czech republic – Ming Thein

Photoessay: Hruba Skala at Cesky Raj

August 29, 2015 by Ming Thein

About all that’s visible from the road

Today’s photoessay continues the previous two from Hruba Skala at Cesky Raj. I would think of today as more of a general overview and contextual positioning of these unique rock formations in the general landscape around the Cesky Raj (Bohemian Paradise) area in the northern part of the Czech Republic. What isn’t immediately apparent from this (and all other) images of the rocks is that they’re really not that easily visible from the roads surrounding the perimeter of the area, nor does the general topography suggest where you might find them. Instead, you are driving hopefully through some forest and there are little hints of entrance on the right which suggest something much larger. It isn’t til you get down into the gorges and keep walking that the sense of scale is actually apparent. It is one of the most surreal places I’ve been because of this dichotomy between our ability to comprehend the scale (unlike say the Grand Canyon) and the actual size of it – you can go up and touch elements of it, but you’ve got to do some walking. In other words, it’s bigger than you think. And a challenge to capture, too. Enjoy! MT

This series was shot with a Nikon D810, 24 and 45mm PCE lenses, a Zeiss 1.4/85 Otus, a Voigtlander 180/4 APO Lanthar and processed with Photoshop Workflow II.

Photoessay: Prague nightscapes

August 5, 2015 by Ming Thein

Not your typical postcard

Today’s photoessay is a series off nightscapes from Prague. I’ve always found night photography requires a bit of an ‘inertial hump’ to get over – especially if you’re out hauling the tripod for some long exposures; there’s an optimum window just after dusk when the sky is a dark blue and not totally black, balancing off with the ambient illumination of the buildings. It means you have to carefully plan your locations and/or route in order to be at the right place at the right time; on top of that, I find the actual shooting window is pretty small – perhaps two hours at best unless you’re living at extreme latitudes in summer.

Photoessay: Details of a forest

August 1, 2015 by Ming Thein

Explosion

Perhaps this set should have been called ‘seeing the wood for the trees’ – often in a situation where there is so much going on, it’s not easy to pick out and compose for individual details. There’s a sort of cognitive deception going on – there appears to be a lot of areas of interest, but in reality you’ve got to be very careful because it’s really the juxtaposition and perceived density that makes the scene interesting – without the context, you don’t know it’s one tree of many, or that the level of detail continues on to increasingly smaller scales, or that a particular rock formation is out of place. A good rule of thumb is that the detail of interest must be markedly different from the surrounding areas in order to stand out and hold audience attention. That of course means including the surrounding areas…

Photoessay: Abstract rocks of Hruba Skala

July 28, 2015 by Ming Thein

Hrubá Skalá is a tiny little village around a castle, located in the Český Ráj (Bohemian Paradise) area of the Czech Republic. It’s about an hour or so north of Prague and very much in the countryside; farmhouses there change hands for EUR 20,000 or thereabouts. It also contains some of the most interesting rock formations on earth – a mixture of limestone and sandstone towers in fantastic shapes that remained whilst the surrounding soil eroded away. In places they protrude out of the forest forming a cliff line; in others they are so near to each other that canyons which never see any light are formed. Walking between them is quite otherworldly – not just because of their scale, but because you pretty much have the place to yourself.

Mini-photoessay: Czech minimalist interlude

April 28, 2015 by Ming Thein

Inner fire

In the spirit of the subject and post, no words today. All images are available as Ultraprints on request; please shoot me an email if you’re interested. Enjoy! MT

One place left for the March 2015 Prague masterclass

January 27, 2015 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.

Click here for detailed information, and to book. Testimonials from prior workshops are here. Thanks and see you in Prague! MT

Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: czech republic, lucerne, march 2015, masterclass, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, prague, switzerland, teaching, thein, venice report

Prague 2015 Masterclasses open for booking

December 29, 2014 by Ming Thein

Prague

Venice Masterclass report; Prague and Lucerne 2015 Masterclasses

December 12, 2014 by Ming Thein

The Venice Masterclass (in late November) is now concluded, and with it the last of the workshops for 2014. As has become a tradition, here’s the report – and a selection of images and thoughts from the participants. 2015 is looking to be a busy year, and so I’d like to lock in the first sessions for the new year into my calendar. Read on for the report and for more information on the Prague and Lucerne Masterclass in early 2015.

Photoessay: The magic forest

January 16, 2014 by Ming Thein

Following on from yesterday’s article on travelling as a photographer – specifically the portion on serendipity – I thought it might be nice to show an example of that in today’s photoessay.

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