cityscape – Ming Thein

Photoessay: Urbanscapes and details, Prague

March 12, 2017 by Ming Thein 16 Comments

Just a few urban vignettes from Prague for today’s post; for the most part, they have a warm, summery mood (albeit shot towards the end of autumn), though you may find a few exceptions. Despite having visited and shot here in every season, I personally find the city really only ever has two moods – gloomy, wintery and very Soviet-bloc Eastern Europe, or warm and bohemian, and dare I say it, just a little quirky and fun. Both have their charms. Of late there’s been this odd giant theme park feel about the place, probably not helped by the massive influx of visitors. I think that must have been kicking around in my subconscious when I shot the first two images – at least that’s the only explanation I have for the inclusion of slightly incongruous foreground and the great wall… MT

This series was shot with a Hasselblad H5D-50C and H6D-50C, various lenses and post processed with Photoshop and Lightroom Workflow III. You can also travel to Prague vicariously with T1: Travel Photography.

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Photoessay: Nightfall, Prague

February 28, 2017 by Ming Thein 46 Comments

I don’t believe this city ever sleeps. When it gets dark, it’s simply a change of mood; in fact, some parts look better when you don’t see the less salubrious bits. When you get a good evening though, it feels as though you are walking in a fairy tale at American theme park sizes – really quite surreal. The challenge is of course how to not make another tourist cliche; I think I got too caught up by the obvious beauty at times and consequently failed abjectly with this set. Perhaps it will require another visit to rectify. MT

This series was shot with a Hasselblad H5D-50C and H6D-50C, various lenses and post processed with Photoshop and Lightroom Workflow III.

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Photoessay: a different kind of KL cityscape

May 25, 2015 by Ming Thein 43 Comments

Ordered cubism

I personally find one of the most challenging things to do is make compelling and different images in a situation that is a familiar one: your home city, your usual equipment with nothing particularly special or capable of making a distinctive look (or another way of looking at it is a general purpose tool with a very versatile shooting envelope), challenging weather, and to top it off, conditions that are not ideally conducive for creativity*. These were shot during a private workshop as examples; I have to simultaneously apologise to and thank my student at the time: firstly, I felt I could have made better images with a bit more sleep, but the conditions pushed me to really look for something different. In the end, I think this set fit the bill: I am happy because these are images that I have not only not produced in some form or other before, but images that I never conceptualised because I was not looking in those places either – even though it wasn’t my first time there. Enjoy! MT

*Prolonged lack of sleep from a newborn and a small apartment full of relatives.

This series was shot with a Nikon D810 and 24-120/4 VR, which is probably about as flexible as you can get.

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Photoessay: Tokyo cityscapes

May 13, 2015 by Ming Thein 32 Comments

Skyline

We’re nearing the end of the images from the last trip to Tokyo. Today’s images are a continued evolution of the urban theme into something a bit more widespread; an attempt to capture the combined endless scale and whimsy of Tokyo. There are bits you might find surprising and challenging to your preconceptions of Japan – anything with space or trees or emptiness, for instance – but that’s the whole point, isn’t it? It is me giving in to my endless fascination for man-made light, texture and reflection in complementary colours. Enjoy! MT

This series was shot with a Nikon D810, D750, 24/3.5 PCE, 45/2.8P, Zeiss 1.4/85 Otus and Voigtlander 180/4 APO-Lanthar and processed with PS Workflow II; you can also travel vicariously to Japan with How To See Ep.2: Tokyo.

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Photoessay: Until next time, Chicago

February 6, 2015 by Ming Thein 64 Comments

Variety, hope and restoration

I loved the short amount of time I spent in Chicago; more than enough to want to go back again very soon. I’ve never been in any other place that felt quite so much like being in an open-air architectural museum; it isn’t so much the history but the diversity of styles, the visible progression and being able to see these buildings very much used as intended, and sometimes beyond the imagination of the original architects. Several days of very cooperative weather and a never-ending variety of clouds didn’t do any harm, either. This will be my final post of images from Chicago; fittingly, it’s a mixed cityscape/ architectural set. Enjoy! MT

Shot with a Pentax 645Z, 55 and 150mm lenses, Nikon D810, 24 PCE, Zeiss Otus 1.4/85 and Ricoh GR.

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Photoessay: Urban evenings

August 18, 2014 by Ming Thein 34 Comments

Not much to say about this one: I, as much as the next guy, love a good sunset. I can’t honestly think of a better way to end the day. You may well find several of these to be in an eminently painterly style, too. Enjoy! MT

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Photoessay: Havana cityscapes, part II

June 1, 2014 by Ming Thein 48 Comments

Sunset

Today’s photoessay is the second part and conclusion of the previous photoessay-review. It’s a little broader in scope and less human-scale than the previous one; this is deliberate as there’s definitely an element of the brutalist in Cuban architecture; my theory is that it’s the influence of socialism. You may find the majority of these images to feel toned; that’s mostly a consequence of atmospheric conditions: the best hours of the day to shoot proved to be early morning and late afternoon/ evening, both of which were extremely warm. In any case, I believe it fits the feel and mood of the city well: it’s just a lazy afternoon kind of place, even when it’s ten in the morning. I’m going to stop looking for excuses why I was lighting up a cigar at 9.30 now.

This series shot with a Nikon D800E and 70-200/4 VR. Enjoy!

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Photoessay-review: the Nikon AFS 70-200/4 VR and Havana cityscapes, part I

May 30, 2014 by Ming Thein 93 Comments

This will be the first in my new review format for ‘light’ reviews – pieces of equipment that perhaps don’t necessarily need a full blown magnum opus, but benefit from some context in deployment and typical usage. A short piece on the D4 will follow next.

One of the few lenses in the Canon system I’ve long been jealous of is their 70-200/4 IS (in addition to the 17TSE). Until not so long ago, Nikon users have been missing a light/ compact high quality telephoto option. Sure, there’s been the 70-300/4.5-5.6 VR, but that was only a decent performer up to 200mm; anything else was emergency territory. And it simply wasn’t that good on the D800E, nor a pro build. Finally, we have the AF-S 70-200mm f4 G VR ED IF (what a mouthful). I’m going to address two questions in this review: firstly, is it any good, and secondly, f2.8* or f4? I suspect the latter question is going to be of interest to many still sitting on the fence.

*It’s important to note there are two versions of the 70-200/2.8 G VR. I’ll go into the differences in more detail later.

Photoessay: the clouds of Prague

February 9, 2014 by Ming Thein 36 Comments

I have a theory as to why we as a species seem to be universally attracted to things like clouds, fireworks, water, trees and flowers; that will be the subject of a much longer philosophical elucidation soon, but in the meantime, consider what all of these objects have in common. For today, just enjoy the clouds and their endless variety. 🙂

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Photoessay: A few cityscapes

February 7, 2013 by Ming Thein 34 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any pure-photoessays, so I thought I’d rectify that oversight today. This series of images is not so much a photoessay as perhaps a collection of cityscapes: I have to ask myself, does the photograph represent the feeling or emotion I get when I’m in that place, in that city? Some images cover a broader sweep, some are merely vignettes.

Shot over the year or so with a variety of cameras and lenses; EXIF data is intact on flickr if you click through the images and look at the right-hand panel. Enjoy! MT

Putrajaya, Malaysia

Melaka, Malaysia

Hong Kong

Kuala Lumpur

Le Pont, Switzerland

Tokyo

Kuala Lumpur

Magritte in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Bangkok

Prague

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