Postcards > Moodboards
And four other small things shaping my creative week
It’s a beautiful day outside.
The kind of day that doesn’t really suggest writing a Substack from home is the right play.
And for the last few weeks, I’ve gone fairly deep here.
Creativity, perspectives, the philosophy of a creative life. I love writing those posts, but today isn’t really shaping up to be a look-inward, unpack-something kind of day.
So this week I thought I’d lean lighter.
Five things I’m simply enjoying right now. Let’s make it a seasonal edition.
Let’s dive in.
theLab
A photographer friend put me onto this new piece of software from photographer Caleb Salvatori called theLab. It’s built to bring your digital edits closer to film.
I’ve been experimenting with the free version for a few weeks now and really enjoying the process. It links up cleanly with Lightroom and lets you play with different film stocks without much fuss.
There’s something quietly fun about seeing independent creators build these kinds of tools. It adds a bit of joy back into the editing process that I didn’t realise I was missing.
My favourite part is being able to add grain to the shadows, midtones, or highlights individually. I’ve only seen that done well in one other place, and here it’s even better.
I’ve linked theLab here if you want to give it a go.
Analogue inspirations
I’ve been noticing something happening the more I lean into real-life inspiration rather than the digital kind.
There’s a postcard I use as a bookmark, and the photo on it just makes me smile every time I pick up my book.
Here in the city, whenever I pass a gallery or an art shop, I like to step in and see what other people are making.
It might sound simple, but these little encounters are doing far more for my creativity than any moodboard on my laptop ever has.
Claude Code
This one might be a little controversial, but I’ve been taking an embracing approach to AI lately.
I’m still undecided on how I see it fitting into my workflow long-term (and I’d caution you not to take anyone’s word as guarantees yet). But for the tedious tasks, the ones that take a bit more effort than they’re really worth, Claude Code has quietly become a help.
A few of my favourite use cases:
Organisation. Since linking Claude Code to my desktop folder, I’ve been sorting exported images far more easily. No more scrolling through a long list of file names. With a few prompts, it’s helped me organise photos, work trip receipts, business expenses, and even cleared out my downloads folder.
My website. It might come as a shock, but my updated site was actually vibe-coded. Trust me, I don’t really know what that means either, but essentially, I used Claude Code to help build it. It took some time, some extra credits, and a lot of experimentation, but after a couple of days, I had a new site live, free from the stress I experienced when building V1 on Framer.
Synthesising ideas. No surprise here, but most of us are already using AI as a kind of whiteboard. A place to drop all the thoughts and questions before they become anything. I often do this when I have a newsletter idea. I’ll write for about thirty minutes, then ask Claude to find my through-line and unpack the junk I’ve just splurted out.
When you take a proactive approach with it, I’ve been enjoying it.
Although I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of it’s capabilities.
Mythos, by Stephen Fry
If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get sucked into the world of constant improvement, especially with the books we consume.
That’s why, for my most recent read, I decided to lean towards interest rather than education.
Funnily enough, that interest led me back to my Greek roots, through Stephen Fry’s retelling of the Greek gods.
The familiar names, the small ah-ha moments, the rhythm of a proper story.
It’s made reading feel enjoyable again, rather than the listicle-style books I’d caught myself consuming earlier this year.
If I could recommend one thing, it’d be adding an interest book to your rotation rather than another educational one.
The load tends to feel a little lighter when you do.
YouTube videos worth watching this weekend
A handful of videos that have made it into my weekly rotation:
Ulysses Aoki, “If I could buy 1 camera today, it would be this” A really cool perspective on street photography + expensive cameras. His videos are calm, and I love the approach.
Samuel Elkins, “What I Wish I Knew Sooner”. I’ve followed Sam for a long time, but this one was exactly the watch I needed earlier this week.
The Life of Riza, “Learning A Language In My 20s”. A great watch, and one that spoke to me as someone trying to improve my Spanish every day. Exposure therapy was the theme. Something I feel I’m living daily.
Matt D’Avella, “I tried Zone 2 training for 30 days (what I learned)”. I love how Matt brings a documentary feel to YouTube. And I’ve been wanting to get my Zone 2 training off zero anyway.
Wrapping up
That’s it for this week. A lighter edition, but the kind I think every creative needs every now and then.
That’s where I’m at today. And now, I’ll be heading outside.
Catch you next week,
Matty.