Ming Thein | Photographer

Off topic: Presenting the MING 17.01

August 13, 2017 by Ming Thein 85 Comments

Many of you might be aware of my historical preoccupation with mechanical watches: it’s arguably what started me photographing seriously in the first place. Which is why after nearly two years in gestation (and just in this form) I’m very proud to present my latest project: the 17.01. It’s the first of a new line of watches designed by me, made in Switzerland and funded by a group of fellow collectors, but brought to life with the aid of individuals who’ve been in the industry for a long time. To avoid the bunch of cliches that are typically used during new watch launches: it’s an honest watch that tells the time reliably and has the benefit of experience behind it – nothing more, nothing less.

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Filed Under: Off topic Tagged With: 17.01, ming, ming thein, ming.watch, mingthein.com, thein, watch

NEW: The Mirrorless Bag, and the Travel Duffel

July 17, 2017 by Ming Thein 66 Comments

L-R, for relative size: Mirrorless Bag, a very well used Ultimate Daybag Mark I prototype, Travel duffel (folded)

Today is my birthday, and in the tradition of this site – I’ve got an announcement to make. We’ve teamed up with bespoke UK bag makers Frankie Falcon for a second round: firstly, by popular demand, there’s the Mirrorless Bag, which is an improved and smaller version of the Ultimate Daybag Mark I. Next, a little surprise: the folding Travel Duffel. We have ~~stock ready to ship immediately of both bags~~ (Update, 21/7: Sold out, but back in stock end of next week) and both products will be ongoing stock items for now (not limited for the time being, though of course nothing lasts forever), and future additions will go up here, on the Bag Store. We have also resolved prior shipping issues – back to good old Royal Mail. Click on after the jump for more details on each bag.

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Filed Under: Gearhead: Reviews, On Photography Tagged With: bag, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, mirrorless bag, mtxff, thein, travel duffel

Medium telephoto lenses for street photography

August 21, 2017 by Robin Wong 22 Comments

Given how widely practiced it is, its no surprise that street photography has many rules-of-thumb, and one of them has to do with focal lengths – the traditionally preferred ones have been on the wider end such as 28mm, 35mm and 50mm. However, I’ve often found myself using an unconventional focal length of 90mm. While the wider focal lengths may be more suited for environmental portraits and story telling, using a longer focal lengths allows me to break away from that stereotype and to create a more dramatic outcome.

In this article, I will explore why medium telephoto is my preferred focal length and the advantages of using tighter framing in street photography. It’s important to not that since I primarily shoot with Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8 these days, “medium telephoto” here refers to 90mm in 35mm terms.

Photoessay: Hagia Sophia, part II

August 18, 2017 by Ming Thein 18 Comments

(continued from part I)

Hagia Sophia is not only an incredible piece of engineering and architecture – but also one of faith. Constructed in its current form between 532 and 537 AD, it has served as church and mosque (and now museum). Even today, you can’t help but be inspired, humbled and in awe of the work behind it; given its sheer size, it would still take a significant effort to build with modern construction techniques, and that’s excluding the huge amount of specialised handwork required for decoration and outfitting. I’m pretty sure very little of what we build today at that scale will still be around in 1500 years. The question of faith is quite interesting, too: the sheer resources and determination to construct something of that size places huge demands on the population of the city and its rulers. There was probably no economic return model, either – unlike say the European market towns of the Middle Ages. What impressed me the most wasn’t so much the sheer size or unsupported internal volume (though this was still significant) – but the detail given to every surface. Not all of it was completed by 537, and renovations and restoration have been pretty much ongoing non stop thanks to wars, earthquakes and simple entropy – but it’s nevertheless what makes it a truly colossal undertaking, and because of this I think of the renovations as much a part of the building as anything else. Other buildings like the Pyramids might be larger, but they simply don’t have the same kind of finishing requirements, or continual evolution and sense of being an active, alive part of history rather than merely a passive observer. (And I can’t think of anything modern except perhaps the Sagrada Familia that comes close, and even that is still not finished after more than a hundred years.)

I had the opportunity to shoot it for perhaps a few hours total; nowhere near enough time to do justice to the structure (and obviously not around the scaffolds, tripod restrictions etc.) – even so, there are so many images this photoessay will be split into two parts. Enjoy! MT

This series was shot in Istanbul with a Hasselblad H6D-100c, 50, 100 and 150mm lenses, and post processed with Photoshop and LR Workflow III (and the Weekly Workflow). Get more out of your voyages with T1: Travel Photography.

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Filed Under: hasselblad, On Photography Tagged With: architecture, hagia sophia, hasselblad, istanbul, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, thein

Photoessay: Hagia Sophia, part I

August 16, 2017 by Ming Thein 28 Comments

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Filed Under: hasselblad, On Photography Tagged With: architecture, hagia sophia, hasselblad, istanbul, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, thein

Opinion: Sensible perspectives on film and digital in current times

August 10, 2017 by Ming Thein 133 Comments

Today’s post has been a long time brewing. The recent resurgence in the popularity of film is undeniable, to the point that there are both new brands and revivals of old ones happening on a fairly regular basis. It seems to be not so interesting for the big guys – look at the continual Fuji price increases as prime exhibit – but this has meant that there business is more open to the enthusiasts and those creating film specifically for the demands of those markets (such as JCH Street Pan). Anybody who gets off their comfortable chair to put money and action where their mouths are deserves a round of applause, in my book. Given all of this – it’s only natural that there have also been a lot of people rising to the defence of the medium, in the comments here, and sometimes much more aggressively over email. In the interests of saving much angst, it’s probably about time I make my personal position on film clear, and more importantly, the rationale behind it.

Micro four thirds and insect macros (part II)

August 8, 2017 by Robin Wong 18 Comments

This is a follow up to the last article on insect photography but unlike in that, I will not discuss techniques today, but rather why I find the Olympus Micro Four Thirds system ideal for newcomers to photography, who want to explore the world of insect macro. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, On Photography, Robin Wong Tagged With: insect macro, macro, macrophotography, micro four thirds, mingthein.com, nature, robin, Robin Wong, technique, wong

Insect macro photography techniques – an ongoing experimentation (part I)

August 6, 2017 by Robin Wong 33 Comments

1/125sec. F11, ISO200, Wireless Flash fired

When I first ventured into photography, I started with insect macro photography, and it quickly became an activity I indulged in often. Macro photography, I think, is one of the more technically demanding types of photography, and is a good, if masochistic, way to learn and get all your photography basics right. In addition to different techniques to gain magnification, you have to worry about accurate focus, proper hand-holding technique, and the use and control of additional lighting and lighting modifiers.

After a recent attempt at insect macro work (for the OM-D E-M10 Mark II review), I found myself with a renewed itch to hunt for insects to photograph. This in turn lead to me writing this article sharing my techniques for insect macro photography.
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Filed Under: Articles, On Photography, Robin Wong Tagged With: insect macro, macro, macrophotography, mingthein.com, nature, robin, Robin Wong, technique, wong

Field test: the Scarabaeus camera clip

August 5, 2017 by Ming Thein 12 Comments

The Scarabaeus is a German hand-made camera holster system that clips to the waist belt allowing quick access to the camera. Generally, special holster for quick access camera attachment systems can be useful for street shooters. Ming Thein and myself have had one each to try out for the past several weeks. . In this article, I shall share my experience using the Scarabaeus camera clip in street shooting scenario. MT will add his thoughts towards the end, having also road tested it.

Disclaimer: the Scarabaeus was sent to us by photoscarab.de; we agreed to try it out to provide feedback because it seemed like an interesting idea and solution to the problem for those who don’t like neckstraps, but still sometimes need their hands free.

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Filed Under: Gearhead: Reviews Tagged With: gearhead, mingthein.com, review, robin, scarabaeus, wong

Photoessay: Rhythmic geometries

August 3, 2017 by Ming Thein 33 Comments

I see the images in this post as a sort of musical score: the suggestion of an overall harmony (wave) interspersed with little details and textures is too strong to ignore. I don’t know any of the correct musical terminology for this kind of thing, but I do know that I feel the same way about these abstract compositions as I do when I listen to a piece of classical music: there’s a strong underlying structure linking the whole score together, but at the same time also little diversions and explorations into variations that hold your attention and get you thinking. There is a similar change of scale here – not all the instruments play at the same time in every image; you might not have the same range of scale, but you do have the same sensation of layering and interplay of shadow. When the piece shifts into the next movement, not all of the elements may make it through intact, but enough do that you can recognise continuity in style; a sort of design language. MT

These images were shot in Singapore with a Hasselblad X1D-50c and 90mm, and post processed with either PS Workflow III and the Weekly Workflow or The Monochrome Masterclass. See more on your journeys with T1: Travel Photography and the How to See series.

Work in progress

August 2, 2017 by Ming Thein 22 Comments

Whilst both images in this post are themselves work in progress – parenting probably never ends, even if at some point you are less involved in the day to day operation of things and are more of a board member than an executive, and the golf ball building is undergoing renovation – that’s not specifically what’s going on here. To be honest, I’ve not been shooting as much as I would like of late, because the majority of my time has been allocated to five projects this year, some very early results of which are in this post. The Mirrorless Bag and Travel Duffel you’ve seen already. Another project will go live in a couple of weeks or so (and there’ll be a photography related post on that later, though the project itself is not photography related), and the other two you’ll probably see either at the end of this year or early next – those are somewhat moving targets due to the complexity of what’s involved (and yes, they are photography hardware related).

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