mingthein.com – Ming Thein

Does the audience matter?

February 3, 2014 by Ming Thein

Work like this, I produce for myself and myself only: I don’t care if anybody else likes it; frankly, I wasn’t even going to upload or share it, but it got accidentally included in a batch. I know it certainly has zero commercial potential. Perhaps that makes it amongst the purest images I create?

Here’s a sticky question I’ve been battling with for a few months: does it matter what other people think of my images? Although it may sound rather egotistical, I think it’s actually a very valid consideration from several standpoints: that of the hobbyist/ amateur; that of the commercial/ professional, and that of the artist. And I’m pretty sure the answer is different for each one. I’m not even going to try and answer the question of what one should do if you fall into all three categories…I suppose it requires a healthy dose of schizophrenia.

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: amateur, art, article, audience, commercial, does the audience matter, essay, ming, mingthein.com, opinion, professional, thein

To specialise or generalise?

February 1, 2014 by Ming Thein

The work of a generalist, or a specialist in seeking abstraction?

There’s always been a slightly inaccurate preconception in any field that a specialist must be better than a generalist – surely, if you’ve done something a thousand times, you’d be better at it than somebody who’s done it ten times? Today, from a photographic standpoint, I’m actually going to argue against this – albeit with a very specific set of caveats.

One place left each for Melbourne workshop and Havana masterclass

January 31, 2014 by Ming Thein

From Making Outstanding Images Amsterdam 2013

Just a gentle reminder – I have one place left each for the Melbourne (27-29 March) Making Outstanding Images workshop, and the Havana, Cuba Masterclass (28 April-3 May). London Making Outstanding Images (16-18 July) is full, but I am taking standbys as there are almost always reshufflings due to people’s work schedules…thanks! Please click on the links to the individual announcements for more info, or please send me an email to book. MT

Testimonials from previous workshops can be found here.

Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: 2014, cuba, london, making outstanding images, melbourne, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, thein, Workshop

Photoessay: Amsterdam street colour

January 30, 2014 by Ming Thein

Street photography is something I’ve always done solely for myself – there is no direct commercial application (though arguably some of the techniques probably apply to reportage). For me, it didn’t come about from following a popular trend or other external influence: I just wanted to capture the essence and feel of daily life in a place when I travelled; nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes we find a unique and fun moment or two; sometimes it’s a case of the locally familiar being unfamiliar to us – and therefore interesting. But above all, aesthetics and timing still matter. Enjoy! MT

These images were made during the October 2013 Making Outstanding Images Workshop in Amsterdam; I will be holding three more of these in Melbourne, Sydney and London later this year. Click here for more info, and to sign up.

This set was shot with a Ricoh GR, Olympus OM-D E-M5, the Panasonic 14-42/3.5-5.6 X pancake, and the Leica 50/1.4 Summilux-M ASPH.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: amsterdam, color, ming, mingthein.com, photoessay, street, street photography, thein

The importance of shot discipline

January 28, 2014 by Ming Thein

Miss it, and the moment is gone. Procession, Nepal. Nikon D700, 24/1.4

Repost: I’ve been referencing this particular early article so often in posts and emails that I think it’s high time we had a reminder. I’ve dusted it off, refreshed it a little. We’ll start by defining shot discipline. There are two main aspects: timing and technique.

Film diaries: choosing film or digital, and a little rationale

January 26, 2014 by Ming Thein

Amsterdam Arch, color – Ricoh GR

For serious photographers – the kind that buy cameras to take pictures with, not for bragging rights or spec sheet counts – creative choice is good. And perhaps the largest and most divisionary of all of the creative choices available to a photographer has been whether to go film, digital, or a combination of both. Don’t expect to get a concrete answer one way or the other after this article; rather, I’m going to explore the less obvious rationale and strengths for both options.

Film Diaries: Examining the costs of shooting film vs digital

January 24, 2014 by Ming Thein

Looking for an answer? I can’t give you a clear cut one, but this article might certainly help to clarify your thoughts.

There are many reasons to shoot digital. There are many reasons to shoot film, too – beyond the simple ‘I want to’. Though I find that for color work, digital is significantly better than film due to the level of control and accuracy it produces, film remains my medium of choice for monochrome work. The reason has to do with nonlinearity of tonal response, especially in the highlights – film never quite seems to clip under almost all circumstances, and this jives with the way our eyes see the world very nicely indeed. But there are typically two things that stop people from trying film: workflow, and perceived cost.

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Filed Under: Articles, Film Diaries Tagged With: costs, economics, film diaries, film vs digital, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, thein

Photoessay: The architectural details of Amsterdam

January 22, 2014 by Ming Thein

Following one from part one – part two focuses on the little touches that add character to a building, and if done well, reflect a little of the society that created them. I like to think of them as stamps or quirks of individuality, and something which I consciously look for when I travel to places with a strong design culture.

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

FD: From the opening party of “Engineering Art in Metal”

January 20, 2014 by Ming Thein

It’s been a busy January. I finally found some time to develop the film from the opening night party of my current exhibition, ‘Engineering Art in Metal’ – it’s at the Center for Asian Photographers and has been extended until mid-February, so if you’re in town, please go have a look. (More details are here.)

Repost: Points of sufficiency: do you really know how much is enough?

January 18, 2014 by Ming Thein

39-MP medium format overkill? For most things, most definitely. But if you’re making 40×50″ fine art prints for close range viewing, no.

I’m reposting this article from 2012 for the simple reason that I’m still getting far too many emails from people obsessing over equipment with bigger numbers or higher specs solving compositional and creative deficiencies. I think I’ll continue to do this on a regular basis so long as those communiques keep coming in…

The never-ending photographic arms race got me thinking recently about sufficiency: how many pixels, fps, AF points, ISO settings, etc. are enough? The troubling thing is that I thought I used to know the answer: I’m no longer sure it’s quite as clear cut. See, the thing is that if you’re viewing images online, in theory, anything close to your screen resolution (leaving space for UI elements, text, menus etc.) should be sufficient – 1000px wide is more than enough for most purposes. The images on this site are mostly 800px wide, for reference. In theory, that should mean an iPhone is overkill. Yes and no; just because resolution sufficient, it doesn’t mean that we’re going to have enough dynamic range, or color depth (or accuracy).

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