Ming Thein | Photographer

Photoessay: Havana reflections

December 31, 2014 by Ming Thein

Imperial purple

A conceptually simple photoessay today, focusing on the difference between the real and virtual, hard and soft. Usually, the reflection of something is soft because it is indistinct and formed in a physical object that is clean, polished, crisp, and thus well-defined; however, in the case of Cuba, it’s the opposite. The physical objects are old, not always clean, have decaying or faded edges, and it’s the reflection that becomes more solid thanks to the hardness and intensity of the sun reflecting off them. The idea becomes more tangible than reality; it can be simply an interesting visual juxtaposition, or perhaps a metaphor for something politically stronger – especially in the case of Cuba. Beyond that, Havana itself becomes very visually interesting after a rain: the clouds don’t linger thanks to the sea breeze, and we land up with either a clear or Magritte sky and great texture in everything else. Enjoy! MT

This series was shot with a Nikon D800E, 70-200/4 VR, Zeiss Otus 1.4/55 and Ricoh GR.

Finally, for those who haven’t seen it: How To See Ep.5, Havana is here, free and in full. 🙂

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: cuba, havana, ming, mingthein.com, photoessay, photography, reflection, thein

Prague 2015 Masterclasses open for booking

December 29, 2014 by Ming Thein

Prague

Prague, Czech Republic, 9-14 March 2015 (best suited to urban, architecture and street)
Duration: 6 days, four practical and two classroom
Tuition cost: US$2,300; $2,600 special bundle including Outstanding Images Ep. 1-5 and Intro to PS Workflow (required, but most participants usually have some or all of these already)

Want to be challenged? Inspired? Push yourself to take your images to the next level? The Masterclasses are aimed squarely at you. They are for the photographer who already understands the fundamentals and is looking at developing their own style, evolving creatively and spending some time with like-minded individuals. The aim is no longer about building core fundamentals by exercises, but to work on vision, the ability to assess and curate one’s work, application of style, postprocessing, and being able to put together a coherent set of images to an objective.

Post-Christmas humour 2014: photographic definitions

December 27, 2014 by Ming Thein

As part of the ongoing annual tradition on this site…I present the 2014 Christmas Humor post: Photographic Definitions. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas everybody! May the gold and silver boxes under your tree not be empty and purely for decoration. MT

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Filed Under: Off topic, On Photography Tagged With: christmas humor, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, mingthein.gallery, thein

Merry Christmas: a free How To See Ep.5, Havana

December 25, 2014 by Ming Thein

Ming Thein’s How To See Ep. 5: Havana from Ming Thein on Vimeo.

Happy holidays! The traditional Christmas humour post will return in a couple of days, but in the meantime I’ve got a present for you all: a special edition of How To See – Ep.5: Havana, Cuba. Unlike the other videos, it’s a free, full episode in 720P HD (a little shorter at 1h than the usual 2h+ epics, and you may need to click through to Vimeo to get 720p because of the page width). Paypal won’t let us take payment for anything that’s Cuba-related, so we’ve decided to give it away instead for all of you to enjoy – perhaps something to watch in the afternoon once the presents are done and the post-lunch food coma has set in on the rest of the family…just hit the play link in the embedded video window above. If you did enjoy it, there’s always a handy donation link in the sidebar (but please don’t use the words ‘cuba’ or ‘havana’ anywhere 🙂

The How To See series is what a lot of people have asked me for in the past – the ability to look over my shoulder as I shoot to see what I notice and and how I compose when I’m in a given situation, of course with explanations. You can get a feeling of the ambient surroundings to get a sense of context, plus what’s outside the frame to understand the compositional choices I had at the time. In addition, I talk about the structure and composition of each final image shown, what attracted me, what the the artistic, compositional and postprocessing considerations were, and what my thoughts were at the time of capture. It is a vicarious exploration through five exciting cities; a travel guide of sorts for photographers, and a personal masterclass in learning to see the unusual in the ordinary.

I’m also using this opportunity to put out a special How To See video bundle – travel vicariously for more than nine hours over the holiday season and get all episodes 1-4 covering Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Penang and Melbourne for $92 off at just $160 (regular price: $252). This offer is valid for a limited number of customers only, and is available right here from the teaching store.(1 Feb 2015: all gone!) Trailers and testimonials for HTS 1-4 after the break.

Merry Christmas!

HTS xmas bundle

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Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: bundles, christmas 2014, ep5, free video, havana, how to see, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, teaching, thein, video, Workshop

Photoessay: Vertical alpine winterscapes

December 24, 2014 by Ming Thein

Before sunset

Today’s photoessay is a sort of conclusion or coda to yesterday’s post from the Arrow River Delta; whilst it was shot in broadly the same area, it has a little more focus to the presentation, but a similar theme and somewhat more altitude. Enjoy! MT

This series shot with a Ricoh GR, Pentax 645Z, 55/2.8 SDM and 200/4 FA lenses, Nikon D810 and Zeiss 1.4/85 Otus APO-Planar.

The appeal of landscape

December 22, 2014 by Ming Thein

Meiji Shrine garden, Tokyo

I admit to being very late to the game in landscape photography – it’s something I’ve not really done seriously until pretty much this year; I suppose the main reason was a solid lack of opportunity. When you live in the tropics, then your shooting hours are limited: light is great in the morning and evening, but weather usually conspires against you with pollution, convection rain, or just general haze. Travel opportunities have changed that somewhat, however I think my quest to create images that are the kind of art you’d want to hang has lead me to look at new subject matter. This of course in conjunction with the ongoing quest to find subject matter that makes the most of the immersive experience of the Ultraprints and vice versa.

An open note to camera makers, marketing departments and agencies

December 21, 2014 by Ming Thein

Dear Brand,

Please give your prototypes to people who a) are photographers and b) know how to make interesting photographs. This way, all of the operational bugs and issues can be ironed out before bringing to market a flawed product that will backfire and harm your reputation later*. Your eager early adopters are your most loyal customers and are not beta testers. It will cost you more to rectify retroactively, too.

*In the last couple of years alone: D600 oil spots, D800/D800E/D4 left focus, D750 dark band/shading, E-M1 shutter vibration, A7R shutter vibration, A7/7R/7S raw compression, M9/S2 sensor cracking, M9 card corruption, M240 lugs falling off, X-trans and Merrill/Quattro workflow…the list is endless…

Furthermore, you do yourself no favours by publishing mediocre images that do not show what your products can do nor excite any strong feelings of ‘want’ in your potential customers. This will become increasingly important to taking over market share and growing sales in the face of an increasingly saturated market. I would be happy to help out.

Sincerely
Ming Thein

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Take your photography to the next level: 2015 Masterclasses now open for booking in Prague (9-14 Mar 2015) and Lucerne (17-22 Mar 2015)

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Limited edition Ultraprints of these images and others are available from mingthein.gallery

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Visit the Teaching Store to up your photographic game – including workshop and Photoshop Workflow videos and the customized Email School of Photography; or go mobile with the Photography Compendium for iPad. You can also get your gear from B&H and Amazon. Prices are the same as normal, however a small portion of your purchase value is referred back to me. Thanks!

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Filed Under: Off topic Tagged With: an open letter, bugs, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, poor samples, thein

Photoessay: The Arrow River delta

December 20, 2014 by Ming Thein

Curvature

This little gem of a location is perhaps one of the most photographically rich places I’ve ever been to. Firstly, an hour on an overcast grey day that yielded a couple of interesting images and very cold fingers, then the better part of an entire afternoon and evening in the gorge as the light fell and the mountains turned gold and the shadows a deep blue. I spent a magical few hours watching the light change, and towards the end of the day, running around like a madman trying to capture the last glowing tips of the trees before the sun went behind the ridge line for good.

Venetian cinematics and time-lapse

December 18, 2014 by Ming Thein

I’ve been making cinematic stills for a while now, and have had this niggling feeling that they felt too static – after all, cinema implies motion. Sure, it’s possible to capture a pose of dynamic imbalance in a subject where they’re clearly caught mid-step or similar, but that doesn’t always work if the subject isn’t moving much (but obviously isn’t completely still, because humans normally never are). This series is an experiment to do blend motion, mood, and above all, the idea of intransigence and just passing through – which most of the people in Venice are doing.

Photoessay: A corrected perspective, part II

December 16, 2014 by Ming Thein

Skyscraper evolution and streamer

Today’s photoessay is a continuation of the previous monochrome series of hand-held tilt shift work from Chicago; it is in color and I personally believe has a more immediate, present feel than the monochromes – hence the separate presentation. Enjoy! MT