POTD: Electoral reforms

April 29, 2012 by

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Protest. Leica M9-P, 2.8/28 ASPH

I chose today’s image in light of what’s going on in Malaysia at the moment. If I was in KL, I’d most likely have been there shooting. This is history in the making, or what is probably the beginning stages of it. I have to say upfront that I hate politics, and try not to think about it – let alone pass opinion – because it just makes me angry. Hundreds of thousands of people joined the Bersih 3.0 rally yesterday demanding electoral reform, and got teargassed and fire hosed in return. There were a lot of families in the crowds, too. I’m sure there were the fair share of violent anarchists too, but surely not 10% of the population of greater Kuala Lumpur is trying to raise hell.

This is prime evidence that there’s an extremely strong discomfort amongst the masses with the current leadership.

Yet the rest of the world sees a) the responses epitomizing an oppressive government that’s trying to suppress/ repress the population and b) at some point in the not too distant future, all hell is going to break loose when the number of people completely overwhelms the police. And it’s going to be May 13, 1969 all over again – one of the most embarrassing and bloodiest days in Malaysian history.

I just hope whoever is really in charge wakes up soon enough to realize that continuing along this path – being driven by greed and power – is going to destroy the hand that feeds them first place. Leadership has never been about ruling and controlling people; a good leader always has their people fully supporting them because they feel like they are part of the process, and there is some element of fairness. It’s okay if you’re going to make money out of being a head of state – there is a lot at stake, and plenty of responsibility that lies on your shoulders – just don’t do it at the expense of the people who entrusted you with that responsibility in the first place. MT

Filed Under: Off topic, POTD Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Limited fine art print offer! (and POTD)

April 28, 2012 by

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Seeing the wood from the trees. Leica M9-P, 21/3.4 Super Elmar ASPH

Today’s POTD fell out of a test run for the 21/3.4 Super Elmar ASPH, which I’ll be reviewing in the next few weeks. Initial impressions: hugely impressive, especially in the corners. I see almost no optical flaws anywhere, at f4 – which is just half a stop down from wide open.

I’m also happy to announce a new partnership with Giclee Art in Malaysia (a HP print ambassador) and master printmaker Wesley Wong. The work I’ve seen is stunning – he will be printing the images for my upcoming exhibition.

Both of the prints you see in this post will be up for as a limited run. (These things help me keep the site running – creating content takes time I can’t use for anything else, and I really want to keep the site ad-free to maintain the picture viewing experience; also, it helps you decorate your walls 🙂

The print offer will be limited to 20 copies of each image, at 16×24″ (A2) printed on 20×30″ paper. Here’s the kicker: the prints will be done on 380gsm matte fine art paper, printed with 200 year archival grade pigment ink on a HP production class machine. The look of the black on the paper is indescribable – I’ve never seen anything like it before, and I knew I had to make some prints with this. There are no reflections anywhere, which means the image is so much more viewable. The blacks are dense and chalk-pastel like, with fine tonal transitions. All prints will be numbered and signed. (And no, there will be no black borders around the images in the final print).

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Schonbrunn Fog, Vienna. Leica M9-P, 28/2.8 ASPH

The price for either print is US$550 net to me including shipping worldwide via courier in a sturdy tube. To keep things simple, payment can be made via Paypal to mingthein2@gmail.com, which means you can either use your Paypal balance or a credit card.

Please include in the message field which image you’d like, plus your shipping address, contact email address and telephone number. I’ll email a confirmation as soon as I a payment from you. If you’d like multiple copies or multiple images, that’s great too – you just make one payment.

I’ll be closing the print offer at the end of May, and shipping shortly thereafter. First come first served! Remember, these images will not be offered for sale again at this size. Thanks for your support everybody! MT

Filed Under: Leica, Off topic, POTD Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

POTD: Nucleation

April 27, 2012 by

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Everything needs a catalyst. Olympus E-PM1 Pen Mini, Panasonic 20/1.7 G.

In case you’re wondering what it is you’re looking at, it’s boiling water at moderately high magnification, frozen by off-camera flash. High enough that my knuckles were gently steaming after about ten seconds or so. Experimentation is the source of all art…but yes, you can go too far. I’m pretty sure I got a sizable blister on one of my fingers after this. MT

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POTD x3: The kind of sequence that kills cameras, and a quick reminder

April 25, 2012 by

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The kind of sequence that kills a camera: or, advancing waves at 14mm. Olympus E-PM1 Pen Mini, 14-42 kit lens.

Let’s just say there was a reason I was using this and not, say, an M9. Also, I was moving out of the way rather quickly!

I’ve been experimenting with sequences/ sets a bit lately; it’s something that I thought might be interesting to build off the contact sheet idea – any not make the contact sheet and thinking process part of the desired end output? But then I suppose it would require us to think about the individual frames in the context of their own contact sheet, which would be rather meta and confusing…or perhaps the right way to approach this would be thinking of the sequence in itself, much like a video clip – except we just capture key frames. I have a sneaky feeling that pursuing this path of development will eventually lead me back into experimenting with cinematography again (which will be the subject of a future article).

A quick reminder: My Singapore reader meet up will happen tonight, at 7pm, outside Ion Orchard near the red floor installation and the ‘bubble’ MRT entrance. You’ll find me because of the M9-P hanging around my neck, and I’ll be wearing a red t-shirt. (For some odd inexplicable reason, this is beginning to feel like a blind internet date. Oh well, at least we know we all have one thing in common!) We’ll wander around from there and find something to eat. Looking forward to meeting you all! MT

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POTD: Transparency

April 24, 2012 by

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Benzinger Skeleton. Nikon D700, AFS 60/2.8 G Micro.

I love and hate the idea of skeleton watches. Seeing your wrist hair through the dial isn’t so fun; but being able to see the movement definitely is. This shot is a play on the transparency of the watch – you know it’s there, but at the same time, it isn’t. MT

Filed Under: POTD, Watches/ Horology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

POTD: Levitation

April 23, 2012 by

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Levitation. In tribute to that Japanese photographer who perpetually seems to be floating in midair…I think she’s known as the ‘Yowayowa Camera Woman’ or something. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G. MT

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POTD: Urban isolation

April 22, 2012 by

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Shared space, but no shared connection. Leica M9-P and Zeiss ZM 2/50 Planar.

Five people effectively occupy the same 1.5 square meters of space, yet there’s absolutely no interaction between them. The two outside probably don’t even notice the third person inside hovering over them drinking soup; for all we know, they could even be texting each other. If he was at the same table without the glass barrier, the outside couple would probably feel quite uncomfortable. People everywhere but each retreats into their own worlds. Is this a metaphor for modern society? Perhaps. MT

Filed Under: Leica, POTD Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

POTD: Flamingo reflections

April 21, 2012 by

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Napping flamingo. Nikon D3, AFS 300/2.8 VRII. Sometimes I have to admit I miss my long lenses and wildlife photography days. Other times, I remember the fruitless days spent sitting in swamps being a blood donor for various painful biting and stinging insects: there’s always a tradeoff. Bottom line: patience pays. MT

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POTD: If you’re not getting wet, you’re probably not close enough.

April 20, 2012 by

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Wave action. Olympus E-PM1 Pen Mini, 14-42 kit lens…at 14mm.

Sometimes risks are necessary for experimentation. Just don’t do it with any gear that would be critical if dead, unless you absolutely have to get the shot. MT

Filed Under: POTD Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

POTD: Photography is a team sport…and a commentary on competitions

April 18, 2012 by

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Canon Photomarathon, Kuala Lumpur. Olympus Pen Mini E-PM1, ZD 45/1.8

This isn’t a recent event, but a group of photographers running around the streets of KL in a pack yesterday reminded me of this shot. The aim of the event is simple: it is a competition with several categories of prize, but everything must be shot on the day, in the same location, and you’ve got to wear the same damn shirt as everybody else. Editing is permitted, but everybody submits prints for judging, made on one of those dye sub printers.

Several thoughts:
1. There’s a HUGE market for photography equipment in Malaysia. This relatively small segment of the population was at least a thousand-strong, with easily $3,000 or more of gear for each person on average. There was more than one person going around with 1-series bodies and 300/2.8s.

2. It’s commendable that somebody bothers to organize something on this scale at all.

3. How on earth the organizers expect to see good results when you restrict the participants is ludicrous – it just makes you look bad because the level of photography is is low.

4. You’re not going to get any good reportage style images or candids when you’re milling around in a pack of hundreds or thousands of very conspicuous people. And more often than not, if you try something that looks out of the ordinary, a whole bunch of people will follow you immediately afterwards and it ceases to be unusual. And in the end the entire event just turns into an equipment masturbation session, with plenty of mine-is-bigger-than-yours. Or maybe that’s what the organizers want, so they can sell more cameras.

5. Postprocessing is as much part of the modern photography process as darkroom work was for film. So treat it as such, not an aberration or ‘cheat’. If you’re going to do something unnatural like HDR, it’ll be obvious to the judges (we hope).

6. Dye sub printers produce horrible color. Perhaps processing doesn’t matter because you won’t be able to appreciate the subtle tones anyway.

7. My final point is a criticism leveled at the organizers of almost all competitions, not just this one: yes, I can understand why you’d need limited rights to republish the image afterwards, but why on earth do all competitions result in the photographer having to surrender any and all rights to all images entered? Don’t the organizers realize that the really good photographers and pros will never agree to do this? I certainly would not enter my best images if I know I’ll have to surrender the rights to them. And if I’m not going to enter my best images, then why bother entering at all? If you’ve got a whole pool of people who think like this – and I know a lot of pros and talented amateurs do – then you’re just lowering the standard in general.

What I’d like to see – or perhaps even organize – is a competition based solely on merit; with no rights transferral or ownership, so we’d see people putting their best foot forward. Anonymous entry, so we don’t bias based on names or fame. Something to think about for the future, perhaps. MT

Filed Under: On Photography, POTD Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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