Ming Thein

Introducing the Ultraprint

February 27, 2014 by Ming Thein

What you are seeing is not a capture or printing error. The irregular inner concave surface of the moon is due to variations in depth from craters; the moon itself is in the very extremes of Zone X in the actual image, yet there is still tonal separation present in the print.

Following on from my earlier article on pushing print limits, I’d like to show you the fruits our labour: the Ultraprint. I think the above image pretty much says it all: that is a photograph of the actual print, with a ruler for comparison. Scale markings are in millimetres, as shown.

Interview: Printmaster Wesley Wong, part two

February 26, 2014 by Ming Thein

The master at work.

Continued from the first half of the interview yesterday with printmaster Wesley Wong.

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Filed Under: Prints Tagged With: giclee art, interview, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, printing, thein, wesley wong

Interview: Printmaster Wesley Wong, part one

February 25, 2014 by Ming Thein

Today’s post is a little different: following on from the excellent reception given to my interview with Nick Brandt, and my current focus on pushing print limits, it is high time we heard from the print master himself – Wesley Wong. I can say plenty about the process, but there are a lot of areas in which is expertise greatly outstrips my own. I also strongly believe that he is an integral part of the artistic process of bringing an image to its final form, and that my print buyers – thank you – would also enjoy meeting the man, albeit virtually. It’s a lengthy discourse as there’s a lot of ground to cover, so the interview will be split into two parts. Read on…

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Filed Under: Prints Tagged With: giclee art, interview, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, printing, thein, wesley wong

Pushing print limits

February 23, 2014 by Ming Thein

In the next few days, this image will make sense. This article will be the beginning of an intensive series focusing on printing and output.

Let’s again start with the simple question of ‘how many of you print’? For those that do, inevitably, your development is going to look something like this:

Make your first print – marvel at how different it looks to the screen version
Make larger prints, start to note that the detail still holds and in fact you’ve got much more resolution than you actually need even for the largest prints you’re willing to pay for/ have space to hang
Pause for a moment and then decide to try making your own prints because it’s cheaper and more convenient
Buy a home photo inkjet, find that it takes half a dozen tries to get one good print, add up the costs and find that ink and paper will bankrupt you in short order; worse still, lab results are still better
Stop printing for a while
Go back to using the lab because your print heads have clogged and the ink has dried up, and it would be cheaper to buy a new printer than replace the cartridges and heads and you really don’t want to go down that route again…
Find a better lab – assuming you’re not happy with what you’re getting
Start to wonder what you’re going to do with all of these 24×36” prints; you have rolled up tubes and prints all over your house
Abandon printing or start selling your prints so you can make more prints
Start wondering what’s next?

FD Photoessay: Urban abstracts in monochrome

February 21, 2014 by Ming Thein

It’s been a little while since I posted any images from Kuala Lumpur; the truth is that I don’t actually shoot that much in my home city these days. Partially it’s because I feel I’ve really plumbed the depths of most parts of the city; partially it’s because I try to keep some potential in reserve for when I have to go out and review a camera – finding new material in a city in which you’ve shot close to 200,000 frames is actually quite tough.

Film diaries: thoughts on the psychology of shooting film vs digital

February 19, 2014 by Ming Thein

Would I do anything different in digital? Probably not, other than be frustrated at my inability to obtain this tonality.

Here’s an interesting question: why is one’s yield (or keeper) rate so much higher with film than digital? Let’s take the stats from my excursion to Europe, and keeping in mind I apply the same quality thresholds to both film and digital:

Ricoh GR, single shot: 137/1795, for a 7.6% yield.
Olympus OM-D, mostly single shot, some burst: 54/2370, for a 2.4% yield.
Hasselblad with B&W film (Fuji Acros 100): 76/168 (14 rolls), for a 45% yield.
Hasselblad with slide film (Fuji Provia 100F): 28/60 (5 rolls), for a 47% yield.

Digital overall: 191/4165, for a 4.6% yield.
Film overall: 104/228, for a 46% yield.

That’s ten times higher. What gives?

Film diaries: revisiting slide film

February 17, 2014 by Ming Thein

On the light table. Iphone grab.

It’s been a long, long time since I last shot slide film. 2006, to be exact; I stopped for two reasons: one, I was shooting (and developing) through about a third of my pay every month in film; secondly, scanning was beginning to take up all of my spare waking hours. And even then, I was never that happy with the results. But then, every so often – and I was a much, much worse photographer back then (not that I’m that good now, mind you) – you’d get one slide back that was so immersive, so detailed, so crisp that it was like peering into a little world of its own. And then you’d feel the itch to do it all over again. Sometimes this would happen a few times per roll, and then you were well and truly done for.

Photoessay: Signs of life: shadows and silhouettes in Prague

February 15, 2014 by Ming Thein

And now for something a little different – what if I took the abstraction of man to the next logical step? The idea of a person, not the specific individual? What interests me is the way man interacts with his environment, leaves his mark, but is ultimately temporal; more so in modern society where the multitudes of us land up mostly being nameless, faceless and somewhat commoditized. What does generic man look like in native habitat? I’m sure it’s soulless, clinical and a little cold, but hey, I can’t help it if that’s the way I see the world sometimes.

Street photography, soul and ethics, revisited – a personal view

February 13, 2014 by Ming Thein

Man, or the idea of man?

Not to flog a dead horse, but I want to pick up from where the one of the earlier articles hinted and left off: the topic of ‘soul’ in street photography, and what that means in terms the increasingly grey ethical area for photographers. There are also legal implications involved, and we’ll discuss those in passing – individual territories have different regulations, so it’s really in your best interests to check before shooting.

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Filed Under: Articles, On Photography Tagged With: article, ethics, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, opinion, soul, street photography, thein

Some good Nikon lens deals…

February 12, 2014 by Ming Thein

Just got this in the mail and thought I’d share it – there’s up to $400 off various lenses at B&H – like the 80-400 AFS, for instance; no body purchase required. Click here.

Purchases made through the link do give me a small referral commission that helps support the site. It doesn’t make any difference to the price for you, though. Thanks! MT

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