Apparently the longest and most reliable study ever made on the topic of happiness (by Harvard University), came to this conclusions. The two main reasons for happiness are:

1. your relationships
2. the ability not to care about those little things that happen and annoy us more than they should

So for this Christmas, I wish you all to have some time to invest in the first pillar of happiness, your relationships. May you have wonderful days with the people you love most.

As for the second pillar of happiness, if it ever happens that you are as stupid as me and go out for a shoot without SD cards, just breath in deeply, remember that much worst could happen, and try to enjoy the time and place you are in also without taking any pictures.

WHAT ABOUT MONEY?

Well,  “Money” is not on the list of things that will give you true happiness in the long term. I guess that’s why we wisely get rid of it as quickly as possible in favor of new gear ;).

But jokes aside, while it’s true that money can’t buy happiness, a few dollars can make a whole lot of difference to some.

For example, this is what our friends at KNGO can do with the following amount:

• 20 Euro – one student is provided with a one-year supply of school books, folders, and pencils
• 50 Euro covers all costs for one student for 6 months
• 100 Euro gives a one-year scholarship to one student (that’s the option I just picked)

Running a project like this costs money (pay the teachers, pay for the school materials, etc). And they always have to work hard to raise the money every single year.

So I thought that maybe the FujiRumors community can help a bit.

You’d make me happy, if you donate even just 1 Dollar to them. Because if you all donate just one dollar, then at the end it will be a fantastic support for KNGO.

If you can, if possible, then feel free to donate.

It runs over KNGO Germany and 100% of your donation will be sent straight to Cambodia.

• KNGO Donation Page

Thanks to everybody who decides to help KNGO.

Merry Christmas to all of you!
Patrick

How do I know KNGO?

I was in Cambodia to make fair trade T-shirts made by the amazing guys at Tonle. During my travel I stumbled on KNGO and I loved their work so much that I decided right there to donate all profits from the T-shirt sales to them. We ended up raising $5,000 for them.

Eduardo Soteras has just been awarded with the UNICEF Photo of the Year 2022 for the image you can see above. The story is this one:

Although destroyed, the library in this elementary school in Ethiopia’s Tigray region is where two children have taken refuge in books. This little moment of happiness shows in their smiles. It is a rare moment. Because of the armed conflict with the central government, 5.2 million people in this region in northern Ethiopia are suffering from violence, displacement, malnutrition and a shortage of drinking water.

[…] The desire to discover and learn new things is often so great in children that it makes them forget the threat of a situation.

That is the message of the Unicef ​​photo of the year 2022,” said Unicef ​​patron Elke Büdenbender, wife of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

“The winning image challenges us to do everything we can to ensure that children can play and learn even under the most adverse circumstances.

Because this is the only way they can maintain their hope and confidence in times of war and other crises.

Given the importance of this image, little it matters that the EXIF data shows it has been taken with the Fujinon XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR.

Here on FujiRumors we just want to congratulate with fellow X shooter Eduardo Soteras for his important recognition and for making the best possible use of our beloved Fujifilm gear: encapsulating meaningful moments and important messages into a single powerful image.

You can read more about this image and Eduardo Soteras at the dedicated UNICEF page here.

Thanks to Daniel Stocker (instagram) for letting me know about it.

And in case you are being brainwashed by some YouTubers that you can only get real Pro work done with Full Frame gear, check out the articles below.

• It’s a Triumph: FUJIFILM Wins Top 2 World Press Photo Awards and Even More… Despite not Being Full Frame ;)
• Avatar: The Way of Water: These Unbelievably Good Fujinon APS-C Lenses were Used to Film Large Parts of the Movie
• Avatar 2 First Official Photos Taken with Fujifilm X Series Gear
• The Guardian Nominates Fujifilm Shooter and WPP Award Winner Yasuyoshi Chiba “Agency Photographer of the Year”
• first interview – Alain Shroeder, winner of the World Press Photo overall stories category
• second interview – Luca Locatelli, 1st Prize for environment story in 2020 Word Press Photo Contest
• third interview – 2020 World Press Photo Winner Ricardo García Vilanova: “For my War Photography I use X-T3 and Only One Lens, the…”
• No Joke: Official JOKER Movie Images taken With Fujifilm X Series Gear ;)
• Mission Impossible: Official “Fallout” Photos Taken with Fujifilm X and GFX Gear
• Hollywoods’ Dunkirk Movie Official Photos Taken with Fujifilm X-Pro2 and XF 18-135!
• Marco Urso Snaps Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 Image with Fujifilm X-T2 and XF 50-140
• Fujifilm X-T1 Snaps World Wildlife Photography Image of the Year – Animal Portraits Award
• SIMPLY the BEST: Messi and Ronaldo Meet the Fujifilm GFX100S of Annie Leibovitz

Not enough? Well, then know that photographers using Fujifilm cameras also…

• won the world wildlife photography award (story here)
• made the cover of the TIME magazine (story here)
• won the World Photography Arts&Culture Award 2015 (story here)
• won the First Prize of the World Press Photo Category “Stories (stroy here)
• made the front page of the Wall Street Journal (story here)
• were good enough for God’s work (story here)
• captured America’s most hated man (story here)
• distracted a French presidential candidate during his interview (story here)