A gentle reminder: a couple of places left for USA 2013 workshops

Swallowed by the city. Tokyo, October 2013.

The Outstanding Images Tour

San Francisco
By popular demand, I’m going to doing two sessions:
Session 1: Thursday 28 to Saturday 30 March 2013 (a couple of places due to reshuffling dates)
Session 2: Monday 1 to Wednesday 3 April 2013 (one place)

New York City
Friday 5 to Sunday 7 April 2013 (full)
New date by popular demand: Monday 8 to Wednesday 10 April 2013 (a go if we have 5 or more participants)

The format will be similar to my previous 3-day workshops in Hong Kong and Tokyo but instead chasing a particular topic, we’ll be focusing on improving photographic fundamentals – seeing the scene, finding light, timing, composition, balance, perspective, style etc. – all of the tools that  can apply to any shooting situation, against the background of travel and street photography with specific forays into related technique. The first two days will be hands-on photography, with the third day focused on review, critique and post processing. It will put into practice the content of the ‘What Makes an Outstanding Image?’ essay.

It will not be easy. Expect to be challenged, and have your creative vision opened to subjects and techniques you might not have considered before. Expect to go away as a better photographer – all of my past students have.

You don’t need to be an advanced photographer or pro to participate. All you need to make the most of the workshops is a determination to improve your images, and a basic working knowledge of exposure and operation of your camera. The sessions will be intensive and challenging, but also extremely rewarding; the more you put in, the more you get out. The sole equipment requirements for the session are a camera – even a compact will do – a laptop with Photoshop, and an editing tablet (I recommend Wacom).

Each workshop session is limited to just 10 paid participants to ensure everybody gets as much of possible out of the sessions. Places are reserved on a first-come-first-served basis. Please note that a refundable* 50% deposit will be required to confirm participation, with the balance due one month before the workshop date.

The price for a full three days of exclusive tuition is just US$2,000 per person.

If you’d like to book a spot, or have any questions, please contact me.

Looking forward to meeting everybody in the USA!

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Testimonials and feedback from recent workshop attendees:

Azhari (Nov 2012 Melaka Workshop): 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. Thank you very much Ming.

Doyle Shafer (Oct 2012 Tokyo Workshop): It was a challenging and interesting workshop. I would have never forced myself to see Tokyo in different ways. To be honest I was happy with my photography for the most part and had little interest in branching out. But as I mentioned earlier, after the workshop it’s like seeing The Matrix for what it really is: some basic “code” and infinite possibility. Now when I walk through Ginza it’s going to take me much longer than before the workshop. It’s funny because I used to think that place was kind of dry and boring! It’s all still sinking in, but my photography has already tightened up quite a bit. And I won’t even get into post processing…that rocked my world like when we did layering in Ginza @. @

Erwin Kindangen (Oct 2012 Tokyo Workshop): I had a great time there and my photography definitely improved after the workshop. It taught me how to “see” scenes and what scene would actually make a good photo and not just randomly shooting at people. Plus the basic wizardry of Photoshop at the end of the workshop definitely ties it all up. In the meantime, I’ll keep perfecting what I’ve learnt before I jump to the next workshop (I hope there will be a follow up).

Andrew Yaw (Sep 2012 Finding Light workshop, Kuala Lumpur): It was an awesome day out. Second round of beating from the master after the ‘Making light workshop’ . This workshop changed my perspectives on street photography. Looking at not only the life around you but also the architecture, reflections, natural frames and much more. I have never walked around KL that much before. I plan to do it again alone this weekend. Who says you need to travel far to take pictures? The challenges were all interesting and some tough to train us into seeing things in ways never before. It really sort of reminded me of the “Wax on, Wax off” training technique in ‘Karate kid’. Lol. Really, for me it was. Especially the part where we had to shoot with our 2 second timer on and stage the subjects on a particular part of the frame. Epic fail at 1st. After a while though you slowly learn how to anticipate the subject’s movement and then.. ‘click’. Success! and then again and again. It was a full on day with tons of learning and perceiving. Ended the day at 8 PM after a slight debriefing and chattering in a cafe. Thanks Ming for a great day out. Can’t wait for the next one. Have a great time in Japan.

Andrew Yaw, (Sep 2012 Making Light workshop, Kuala Lumpur): Excellent workshop! Great teachings from honing the basics of photography to managing light in a controlled environment followed by hands on guidance while shooting the model for the day. The day ended with a bonus. The shared knowledge of the art of printing which is a totally different ball game. Went home feeling overwhelmed with awesome knowledge and information. Thank you Ming for sharing so much of your knowledge to all of us! Can’t wait for the next workshop!

Ciao Pui (Sep 2012 Making Light workshop, Kuala Lumpur): What a great day! Between the inspiring morning session studying Ming’s jaw-dropping photos and an amazing afternoon shoot with the gorgeous (and funny) Aliza, what Ming didn’t mention was the mouth-watering Malaysian Beef noodles lunch he took us to across the street at the road-side stall! I’ve been reading this blog for months, but I didn’t realized how much more I could learn in person until I took his recent workshops. For example, I’d have missed out on the important training where he raised both arms (see pic #13) waving them vigorously while shouting “Light on, light off” to perfect my shooting methods. Ok, just kidding about the above. On a serious note, the man is a machine! He got in way before everyone else (I know because I arrived an hour early). Then he spent the whole day teaching, instructing, demoing, shooting, working with model, showing his equipment, while tirelessly and patiently answering every questions the workshop participants had, not to mention the 2-hour impromptu print demo/admiration session after the workshop. Great value, great company, great images. I would take his workshops again. Highly recommended.

*No questions asked up to 1 month before the workshop, at which point full payment is due. After the T-1 month point, then refunds are only if I have to cancel or at my discretion under extraordinary circumstances.

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