{ "version": "https:\/\/jsonfeed.org\/version\/1.1", "title": "Yuri Litvinenko", "_rss_description": "Online editor @ Kommersant; Publisher @ 30pin. Read more about me. This blog is for articles too specific or personal to be published elsewhere", "_rss_language": "en", "_itunes_email": "ylitvinenko+web@outlook.com", "_itunes_categories_xml": "", "_itunes_image": "https:\/\/blog.ylitvinenko.com\/pictures\/userpic\/userpic-square@2x.jpg?1595972276", "_itunes_explicit": "no", "home_page_url": "https:\/\/blog.ylitvinenko.com\/", "feed_url": "https:\/\/blog.ylitvinenko.com\/rss\/", "icon": "https:\/\/blog.ylitvinenko.com\/pictures\/userpic\/userpic@2x.jpg?1595972276", "authors": [ { "name": "Yuri Litvinenko", "url": "https:\/\/blog.ylitvinenko.com\/", "avatar": "https:\/\/blog.ylitvinenko.com\/pictures\/userpic\/userpic@2x.jpg?1595972276" } ], "items": [ { "id": "15", "url": "https:\/\/blog.ylitvinenko.com\/all\/creativity\/", "title": "Asking for your moral help re: creativity and inspiration", "content_html": "

This year, for all its hardships, is shaping up to be the year of personal gains. I sincerely feel 2020 will be a net positive for me: I’m more confident than ever, I have a better understanding of myself, and I’ve finally found a person dearest to me.<\/p>\n

But I’m afraid my creative side is paying the price. My inability to express myself and to find—or create—anything evocative is continuing for many months. I’ve tried attributing it to burnout, lack of time, or general tiredness, but the problem seems to be bigger than any of these issues.<\/p>\n

It used to take just a little observation to make me research topics of my personal interest and jump straight to writing afterwards. Now, it became extremely hard and impractical to get myself inspired. For example, if I want to look at some events from few decades ago, I must allocate plenty of time, turn on some period-specific music, flip through tons of clips—and then I might (or might not) come close to the required state of mind.<\/p>\n

And we are talking about a scenario where I understand what I want to cover. Lately, I ended up staring at a screen for hours with no idea what I even want to do. To make things worse, museums and libraries—only venues which can surely put me in a proper mood—are either closed or, because of COVID-19 precautions, aren’t worth the risk of commuting through the city.<\/p>\n

Recently, that made me unhealthy envious of everyone whom I perceive to be a more prolific creator, getting annoyed by their weekly videos, book deals, huge portfolios, and event invitations. This is an inexcusable behavior towards many people whom I personally respect, and it does nothing but destroys what’s left of my enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

I don’t see a reasonable way to escape the situation. An unreasonable one is to take an obscenely long vacation and use it in lieu of a sabbatical. That would be highly irresponsible, and it’s not just me anymore whom I have to materially support. Leaving the issue alone won’t cut it either, as I want<\/i> to remove whatever’s keeping me from covering my personal interests. Besides, I believe that, by not doing so, I am putting a limit on what I can achieve.<\/p>\n

This post is a cry for help. On behalf of me and all my stalled projects, I am asking you for any advice you’d find relevant.<\/p>\n", "date_published": "2020-12-04T15:34:07+00:00", "date_modified": "2020-12-04T14:24:33+00:00", "tags": [ "Personal" ], "_date_published_rfc2822": "Fri, 04 Dec 2020 15:34:07 +0000", "_rss_guid_is_permalink": "false", "_rss_guid": "15", "_rss_enclosures": [], "_e2_data": { "is_favourite": false, "links_required": [], "og_images": [] } }, { "id": "14", "url": "https:\/\/blog.ylitvinenko.com\/all\/aw1\/", "title": "Amateur’s Week #1: Escaping routine trough mobile photography", "content_html": "

For quite a long time, I’ve been struggling with finding any sort of pastime which wouldn’t be too similar to my main job. Sure, I love writing and contributing to various outlets, but I’d have to do something else to not go insane!<\/p>\n

Photography might be the only activity that I liked for as long as I dug the journalism. I’ve never progressed much, though, and I wouldn’t say I am able to continuously produce good photos—although I can sometimes make still worthy of brand<\/a>-name<\/a> publications. What’s more interesting is I’ve never owned a camera, having to lend one from relatives and friends instead.<\/p>\n

No, this isn’t going to be a GoFundMe announcement for a shiny new DSLR. Instead, I’m taking whatever I already have and, starting this week, trying to remember what kind of fun I was having with shooting and editing photos. To build both a skill and a healthy habit, I aim to consistently publish at least a few photos a week, complete with an analysis of my errors and a postmortem for each individual still. I will<\/i> be making mistakes—that’s the whole point.<\/p>\n

I am going to post my photos on Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> Google Maps (when relevant), and Flickr<\/a>, complete with the Creative Commons Attribution tag on the former. Most importantly, I will be using this blog to vivisect my work and compare edited photos with the originals. (Please report me if there are some problems with fancy comparison galleries.)<\/p>\n

Tools I’m using<\/h2>\n
\n\"\"\n<\/div>\n

Mobile photography has come a long way since whatever it was<\/a> in the early 2000s. Most importantly, even mid-range photos can now do adequate stills. For the project, I will be using the new Samsung Galaxy A71 which comes with a whole bunch of sensors and lenses. Right now, I will let all the “AI” (read: re-branded auto modes) do the groundwork for me, but I do aspire to switch to the manual mode when needed.<\/p>\n

The post-processing will be done on the 5th-generation iPad Mini, suited with Affinity Photo and an Apple Pencil. I’ve edited enough photos using GIMP and a laggy mouse, so I’m going to treat myself to the comfort of the post-PC environment. Besides, while I’m only learning to use the Affinity Photo, I already appreciate its balance between a full-fledged editor and a collection of easy-to-apply filters (which, thank God, automatically go to their own layers and do not bake into the image unless you’ve ordered them to).<\/p>\n

With that cleared up, let’s see what I was able to do this Saturday.<\/p>\n

Some seeds<\/a><\/h2>\n