look through all my photos dozens of times, combing through all my photos to make sure I don't miss a single shot. But this is very time consuming, and when push comes to shove, I just end up choosing the original photos I chose during my first round of edits. So, don't make the same mistakes I've made.

by Jason Lam

HOW TO BE A BETTER PHOTO EDITOR

Taking pictures is one thing. Going back and looking at the thousands of photos you shot, picking out the best ones, and putting together a coherent story is another. Editing your photos is an essential step all photographers must make when building up their body of work. The photo shoot might be over, but your job is not done. You now need to become your own curator, decide what it is you want to share with the world, and make sure your selections align with what you want to say. 

Here are 10 steps you can take to improve your photo editing:

1. Trust your gut. Photography is this magical, ethereal thing that despite having done this for so many years, I still find it hard to verbalize what truly makes a good photo. However, I noticed the best photos make you feel something, usually something you can’t describe. They make you stop, even if it’s just for a split second. These are usually your strongest photos.
   

2. Know yourself. And be aware of yourself. You can’t select your best photos if you don’t notice the way you feel when making your selections. You need to know when you are moved by an image. You also need to know when you are not moved at all. It’s a very subtle difference, but it makes all the difference.
   

3. Edit fast. Go quick! Especially for your first round. Don’t think too much. When we think too much, we start to invent reasons as to why a certain photo is worth keeping. This prevents us from sticking to our gut. It also wears us down. Go quick for your first round. You can slow down and specify later on.
   

4. State your intention. Be crystal clear about what you are editing for and what you’re trying to say with your images. For example, the way you would edit photos for a personal project would be totally different from how you would edit a project for a commercial gig. Be clear about the intention of your photos, and let that be your compass. Otherwise, it can be really easy to get lost.
   

5. No excuses. Photography is hard. You might have spent years of your life and tons of your money trying to get that one shot. You might have flown across world. You might have even risked your life. But effort alone doesn’t create a great image. Don’t make excuses for yourself. If it’s a bad photo, then it’s a bad photo. Nobody cares about the backstory unless it’s a great photo to begin with.
   

6. Just because you shot it, doesn’t mean it’s a good. There’s a general bias when it comes to critiquing our own work, and that bias is the belief that because you made it, it’s good. Perhaps our parents and teachers were a little too kind to us back in the day when they would ooh and ahh over our random scribbles as if they were masterpieces that belong in the Louvre. Who knows. Whatever it is. Just because you made it, doesn’t mean it’s good. It may have been good in stretching your creative muscles, but that might be it. Detach yourself from your inner ego. It’s not good just because you made it. Sorry to burst your childhood dreams.
   

7. Step away. Once you’ve made your selections, step away for about a week or two. Then see if you still feel the same about them when you return. You may find that some images may have lost their appeal. Hopefully, most of them kept their pizazz. Sometimes our excitement about having finished a shoot skews our vision, making us think our images are greater than they really are. By spending time away from your beloved work, you can clear your head, come back thinking straight, and make the proper adjustments.
   

8. Live with your images. After you’ve narrowed down your selections, it is best to spend some serious time with them. Print your pictures out, and hang them on the wall. Maybe even in different sizes. Keep track of how you feel about your selections. Which ones stand the test of time and provide long-term fulfillment? Keep those. Discard the rest.
   

9. Find a challenger. By this, I mean a second pair of eyes of a colleague you trust. This person understands you as an artist and challenges your work. They ask you questions you’d rather not answer. You will need to answer these questions, fight back, and prove yourself to your challenger. This part is quite difficult. It’s hard to talk about your own work, but I’ve found it is very helpful when it comes to making sure my work is really as strong as I think. (PSA: A giant hug at the end of a session always helps.)
   

10. Reflect and revise. Take a look at your final selections, and reflect on whether or not your images align with why you started the project in the first place. Is it saying what you want it to say? If not, what’s missing? Do you need to shoot more? Or go back, and revise your edit? Sometimes the project we are left with is completely different from the one we intended to create. No worries. It’s all part of the creative process. What’s most important is you now have a foundation you can stand on and refer back to as you make your finishing touches.

Editing photos require us to take on many roles. We have to be technical, sensitive, and assertive all at the same time. It can be a rather daunting task requiring so many decisions to be made that we may be paralyzed into not making any decisions at all. I’ve certainly delayed many personal projects because I couldn’t come up with an edit. But one of the best things about being a photographer is being able to share our work with the world. I hope these 10 tips help you get there because I want to see your work too!

by Jason Lam

ON PHOTOGRAPHING CELEBRITIES

I’ve had conversations with colleagues of mine who talk about how they want to photograph celebrities. It’s like if they don’t have celebrities in their portfolio, then they are a failure. But I think that’s a waste of time. 

Why not find your own celebrities?

All the people I photograph are people I admire. They aren’t celebrities in the traditional sense, but they are famous to me. 

You don’t need to be photographing people everyone else is photographing. 

You need to be photographing your people. The people you think are special. The people who are famous to you. 

Forget celebrities. 

Make your own celebrities.

by Jason Lam

SHOW ME ALL OF YOU

Show me all of you.

I don’t want to just hear about your strengths. Tell me about your weaknesses. Your traumas. The lonely nights tossing and turning in bed. Tell me about the deep wounds in your heart. And the things you’ve done to try and deal with it all. We are not only our strengths. Nor are we only our weaknesses. We are all of them, and more. We are the meanings and lessons we choose to draw from our hardships.

Show me all of you.

Because it is the painful experiences that make us who we are. We are not only the good times we like to remember. We are also the hardships we want to ignore.

Pain and frustration is the wind and the rain that throughout the years carve us into the human beings we are today.

Show me all of you.

I will show you all of me.

by Jason Lam

STOP SAYING YOU DON'T CARE

Stop saying you don't care. Because you do care. You're just saying you don't so you don't ever have to try. But that's for wimps:

• People who don't have money who say they don't care about money

• People who have never traveled outside the country and say they don't care about travel

• People who are out of shape and say they don't care about what others think

It's all a self-defense mechanism, and it makes sense. If you never step into the ring you never have to risk getting knocked out. But you also never give yourself the chance to make some real progress in your life.

I'm not saying you necessarily have to care about any of the examples I've listed above. I just want to make sure you're not lying to yourself and putting yourself in a worse scenario than you need to be.

I say this because I've been there. I said I didn't care about money. Then I didn't have any money. I said I didn't care about love. Then I was lonely and depressed. I said I didn't care about what others think, and then I just had no friends. It was all a self-defense mechanism.

I did care. I cared deeply. I always have. I just didn't know a better way of expressing myself aside from shutting myself out from the world and putting up a front, only to realize I was shutting myself out from my own world.

But since I've taken responsibility for myself, my actions, and my life, I've stepped into the ring. I've faced rejection again and again. I write these blog posts. I share my work. I approach magazines and publishers and get ignored constantly. People cancel on me all the time, but I keep going because I care.

I care about financial stability. I care about my health. I care about my work and expressing myself. That involves getting knocked out 9 times out of 10 and somehow summing up the courage to get right back up again.

I keep going.

I keep getting back into the ring because I care.

Maybe sometimes a little too much.

by Jason Lam

PHOTOGRAPHY HACK: KEEP A REFERENCE FILE

Keep a reference file.

In my Lightroom catalog, I keep a folder in my collections called “REFERENCE.” It’s a folder of images I’ve shot that I think could be further improved or turned into a new project. Most importantly, these are my photos. I shot them. They are my ideas.

This is completely different from looking on Pinterest or searching on Google for references from other photographers. Your reference folder is made up of images you created yourself. This provides a confidence and inspiration boost because you know you can come up with original ideas without having to look at what everybody else is doing all the time.

Instead, you can look in.

References photos are often the mistakes or throwaways. These photos are the ones where someone accidentally walked into the frame, where the lighting was off, or where the image was slightly off focus. Usually, happy accidents are the birthplaces for new ideas and projects. 

So, the next time you look back on your images, instead of throwing these accidents into the trash, store them in your reference folder instead. Think of it like creating a compost pile. At first glance, your “bad photos” may seem like garbage but when put together, it could be fertile ground for greater work to emerge.

by Jason Lam

1 SECOND EVERYDAY - 2016

A transformative year to say the least. 

I found my smile again. Along with my heart.

Thank you 2016.

by Jason Lam