On Photography – Ming Thein

MT’s scrapbook: block form

November 3, 2018 by Ming Thein 21 Comments

An afternoon walking around Singapore yielded a lot of recursive cubism – order, almost-order and chaos made to look like order. Society here is known for its regulation and discipline, and it’s almost as though that same discipline is imposed on its architectural forms. Of course this is a deliberately curated (and thus biased) set, and granted, most are older buildings; the newer ones seem to still be full of straight lines, but with a conspicuous allergy to right angles. Surely we must be close to the point technologically where non-rectilinear forms of architecture are economically viable (I suppose Gardens by the Bay and the Henderson Waves are good examples of this, and located in Singapore too). Sometimes I also wonder if it’s a sort of physical manifestation of digital influence…of course, it’s more likely that economics is the underlying driver, but there’s no cost to philosophising. MT

The Scrapbook series is shot on an Olympus PEN F, with unedited JPEGs straight from camera bar resizing (and of course some choice settings).

Faster isn’t always better

October 31, 2018 by Ming Thein 120 Comments

*Or, an example in construction series.

Like most photographers…I am not immune to the siren’s song of very fast lenses. And even less immune to the lure of lenses that are fast and designed to deliver performance at maximum aperture – think of the Zeiss Otus series, for instance. We’re even willing to compromise with older designs that perhaps don’t perform or resolve quite to the level we’ve come to expect from modern lenses on modern high resolution sensors, but write it off as being ‘characterful’ or ‘nostalgic’. Or even trying to rationalise that we don’t need such high resolution since most of the frame is out of focus anyway, plus we want a smooth transition between the bits that are and the bits that aren’t. And then we try to adapt lenses to systems they were never designed for (here, and here) – with varying degrees of success. However: the reality is we probably don’t need such tools the vast majority of the time, and even from a creative standpoint – a wider aperture doesn’t necessarily make an image better.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, On Photography Tagged With: article, essay, fast aperture, fast lenses, ming, mingthein.com, opinion, photography, thein

Photoessay: Remarkable sunsets, part I

October 28, 2018 by Ming Thein 6 Comments

You’ll probably notice a power pylon in every single one of these images: that’s because it’s the same one. This series is support for my theory that if you watch a scene or subject for long enough, something interesting will happen. (Depending of course on the subject, it might take more time than you have available.) Over the course of the last two and a bit years living here – I’ve had the chance to execute a long term observation project. That, and it’s a nice way to end the day rather than staring at a computer screen (again). There’s no extra post processing or manipulation; if anything, given the extreme dynamic range of backlit clouds vs shadowy hills, I’ve had to flatten the images to try and hold highlights – more so since most of the clipping tends to happen only in the red channel. Those of you that live in cities in the tropics will know that nice sunsets are rare because by time it’s dusk, both solution and evaporation during the day make for typically heavy cloud (or rain); yet in every single one of these images, there was the right mix of low level haze (to provide an effective warm filter for the sun just before setting) and high level clouds to be illuminated by that and contrast against an otherwise clear sky. Such exceptions are also why a local photographer living in an interesting location is going to anytime outshoot the visiting team – you simply can’t be there for long enough for exceptional things to happen; the statistics are against you. Excuse me, it’s 7.30 again and time for today’s show… MT

Shot over a long, long period of time with a wide variety of equipment. Mostly processed with PS Workflow III, though a couple were SOOC JPEG from the Olympus PEN F.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photography, sunset, thein

Discussions: Commonly encountered photographers’ dilemmas

October 25, 2018 by Ming Thein 63 Comments

Choices, choices

Today’s post is a series of open topics to be discussed in the comments: ten choices we we regularly encounter as photographers I suspect we have our own general stand, but tend to adapt to the situation. Nevertheless – I find these sometimes philosophical choices can have a huge impact on the outcome of the image.

MT’s scrapbook: still life interludes, part I

October 22, 2018 by Ming Thein 13 Comments

Two questions to address today – firstly, what differentiates the scrapbook series from photoessays, and secondly, why do they tend to be monochrome? What I post here in the form of photoessays are much more tightly curated series around a certain subject or theme, shot with the sole purpose and intention of photography, and sequenced into a storyline from a much larger set. The images are individually post processed and made consistent. The scrapbook series is more spontaneous – there is never a narrative because they’re single snippets grabbed here and there and then sorted into something visually coherent (which isn’t the same as a storyline). They’re opportunistic as opposed to planned or sought; sometimes single, sometimes in a mini-sequence. And there’s no post processing; what you see is a resized SOOC JPEG. They also tend to be monochrome, both as a concession to prioritise the light and also because there’s no need to correct for accurate color. It’s my compromise to keep my hand in practice, but for times when I don’t have the time to commit to something more focused. Today: more long shadow play, with a candid guest appearance from some Mapplethorpian bananas… MT

The Scrapbook series is shot on an Olympus PEN F, with unedited JPEGs straight from camera bar resizing (and of course some choice settings).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: MT's scrapbook, On Photography Tagged With: ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, monochrome, photography, scrapbook, still life, thein

Historical challenge: Night Street Compact

October 19, 2018 by Robin Wong 30 Comments

Following up on the Low ISO Street by Night article (where I shot hand-held at ISO200 for the entire evening), I wanted to continue with the theme but switch things up – with a 10 year old point and shoot compact camera. In the previous article, the OM-D’s superior image stabilization was almost like cheating so let’s take that advantage away and replace it with a traditional tripod in this session. In 2008 I purchased, for RM299 (about USD70), a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8 for use at a construction site supervision (during my years as a geotechnical engineer). It has a tiny 1/2.5″ image sensor, no ability to shoot RAW, usable ISO with no higher than 200, just 8MP and a short, obsolete spec sheet. So what can we expect to get out of the Panasonic LZ8?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: On Photography, Robin Wong Tagged With: challenge, compact, mingthein.com, night, robin, Robin Wong, street photography, wong

Low-ISO street photography by night

October 16, 2018 by Robin Wong 41 Comments

High ISO is usually a necessity for shooting on the streets at night without using a tripod but I thought why not have a session, for fun, where I stick to ISO200 throughout? I was near Petaling Street with some friends and we all chose to employ different shooting methods. One friend went the usual high ISO hand-held route, while another friend had a sturdy tripod setup. I was the only one crazy enough to run around without a tripod and irrationally stick to ISO200…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: On Photography, Robin Wong Tagged With: low iso, mingthein.com, nigth, robin, Robin Wong, street, street photography, wong

‘Investing’ in equipment

October 13, 2018 by Ming Thein 55 Comments

By strict definition, an investment is something that is expected to appreciate in value over time, or deliver some sort of tangible return that together with the underlying asset value is grater than the initial amount spent. One of my pet bugbears when it comes to photographic discussions are the two inevitable questions: “is X worth it?” and “should I invest in X?” The problem is, if you replace X with any other depreciating mid-term consumable such as, I don’t know, frozen peas, you’ll instantly realise the whole question makes no sense whatsoever. But replace X with a camera or lens model, and it seems common sense goes out of the window. You wouldn’t put your savings into something that has no hope of making any financial return. Why should this be any different? My aim is by the end of this article, you’ll suffer from far less frequent confusion and buyers’ remorse (if any at all).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, On Photography Tagged With: article, essay, investing in equipment, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, opinion, thein

Market challenges and predictions, late-2018 edition

October 10, 2018 by Ming Thein 66 Comments

Construction images, because, well, we’re building something here…

As with every industry, the cycle time for major changes is getting shorter and shorter for photography. I would argue that we’re now late into the second phase of digital (first phase: early digital at the cutting edge for pros, scientific applications etc.; second phase: consumer) and on the verge of the third phase. What does this mean in real terms? Why is the overall enthusiast photographic market softer? What remains to get excited about as a hobbyist? At the risk of inciting every troll between here and DPR, I break out the crystal ball…

On assignment photoessay: Development details, part II

October 7, 2018 by Ming Thein 33 Comments

As promised – the continuation of the previous set of images shot at the same time at the same location, but curated and psotprocessed to very different objectives. You’ll notice that there are very few overlaps; different mood, different images. Perhaps the biggest change is in the handling of light and shadows: the very hard tropical sun that creates black hole shadows that works so well for monochrome is tricky to manage in color; especially when it comes to foliage (of which there is plenty here). There’s a lot of midtone dodging required to ensure the tonal transitions from highlights to shadows are natural; but not so much that things look flat. Some portions never quite get sun at this time of year due to the orientation of the plot, meaning we had to get creative in post again to ensure coherency – highlight dodge, midtone burn (the opposite for the areas in direct sunlight). I personally like the Magritte-esque clouds, and the eveningscapes… MT

Shot with a D850, 19 PCE and Sigma 100-400 (unfortunately there aren’t really any equivalents in the Hasselblad system yet) and processed with Photoshop Workflow III.