ming thein – Ming Thein

News: Zeiss Otus 1.4/28 APO-Distagon, 2.8/21 Loxia, RX1RII, 19 October

October 15, 2015 by Ming Thein

Image courtesy Zeiss

The cover was lifted on the new Otus yesterday – a 28mm f1.4, as expected, and a 21mm f2.8 Loxia a couple of days earlier. The Otus is a 16/13 Distagon design and uses quite a large array of exotic glass and aspherical elements; it’s also quite large (95mm front thread) and has significant weight – but then again, what do you expect from an APO-designated f1.4 wide? From my experience with it so far, it is once again proving to be the reference lens in this focal length. Delivery is expected to be in 2Q 2016.

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Filed Under: Gearhead: Reviews Tagged With: 1.4/28 otus, 2.8/21 loxia, 21 2.8, announcement, gearhead, loxia, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, news, otus, otus 28, thein, zeiss

Photoessay: Monochromes from Luzern

October 14, 2015 by Ming Thein

Escaping boxes

Today I present a small selection of black and white images from a lazy afternoon in Luzern, Switzerland – there was definitely a feeling of summer malaise amongst both visitors and tourists, and even the hardware felt like it was taking a day off. All in all, not a bad way to decompress after an assignment. I went out with a very lightweight kit (especially after said previous assignment) of just the 5DSR, 40 STM and Leica Q; landed up reading a book by the lake in the company of a rather good Hoyo Des Dieux and actually relaxing a bit for a change. Despite that, if you’re a photographer in a foreign city, there’s simply no way you’re not going to take photographs of any sort even if you need a breather from taking photographs – such is the nature of obsession I guess. Enjoy! MT This series was shot with a Canon 5DSR, 40 STM, Leica Q 116 and processed with the Monochrome Masterclass ‘balanced’ workflow. [Read more…]

Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: black and white, lucerne, luzern, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, monochrome, photoessay, photography, switzerland, thein

On not being a photographer

October 10, 2015 by Ming Thein

Red drapes. This post is quite deliberately illustrated with images from times when a) I wasn’t actively shooting or looking for images, and b) have been rather thankful to have a camera of any sort on me.

I struggled a little with the title for this essay. In essence, how many times have you found yourself without the primary aim of photography, but still shooting anyway – or worse, wishing you could be? The kinds of situations I’m talking about are when your primary purpose isn’t photography. You’ve gone out to run some errands, or fulfil family obligations, or rush to some work-related meeting (assuming photography isn’t your primary occupation). But these are the times you inevitably come across that interesting patch of light, that unexpected scene, or just…something that makes you pause and wish you didn’t have to be somewhere in the next ten minutes. Then what?

One place left for the Tokyo Masterclass from 9-14 November

October 9, 2015 by Ming Thein

Shibuya, Tokyo: best suited to cinematic, urban, architecture and street; (more examples of what you might capture are here, here and here) think this is probably the best season to visit Tokyo – the trees are bright orange, the light is angled, and you’ve missed the grey winters, the cherry-blossom chasing hoardes, and the typhoons of summer.

Due to a last minute cancellation, I have one place left for the Tokyo Masterclass from 9-14 November. Click here for more details and to book, more details after the break.

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Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: 2015, chicago, masterclass, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, teaching, thein, tokyo

The Idea of Man, a virtual exhibition

October 8, 2015 by Ming Thein

Welcome to The Idea of Man – a virtual exhibition, for all of you who are unable to visit the physical one at The Rangefinder Gallery in Chicago. It runs until 31 October 2015. I owe Dan Tamarkin of Tamarkin Camera a massive round of thanks for putting it all together and sharing his space – please drop by while it’s still up.

Here we go.

Note: for the benefit of those who prefer no captions, I’ve left them in only if you click through to the images on flickr. The narrative however, is important.

Photoessay: Tokyo architecture mono, mid 2015

October 6, 2015 by Ming Thein

To infinity

Today’s photoessay is a very limited architectural snapshot from Tokyo. I’m there roughly once a year, but the place changes so often that there’s always something new (and usually unrecognisable) from visit to visit. That is of course a very good reason to go back. This set is in monochrome I suppose as sort of contrarian approach to something constantly changing – monochrome still life or landscape tends to invoke something timeless rather than temporal; perhaps change is timeless. MT

This set was shot with a Nikon D810 and D750 and processed with techniques covered in the Monochrome Masterclass and PS Workflow II videos.you can also travel vicariously to Japan with How To See Ep.2: Tokyo.

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

On Assignment: the International Lutheran Seafarers’ Mission

October 4, 2015 by Ming Thein

In the second half of 2014, I was hired for a rather unusual documentary assignment. Amongst very many other things, the German Lutheran Church runs an international mission for seafarers around the world, with various stations and representative pastors in major ports. For their 2014 annual report (yes, I know it’s 2015 – I just haven’t had a chance to write and post up til now), they decided to produce a story on this as one of their featured activities. Even more unusually, rather than choosing a major home port such as Hamburg, the story was focused on Asia – the port of Singapore, to be specific. It’s not too far from Kuala Lumpur, so I got on an airplane. The report has obviously now been published, and I’m free to post the write up.

Photoessay: Hong Kong Urbanscapes II

October 2, 2015 by Ming Thein

Rebirth

Following on from the previous photoessay, I’d like to present part two as a counterpoint – both visual and metaphorical. Whereas the previous photoessay was semi-decay and urban wear and tear, this series of images is the shiny, soulless face of modernity. We are still devoid of humans because the environment has almost become inhumanly clinical, yet somehow there remains a sort of stark beauty in what is left behind. Enjoy the idealised utopia!

This series was shot with a Leica Q and processed with Photoshop Workflow II.

Flying as a photographer, redux

September 30, 2015 by Ming Thein

I spend a lot of time on airplanes. Probably too much; even more than when I was a Powerpoint monkey. And in that time, I think I’ve collected enough wisdom and experience that some of you in the audience might find it useful – especially if it isn’t your day job, travelling to shoot is a rare luxury. The last thing you want to have are either nasty surprises with airlines or the anxiety of missed opportunities…so here are a few useful tips.

Reminder: “The Idea of Man” opening, Oct 2 at the Rangefinder Gallery, Chicago

September 29, 2015 by Ming Thein

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Endless possibilities of the imagination – from The Idea of Man

Today’s post is a gentle reminder for the opening party for my exhibition “The Idea of Man”, at 6pm on Friday 2 October at the Rangefinder Gallery at Tamarkin Camera, Chicago. The exhibition itself runs from October 2-31 and is open to the public. In answer to many queries, they are almost all Ultraprints and they will be for sale in small editions. See you all there! MT