Turning a cliche on its head. Leica M9-P, Zeiss ZM 2/50
Last weekend, a group of keen photographers braved the afternoon rains to join me for a workshop aimed at a bit of travel and street photography, but more importantly covering the fundamentals of composition and understanding what works in an image, and what doesn’t. One day of shooting on location in Melaka was followed by Introduction to Photoshop back at the studio in Kuala Lumpur. Aside from leaving with a newfound appreciation for quality of light, perspectives, natural frames, leading lines and cinematicness, perhaps the most important thing was opening eyes and creating awareness of a whole new bunch of photographic possibilities – there is always something to photograph.
And yes, I did shoot some film. But the results will have to wait a little until I get around to developing it.
Finally, a big thank you to all of the participants!
Side note: the M9-P held up very well in the rain despite not being weather sealed; it’s the second time I’ve shot it in adverse weather conditions (The Hong Kong and Macau workshop being the first) and other than water on the viewfinder windows, it didn’t miss a beat. Odd, considering the number of lockups I tend to get when the skies are fair…MT
Here are a few teaser images from my set; I’ll be posting more in a future photoessay.
The kind of weather that distinguishes between true weather sealing and mere bits of foam lining.
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Hi Ming. I really like the “wet” shots.
Thanks Stefano!
For picture #8 with the two people and the tree. In this case it is obvious that the tree makes the picture. However it does leave the edges. Was the tree in this instance an exception to your edge checking and if so how does one decide which subjects can leave the edges and which must be contained fully in the picture?
No hard and fast rules. This is an exception to the edge checking – generally if you don’t have complex textures/ detail cut off and the edges, then you’re fine to cut off. Here I had to make sure the left-right sides of the image were balanced, too. No choice about the tree here…
It looks like your workshop was also an unannounced competition of “who is most obviously carrying a camera in their bag.” Maybe it could be fodder for a future blog post.
Nah, each to their own preferences. I told all to pack light and the ones with bags were sensible at the end of the day – we had super heavy rain!
Hello Ming,
Cliche upside down, interesting subject. I am playing with this for some time already. The better you experience to fiddle around with it, the more interesting the photos become. Attached my lovely (upside down) wife at the beach Thanks for your daily digest, as always. I am not the most communicative person in the world, but rest assured that I read and appreciate everyone of them. All the best, Frans Kemper
T +55 11 2364 0312 | M +55 11 9 8118 3013 | SKYPE: frans.kemper
Thanks – not a new subject for me, but you don’t always get the all the elements in perfectly the right place…
I’ve been enjoying this blog and all the photos within for some time now. I’m particularly inspired by your photos captured in reflections: they’re both surreal, abstract and representational at the same time. Great work!
Thanks Matt!
Truly a work of a master !
Love them all. Glad i attended this workshop and had the opportunity to see how the master did it.
Thankyou very much Ming.
Thank you for your support! Glad you enjoyed it. There are a couple of places left for the intro to wildlife workshop on the 23rd/24th of this month if you’re interested…
Stunning photos Ming!
The first photo is out of this world. Incredible!
Thanks!