What do these two things have in common, other than they’re from (very, very loosely, give or take a decade) the same era?
Taking stock
June 28, 2013 by
Time for a breather.
For those of you who are curious about what I do, (and also so I don’t forget)…as far as I can determine, here’s the current list of my regular activities. I’ve found that I certainly can’t do the same one thing for long, and there’s definite value in having inspiration from many sources.
Last day for the print sale
June 25, 2013 by
I’ll be closing orders for the limited edition print run at the end of today – if you would like a print, please see the details below. Thanks!
Remember, I will only print these images once, at this size. Ever. Once this run is complete, there will be no more prints.
The limited edition print run – now closed
June 12, 2013 by
And the people have spoken: following the voting, I’m pleased to be able to offer four images as a very limited print run. And when I say limited, I mean limited:
I will only print these images once, at this size. Ever. Once this run is complete, there will be no more prints.
Interested? Read on to order.
Update: orders closed today with a total of 52 prints – a result beyond what I hoped for; thank you all for your support! I spent the day supervising printing and signing prints; they’ll ship in the next few days and should arrive within the next couple of weeks thereafter.
Announcing a limited edition print sale – vote for your favourite images
June 4, 2013 by
Following on from the results of that survey on the direction of this site several months back, it seems that there is definitely some interest in a limited run of prints: how many, exactly, I have no idea. But in collaboration with local master printer Wesley Wong of Giclee Art (he does all of my exhibition and commercial printing, and a good number of other major local pros), I’m pleased to open up a print offer for my readers from my body of work from the first half of this year. If this is a success – and of course I hope it is – I think it may well turn into a biannual or quarterly affair.
Off topic: hobbies and photographers
May 18, 2013 by
It seems that a lot of my other photographically-inclined friends and students share the same few passions – watches/ horology, cars, cigars, food/ wine, travel, and to some extent, hi-fi. It could be because serious photographers tend to be mostly male (no sexism intended, but 90% of my reader demographic and students are male) and these are male pursuits; however, the funny thing is that a good number of the ladies in the 10% share these interests, too. I’m not counting casual or passing fancies here – I’m only including people serious enough to devote a meaningful chunk of time and income towards these hobbies. Even so, the numbers are overwhelmingly in favor of just a few pursuits*.
*My point of view could however be biased by the demographic of my readers; I suppose if I surveyed those who lived in countries with strong anti-smoking laws, expensive car operating costs, and reasonable public transport – sounds like the UK – we’d find that cigars and cars drop off the list.
Industry developments – Photoshop CC and the British orphaned works law
May 12, 2013 by
But how does it affect me? Olympus E-P5 and 75/1.8
There have been a couple of recent developments in our industry that have been receiving a lot of heat lately – firstly, Adobe’s move to put Photoshop CS on subscription only, and secondly, the recently signed (25 April) British Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 – or specifically, one portion of it dealing with copyright and orphaned works. I’ve had some time to chew over both of these issues and how they affect the average photographer – both the amateur and the professional. I’m afraid the overall prognosis isn’t good, but it also isn’t as bad as a lot of people are making it out to be.
An idea, and some help requested
April 28, 2013 by
I think I’ve figured out a way to run the site running going forward, that will enable me to both keep it advertising and subscription-free. But I need the help of all of my readers to make it workable; so what I’m going to do is outline the plan and put it to the vote.
I’m going to start producing and selling consumer insights research on the camera industry.
Meet the new editorial team.
April 1, 2013 by
I’ve finally figured out how to optimize the efficiency of this site. They will begin with handling email and comment replies, and slowly move on to occasional posting too, at least once I’ve trained them. Please excuse any typos or unintelligible text for the moment; I have to optimize the stochastic keyboard filter. Also, since it seems that some people want quantity and some don’t, I’ve gone for the fast but lucky approach. Meet the new leader of my editorial team, pictured here deep in thought. If it is believed a thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters can eventually produce Shakespeare, then I figure a small troupe should have no problem handling ‘what should I buy?’ emails. (Besides, there’s no way my Amazon referral vouchers will cover sufficient bananas for a thousand.)
Happy April 1st, everybody. MT
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Images and content copyright Ming Thein | mingthein.com 2012 onwards. All rights reserved
Sony and Olympus: what does it mean?
March 19, 2013 by
Following the accounting scandal that saw former CEO Michael Woodford ousted, Olympus’ coffers were looking decidedly empty; at that point, many potential suitors were rumoured. It turned out that Sony was the one whose offer was accepted. In a share transfer and cash deal – completed about a month ago – Sony pumped US$645 million into the company, to hold a total of 11.5%. What’s more interesting is that on most of the major business sites, this wasn’t reported as a transaction to invest in the cameramaker; rather, Olympus was frequently referred to as a ‘world leader in medical imaging’.
Although photographers know and love Olympus as the manufacturer of various quirky cameras and small systems, the truth is that margins in the medical industry – anything with ‘surgical’ or ‘medical’ in its name means an extra couple of zeroes on the end of the price tag – are much, much higher than the camera business. Like Nikon, it’s been making a good chunk of its income from something other than cameras for a long time. (I don’t know how much it makes from dictaphones these days, though.)
I’m going to take off my photographer hat now and wear my analyst/ M&A/ consultant one, for a bit of change of pace. Let’s put the pieces together.
