nikon – Ming Thein | Photographer

Photoessay: Nagarkot

March 10, 2012 by Ming Thein

Nagarkot is a popular tourist destination at the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal; you aren’t really there, but you do get a spectacular view of the mountains if the weather cooperates – it did to some extent on the one day and one night we were there. Kathmandu is situated in a valley that tends to trap smog, pollution and every other kind of nasty; less than two hours outside (probably more like half an hour if the roads were maintained properly) and you’re breathing clear mountain air. Feeling ambitious, we undertook a 9km round trip hike; we underestimated the heat and altitude, and landed up flagging somewhat on the way back down – it might have had something to do with the rather disappointing view from the ‘lookout tower’ that was both not that much of a tower, and extremely difficult to climb because the ladder inexplicably started six feet off the ground. MT

Series shot with a Nikon D700, AFS 24/1.4 G and AFS 85/1.4 G lenses.

Everest by aeroplane

Incredible night view; not really visible to the naked eye, but that’s why we have cameras with 30s exposures and f1.4 lenses.

Before sunrise. What appears to be a cloud bank turns out to be a solid unbroken mountain range.

Breaking dawn

Watching the view

Commando training – center left.

Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: himalayas, landscape, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nepal, nikon, photo, photoessay, photography, thein

Photoessay: Inside the A. Lange & Sohne Datograph

March 8, 2012 by Ming Thein

…as you’ve probably never seen it before. This is why a watch like this is magical; it’s very, very difficult to capture in photographs because of the technical challenges. But, it’s a good example of what happens when you get really serious about watch photography – and put all of the previous three articles into practice. MT

Series shot with a Nikon D700 and 60/2.8 G. Nothing less than 2:1 magnification here – no cropping, either!

Filed Under: On Photography, Watches/ Horology Tagged With: datograph, lange, macro, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nikon, photo, photoessay, photography, thein, watch

POTD: Street reflections

March 8, 2012 by Ming Thein

Street Reflections, Kuala Lumpur. After the rain. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G

Filed Under: POTD Tagged With: ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nikon, photography, street, thein

POTD: The three-legged boy

March 3, 2012 by Ming Thein

The three-legged boy, Kathmandu. Look closer. Nikon D700, 24/1.4

Filed Under: POTD Tagged With: kathmandu, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nikon, photography, photojournalism, potd, thein

Photoessay: The Singapore Art Science Museum

March 2, 2012 by Ming Thein

The contents of the museum aren’t particularly interesting, but the building itself is quite the architectural curiosity. I particularly like the oculus at the top that admits both light and rain; the latter which happens frequently in a tropical country, leading to some interesting effects in the pool below. I can’t say the building’s design was that clever, though; useable space seems pretty low. The entrance feels very much modeled on the Louvre pyramid. MT

Series shot with a Nikon D3100 and AFS 24/1.4 G.

Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: architecture, art, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, museum, nikon, photo, photoessay, photography, science, singapore, thein

Photoessay: The Temples of Japan

February 29, 2012 by Ming Thein

Shinto and Buddhist shrines, from Kyoto, Nikko, Nara and Tokyo. Think of it as a teaser for the upcoming Tokyo workshop with Leica. MT

Series shot at various times with the Nikon D3 and D200

Meiji Shrine, Tokyo

Nikko

Temple in Gion, Kyoto

Fushima-inarii torii, Kyoto

Daibutsu, Nara

Kinkakuji, Kyoto

Nikko

Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: buddhist, japan, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nikon, photo, photoessay, photography, shinto, street, street photography, temple, thein, tokyo

Photoessay: Tsukiji Market

February 27, 2012 by Ming Thein

Tsukiji Market is the spiritual home of sushi, sashimi and most Japanese cuisines. Every single edible (and sometimes perhaps best not eaten) creature from the deep can be found for sale here; how anybody decides which supplier to go to is baffling, because there are just so many of them. It’s also a chaotic environment where photographers might get taken out by one of those three-wheeler carts if they’re not paying attention. The authorities closed off the early-morning tuna auctions – where fish fetch as much as US$150,000 each – to tourists and photographers because it was distracting business. Having been lucky enough to witness it firsthand, I think it’s safe to say that you wouldn’t have a clue what’s going on there anyway – they don’t even speak to each other in normal Japanese, and bids are conducted by a system of secret handshakes that are hidden behind a glove. One has to be there very early to see any action at all – simply because the food has to reach its destination in time for lunch. And no trip would be complete without a hearty breakfast at one of the many surrounding stalls that support the workers. Here’s an amuse-bouche for the upcoming Tokyo workshop with Leica. MT

Series shot at various times with the Nikon D3 and D200

Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: japan, market, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nikon, photo, photoessay, photography, street, street photography, thein, tokyo, tsukiji

Photoessay: Ginza

February 25, 2012 by Ming Thein

This article is the first in a new series of photoessays – a short series of 5-10 images, a small amount of words, and a return to putting the focus on the pictures rather than just the how-tos and equipment masturbations. After all, the final image is what it’s all about.

Ginza, Tokyo is known for two things: being a temple to the height of luxury consumerism, and having the most expensive real estate on earth. Here’s an amuse-bouche for the upcoming Tokyo workshop with Leica. MT

Series shot at various times with the Nikon D3 and D200

Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: ginza, japan, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nikon, photo, photoessay, photography, street, street photography, thein, tokyo

POTD: Breguet La Tradition

February 23, 2012 by Ming Thein

Breguet La Tradition. Nikon D700, 60/2.8 G + 2xSB900s

So how did I do this? It’s not that hard: watch your lighting, and watch your backgrounds. With a sufficiently dark background and perpendicular lighting (the key here is not too diffuse, else your background will also be lit) the reflective surface of the watch with shoot the light right back at the camera. Since the watch is several orders of magnitude more reflective than the background, exposing properly for the watch will completely dial out the background, or at least reduce its luminance to a level where it’s negligible. I could have burned it down to zero, but a hint of texture and delineation for the strap worked best. MT

Filed Under: POTD, Watches/ Horology Tagged With: breguet la tradition, horology, macro, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nikon, photography, potd, thein, watch

POTD: Vintage Tudor Submariner

February 21, 2012 by Ming Thein

Vintage Tudor Submariner. Nikon D700, 60/2.8 G Micro + 2xSB900s

Yes, that’s a Rolex crown. Rolex is the parent company of Tudor; or, Tudor is the ‘entry level’ Rolex model. There weren’t really that many differences back then, but these days the main difference is in the movement – all of the Rolexes have in-house movements but the Tudors have Swatch Group-derived ETAs. If you’ve ever wondered how I get lighting like this, the trick is all in the diffusers; the better your lighting control, the less aggressive your specular highlights will be. I use a system of movable translucent but semi-opaque perspex panels to diffuse my flashes. (It’s custom built, so don’t bother looking for one). The other trick is that although the perspective appears to be one way, it doesn’t mean that the subject has to be shot in that orientation, only lit in that orientation and rotated later. MT

See the full series and writeup here on fratellowatches