ming – Ming Thein | Photographer

Repost: What influences your photography?

July 1, 2013 by Ming Thein

Hanoi. Nikon D700, 85/1.4G

What follows is a repost of an original article from early 2012: it’s a necessary prelude to what comes tomorrow, so for those who’ve read it – bear with me; for those who haven’t, enjoy.

A random thought struck me while driving today (it seems to happen often, but then again with Malaysian traffic, I do spend a lot of time in the car): what are my conscious and unconscious photographic influences, and how do they affect my images look?

I think this is a topic worth exploring because it’s useful to analyze how you think as a photographer, because it will both consciously help you to identify potential shots sooner, as well as tap into other sources of influence you might not have previously considered. As sacrificial guinea pig, I’ll go first.

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Filed Under: Articles, On Photography Tagged With: article, essay, influences, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, opinion, thein

The 2013 Leica X Vario (Typ 107) review

June 29, 2013 by Ming Thein

When the Leica X Vario (Typ 107) was first announced about a month ago, I honestly didn’t quite know what to make of it – though it seemed like a logical evolution of the X line, and a compliment to the M line, the headline spec left most photographers scratching their heads – including this one. It packs the same 16MP Sony-derived APS-C sensor as the X2, a body somewhere between the X2 and the M Typ 240 and a 28-70 equivalent zoom. Actually, it wasn’t any of that which caused the consternation visible in the comments on this earlier post – rather, it was the modest f3.5-6.3 maximum aperture, and the stiff price. At $2,850, it’s a solid $850 more than the X2, which has a faster fixed lens, and well into second-hand M8 territory – including a lens. The challenge is one of product positioning: the price is high enough to deter serious photographers from taking a second look, perhaps steered away from Leica’s claims that it’s meant to be a mini-M. The X Vario has the body size of the X2 mixed with design cues from the M (top plate step, thumb grip, chrome D-pad, new 3″, 921k-dot LCD). What I found during my week of use (so far) is that they’re both right and wrong.

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Filed Under: Gearhead: Reviews, Leica Tagged With: 2013, gearhead, leica, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, review, thein, typ 107, x vario

Taking stock

June 28, 2013 by Ming Thein

Time for a breather.

For those of you who are curious about what I do, (and also so I don’t forget)…as far as I can determine, here’s the current list of my regular activities. I’ve found that I certainly can’t do the same one thing for long, and there’s definite value in having inspiration from many sources.

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Filed Under: Off topic Tagged With: ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, off topic, taking stock, thein

The proverbial desert island camera

June 27, 2013 by Ming Thein

One question you tend to see publicly discussed ad nauseam on forums is the one that goes something along the lines of “If you could only bring one camera/lens to a desert island, what would that be, and why?” I’m sure it’s something even we more serious photographers give some consideration to from time to time; if only because one day we might find ourselves facing such an eventuality. In the greater interests of this site’s readership, I put myself in precisely that situation a couple of weeks ago.

A question of sensor size

June 25, 2013 by Ming Thein

The contenders.

Conventional wisdom states that the bigger the sensor, the better. The bigger the pixels, the better. All things equal, that’s true; however, 10-micron pixels would mean very low resolution compacts, and medium format digital doesn’t sell in sufficient volumes to justify the same sort of R&D spend that consumer or even midrange pro gear would get. I admit I’d always been curious to see just how much the technological improvements from generation to generation offset pixel pitch etc.; some time ago, I did a comparison of the Leica S2 against the then-new Nikon D800E. Today, we go one step further to see exactly what kind of gap exists between the various grades of equipment. Spoiler: it’s not as wide as you might imagine in some areas.

Last day for the print sale

June 25, 2013 by Ming Thein

Final selection

I’ll be closing orders for the limited edition print run at the end of today – if you would like a print, please see the details below. Thanks!

Remember, I will only print these images once, at this size. Ever. Once this run is complete, there will be no more prints.

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Filed Under: Off topic, Prints Tagged With: june 2013, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, print offer, print run, print sale, thein

Photographic aspirations, part three: a manifesto

June 23, 2013 by Ming Thein

Take your beliefs to the streets.

I actually wrote something like this quite some time ago – it’s still on my flickr ‘about’ page, I believe. It’s actually interesting from a strange self-analysis point of view to see how my views of photography have morphed in the last few years, partially as a consequence of experience, and partially due to the shift towards commercial work. So, perhaps I’ll revisit this post again in another few years and see how things have changed again…

Photoessay: San Francisco monochromes, part two: channeling Winogrand

June 21, 2013 by Ming Thein

One of the exercises I did at the last round of US workshops was an exploration into finding style. Naturally, having taken both of the groups in San Francisco to see the Garry Winogrand exhibition that was on at SFMOMA, there was more than a healthy curiosity amongst the groups to attempt to shoot replicate his way of shooting. I of course had to demonstrate. Whilst I don’t particularly care for his off-center/ misaligned/ ‘loose’ framing and various forms of blurring, I do appreciate his sense of timing and getting into the moment and the scene. Plenty of shooting from the hip or with the tilt screen and a wide lens ensued; the OM-D and 12/2 was weapon of choice. Enjoy! MT

Photographic aspirations, part two: reality, and getting there

June 19, 2013 by Ming Thein

Light at the end of the tunnel: but it’s a long climb, and are you going up, or down?

Reality often isn’t as glamorous as the dream.

In the first part of this essay, we explored the dissonance between the photographer we are, the photographer we think we want to be, and the photographer we actually want to be; today, we’ll wrap up by looking at how you can get there.

Just updated the Olympus E-P5 review…

June 18, 2013 by Ming Thein

I’ve had the opportunity to shoot with a final production Olympus E-P5 for the last week or so, which means I’ve been able to update the image quality section of the review. You can find the whole thing (including the update, of course) here. MT

Thanks to the folks at Olympus Malaysia for making it happen.