Ming Thein | Photographer

Photoessay: Non Sequitur

May 17, 2016 by Ming Thein

And for something a little different today: the images do not follow in any particular sequence, nor do the contents of the images themselves make a story that makes any kind of immediate sense – this is of course deliberate. There is a narrative here, but I think it’s an extreme example of the message being far more dependent on the interpretation of the audience than the presentation of the photographer – so I shall leave these images without titles (probably much to the great relief of half the audience). If the images make too much sense, look closer – and form your own conclusions… MT

This series was shot with a Leica Q, Hasselblad 501CM, CFV-50C digital back, various lenses, and post processed with Photoshop Workflow II.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: conceptual, hasselblad, india, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, non sequitur, ooty, photoessay, photography, thein

On vision and postprocessing

May 15, 2016 by Ming Thein

H51-B0000691 composite
Before and after – starting point of RAW file in color (right), final presentation mono (left). Is that ‘photoshopped’? To most audiences, it probably is; but it’s no different to using black and white film, processing with a certain chemistry and doing a little dodging and burning of the print. Nothing has been added or removed that was not physically present in the original scene.

Though the mainstream population has now been firmly in the digital era of photography for more than a decade, I’m sure we can all remember a recent time when we were asked ‘so how much photoshop did you do?’ when presenting an image. The misconception that a good image must have some degree of implicit trickery is problematic; to the public, ‘Photoshop’ has become synonymous with ‘digital illustration’, ‘compositing’, or worse, ‘deliberate misrepresentation’. As much as we do our best to explain that Photoshop is really no different to the darkroom and chemical processes of the film days, we are at best regarded with some skepticism. But it does beg the question: why not use all the tools at one’s disposal, and what’s wrong with it if we do?

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Filed Under: Articles, On Photography Tagged With: article, creativity, essay, idea, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, opinion, photoshop, postprocessing, thein, vision

Photoessay: Layers of dusk to dawn

May 13, 2016 by Ming Thein

I have this habit of shooting against the sun at dawn and dusk – I think it must be a natural aversion to having the light source directly behind me, which it otherwise would have been had I been facing the other way. I didn’t consciously curate the images this way, but it turns out pretty much everything from the early morning and late night sessions in Ooty were shot contra-jour; there’s something about the light hitting the mist or dust or other particulates trapped between hills and creating nicely recursive (and slowly vanishing) layers into the distance. I could probably have used an EVF in some of these situations to avoid going temporarily blind… Enjoy! MT

This series was shot with a Hasselblad 501CM, CFV-50C and processed with Photoshop Workflow II.

The difference between trimming and cropping

May 11, 2016 by Ming Thein

_8B30027 orig _8B30027 trim _8B30027 crop

This may seem like nitpicking, but I assure it isn’t. There is a fundamental difference between trimming and cropping; I had a lengthy email discussion with a reader recently on exactly why it makes a difference – both compositionally and conceptually. There’s a third ground too, which is very much intention-driven – and unlike situations that require attorneys, photographic/creative intention is much easier to prove.

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Filed Under: Articles, On Photography Tagged With: article, cropping, how to, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photography, technique, thein, trimming

On-Assignment Photoessay: Curves in the garden

May 9, 2016 by Ming Thein

This series contains more images from an unusual but highly rewarding assignment last year – documenting the work of landscape architect Charles Jencks, both at the Garden of Cosmic Speculation and the Crawick Multiverse. Both of these are cosmologically-inspired ‘built landscapes’ with features that reference various features of our universe, and best appreciated with time (no pun intended) – it can take some walking not just to see everything, but to get a feel for how the various elements come together and relate to each other. This was one of those rare assignments with an open brief – both intimidating and extremely satisfying at the same time because of potential scope and expectations. Fortunately, all went well. Today’s photoessay focuses on sculpted curves in the Garden of Cosmic Speculation. Note that the changing hues of grass aren’t due to profiling or color mismatches – it was shot over a couple of days and was quite windy (as you can see from the sole long exposure) and light changed fast with the flow of clouds as a result. It isn’t the same as walking through it, but that’s not physically possible for most of us – enjoy, and bonus points if you can spot the smile in the landscape! MT

This series was shot with a Nikon D810, 24-120VR, 24 PCE, 85 PCE, Canon 5DSR and CY Zeiss 2.8/35 PC Distagon, and post processed with PS Workflow II.

Photography is a conversation

May 7, 2016 by Ming Thein

Searching for pearls of wisdom

For the longest time, I’d always thought of photography as a visual presentation. A single photograph should be a story, and that story is whatever you choose to present. A series of images should be a a complete epic narrative, with beginning, end and some drama. That is still true, but doesn’t really take into account the dynamic between photographer/artist and viewer: the truth is that no two individuals are the same, and even if one person in that relationship remains static, the other brings with them their own set of biases and expectations and associations. In that way, the story can told can never really be the same with each telling: it’s really more like a conversation.

And we have a winner!

May 6, 2016 by Ming Thein

The random number bots have spoken, and Mark A. drew the lucky straw. Congratulations, and Izzy Flamm from B&H will be in touch (or should have been already) very soon to send you your gift card. Thanks to everybody for participating! MT

Filed Under: Off topic Tagged With: 2016, b&h, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, sweepstakes, thein, winner

Places still available: Singapore Architectural Masterclass, 1-6 July 2016

May 6, 2016 by Ming Thein

I still have places available for the Singapore Architectural Masterclass from July 1-6, 2016. It won’t be your typical masterclass: there’s a bit of a twist. In fact, this will be structured a little differently to the usual Masterclasses and about as close to a crash course in architecture photography and an actual commissioned assignment as it gets. By the end of the week, you’ll be turning in both an assignment and a portfolio. Interested? Click here for details, and to book.

Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: architecture, masterclass, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, singapore, teaching, thein, Workshop

Photoessay: Tokyo solos

May 5, 2016 by Ming Thein

There are times when you shoot to push the envelope; others when you need to work to an objective, and still others when you feel like but shooting with no particular objective in mind in more of a meditative state. We tend to default back to habit – which can result in some very similar images to ones we’ve made before, but also a sort of liberation where you shoot ‘in flow’ and almost let the environment do the driving. This was one of those times – I present nothing too serious or deep today: just a series of individual (or are they?) Tokyoites. Enjoy! MT

This series was shot with a Leica Q, Nikon D5500 and Sony A7RII and post processed with PS Workflow II.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photoessay, photography, street, street photography, thein, tokyo

Creator or consumer?

May 3, 2016 by Ming Thein

Entropy is the way of all things

I have a theory: there are only two kinds of people in this world when it comes to content and creative output. Either you are primarily a consumer, or primarily a creator. We also have to take two other parameters into account: quantity and reach; total impact is determined by both – little quantity and widespread reach is probably about the same as high quantity and narrow reach, with high quantity and high reach of course having the greatest net output. A consumer is a person who has little quantity or reach; certainly less than the media they consume. A creator is a person whose output exceeds their input (reflagging and distribution doesn’t count; that’s not creating anything new). Of course, a much simpler way of looking at this is by time: do you spend more time reading and watching, or making/ shooting/ posting/ writing/ sharing?

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