Continued from the daytime series
In a way, I actually found it more fluid to shoot the first set, even if the varying color palette here carries a bit more emotional weight. In some ways I also felt this set was a bit more stereotypical ‘New York’, given there’s not much control the photograph has over timing affecting light and mood – daylight is a lot more transient than neon. That said, I’m still quite happy with the individual frames capturing the mood of their particular corner of the city – sometimes a couple of blocks really does feel that different… MT
This series was shot with a Nikon Z7, 24-70/4 S, 50/1.8 S and my custom SOOC JPEG profiles.
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Ming Thein | Photographer 
Really nice series! Enjoyed it very much.
Looks like you stayed at the Ace Hotel? I hope you enjoyed an almond croissant at Stumptown Coffee next door. They are legend – to die for!
Thanks. Yes, we were at Ace – far too hipster and basic for my liking (and price paid) but the event space was the best we could find. Yes, Stumptown was the morning ritual when we were there!
Hi, Ming,
great NY day and night set. A lot to discover and so much to learn from.
Beside masterful Exposure and composition:
All these little Story’s and Details let me rest for a while.
That coffee shop! PIP; NY Black and White; The hand on the glass and her face,the mirror……..
But on thing Ming:
In Order to get much faster shutter speed you have to race your ISO from 64 to let‘s say 6400.
The cut-into-two-peace’s-HOT-DOG-Girl isn‘t that sharp to my eye. (Hihihi)
Anyway: No one cares: None of the persons in that picture is watching her..
But you should buy a big Double-Hotdog the next time; because Mr. HOT-DOG knows you are there.
The motion blur was deliberate to introduce a sense of rush and anonymity…
Oh, something went wrong.→My language is my limitation / border
The picture works great, and of cores that motion blur was deliberate.
I am a long time reader of your side and I (we) know you clearly have the eye and full control
of all the buttons of your tools.
My good “advise” was ment in a humorously way and went wrong.
(bad humor ?;bad English at least…)
No worries – I wasn’t entirely sure, some things get lost in text 🙂
This 50mm gives a very special feeling. Great again 😀
Thanks, it’s a cracking lens
This is a very nice series so far Ming. The SOOC results are remarkable (are there mild edits in post?), but I’m guessing most of it is subject and light selection, so one still needs an eye for the right (whatever that may mean) light.
Thanks Andre. Some minor trimming at edges and of course the auto-border action, but that’s about it, actually. Yes, you 100% need the right light to start – even heavy PS won’t fix shadows…
Ditto what Ken said! It would be fun to see the original file straight out of the camera.
I don’t think this is meaningful as it’s like asking to see the ingredients of a meal…you have to have the right starting material but it does not necessarily resemble the output directly. 🙂
Great shots, Ming! It is the cook who makes an excellent meal, not the ingredients . .. .
Felix
Thanks – ingredients do help though 🙂
These are terrific. The blacks are … rich … and for me as important as the saturated colors. Stark contrast to what we’re seeing in Wuhan now.
Thanks! Wuhan: stay safe!
Ming, exquisite images in both of the portfolios shown. How does the cinematic ratio compare to that of 16:9?
Thanks – these are 16:9.
Ha, Ha. So I’ve been shooting in the cinematic style without realising this ever since I purchased my little Panasonic LX3 in 2008. I feel very comfortable viewing 16:9, although I don’t select this as an alternative ratio on my 3:2 cameras as it involves a crop at the point of capture and I like the wide angle shots, out to 24mm equivalent, that the LX3 affords me. I do find myself cropping in post processing, strangely, but then this gives me more control.
Format yes, but the style is a bit more than just aspect ratio, I think – it has to feel structured and deliberately lit and not overly chaotic. Plus ideally also emotive and narrative…
At the very least, I was part way there. :p)
Definitely a good start. And notice I didn’t mention DOF – it isn’t strictly necessary to be shallow for cinematic 🙂
Thanx Ming. There is a wonderfull atmospheric feel to these because the exposure suits the lighting conditions so well. We tend to over brighten everything in post processing or at the time, maybe because we often exaggerate one form of sight to the detriment of the other senses. It could be the new historical stamp on our photography. A world where it is uncomfortable to listen to every sound, to face every thought, to engage every responsibility and to participate in the lives our paths cross.
Thanks – nothing more than as seen, or at least as experienced. Yes, there will definitely be a ‘HDR era’ in modern photography…not the nice smooth gradient kind, but the over-bright tone mapped kind…
This cover shot is amazing. I am not sure what you did, but it seems to defy the laws of exposure based on the EXIF data. It is a wonderful shot.
–Ken
Thanks – there was a lot of ambient light and recoverable shadows at ISO 64…
I was very surprised at the images shot at ISO 64 and would like to build my experience with scenes like this at lower ISO myself. Lots of ambient light doesn’t hurt but I was still surprised when I looked at the data. “Coincidentally” I very recently shot in indoor lighting at moderately high ISO; with a fairly modern sensor yet I still ultimately found myself regretting it.
NYC (and a lot of other cities) at dusk and with artificial lighting is much brighter than it looks…add that to a fast lens and you’ve got plenty of light. Plus, remember you can’t overexpose else you lose the neon. Shadow recovery is another thing entirely at base ISO on a modern sensor.
Ming, not being very familiar with the Z series, but seeing that you utilized your SOOC JPEG profiles, were you able to recover the shadows in camera, or did this require some post-processing in Photoshop?
Thanks – Jim
In this case – in camera; a lot of the scenes were actually pretty bright.