prague – Ming Thein | Photographer

Photoessay: people of Prague, I

July 10, 2015 by Ming Thein

The slight oppressiveness that is impossible to define

Let’s call this set a mix of environmental portraiture and street photography. People in their native element with minimal interference on the part of the photographer. I did stop and talk to some of them; it seems the Czechs in general are very friendly. Others didn’t notice me; I was just another tourist of many. Being a conscious observer in such an environment isn’t a bad thing; you blend in. And people don’t change what they do. This set is the first part of two reinterpretations of ‘people in sauce’ – we’ll talk about my hypotheses on what it means in a future article. We actually had precious few days of good light during the Prague Masterclass – meaning the majority of these images were actually shot on one day – but it was enough. I am continually reminded of just how rich a hunting ground this is when the light is right…enjoy! MT

This series was shot almost entirely with a Nikon D810 and the 24-120/4 VR, with the exception of one image with a Ricoh GR. I post processed using PS Workflow II and The Monochrome Masterclass. I also cover street photography techniques in S1: Street Photography and How To See Ep.2: Tokyo.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: life, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, people, photoessay, photography, prague, street, thein, urban

Photoessay: Praghitecture

July 4, 2015 by Ming Thein

Predawn rooftops I

Today’s photoessay are a selection of buildings from Prague in a mix of styles I’d consider to be somewhere between modern European and ‘restored classical’. I think the Czech Republic manages to strike a good balance between keeping the bones of history intact, modernising it to fit current needs and creating something new – there are exceptions, of course (one of which you will see in this photoessay). I could have spent a lot of time shooting nothing but architecture here – I had teaching obligations so I didn’t, but you get the idea…MT

This series was shot with a Nikon D810, 24/3.5 PCE, 24-120/4 VR, Zeiss Otus 85 and Voigtlander 180/4 APO and postprocessed with Photoshop Workflow II.

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

Photoessay: small humans, Prague

June 30, 2015 by Ming Thein

The underlying economy

In today’s photoessay, the people of Prague play a secondary role in the proceedings: they are there to provide a sense of scale and a little humanisation to the various urban tableaux. The idea behind this series is that whilst people usually take centre stage, even in a very established human-scale city* they eventually play second fiddle to the spectacle of the environment around them. Ironically, even though we created the environment to serve us, it has outlasted us and in some ways rendered us merely transient. I have thus shrunken the people accordingly. Enjoy!

*Unlike very large modern cities like say, New York

This series was shot with a Nikon D810, 24-120/4 VR, Ricoh GR and Zeiss Otus 1.4/55 and processed with Photoshop Workflow II.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: human figures, idea of man, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photoessay, photography, prague, thein

Mini-photoessay: Czech minimalist interlude

April 28, 2015 by Ming Thein

Inner fire

In the spirit of the subject and post, no words today. All images are available as Ultraprints on request; please shoot me an email if you’re interested. Enjoy! MT

Workshop report: The Prague Masterclass, March 2015

April 13, 2015 by Ming Thein

At the start of March, eight enthusiastic photographers gathered in Prague for the fourth Masterclass. Four even enjoyed the previous ones enough they came back again for a second or even third round 🙂 As has become a tradition, what follows is the Masterclass Report, which is not so much a bunch of photographs of people photographing and holding cameras, but instead a showcase of the participants’ work. Read on to see the kind of images we make.

Photoessay: the arches of Prague

April 11, 2015 by Ming Thein

The nun at dawn

Prague is one of those locations which never fails to captivate – it’s an interesting blend of Old World elegance, modern efficiency and very friendly people. One of the things that falls out of the Old World setting is an unusually large number of arches – as a load bearing architectural device to create an aperture in a structure supporting a large building, they were pretty much the only option available if you’re working in stone or brick. Photographically, they’re a great device for framing and adding layers of interest to an image – beyond the obvious use of placing the subject in the middle, you also gain the ability to stack them up to create areas of interesting texture through geometrical repetition. On top of all of that, they also act as light control devices – if you photograph them side-on, they can create directional light out of a very flat day especially if there are no other apertures on facing them on the other side. This set was shot during the March Prague masterclass, and includes some of my favourite images from the city. Enjoy! MT

This series was shot with a Nikon D810, Zeiss 1.4/55 and 1.4/85 Otuses, the 45 PCE, and mostly the AFS 24-120/4 VR. It was processed with PS Workflow II.

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Filed Under: On Photography Tagged With: arches, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photoessay, photography, prague, thein

One place left for the March 2015 Prague masterclass

January 27, 2015 by Ming Thein

Prague

Prague, Czech Republic, 9-14 March 2015 (best suited to urban, architecture and street)
Duration: 6 days, four practical and two classroom
Tuition cost: US$2,300; $2,600 special bundle including Outstanding Images Ep. 1-5 and Intro to PS Workflow (required, but most participants usually have some or all of these already)

Want to be challenged? Inspired? Push yourself to take your images to the next level? The Masterclasses are aimed squarely at you. They are for the photographer who already understands the fundamentals and is looking at developing their own style, evolving creatively and spending some time with like-minded individuals. The aim is no longer about building core fundamentals by exercises, but to work on vision, the ability to assess and curate one’s work, application of style, postprocessing, and being able to put together a coherent set of images to an objective.

Click here for detailed information, and to book. Testimonials from prior workshops are here. Thanks and see you in Prague! MT

Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: czech republic, lucerne, march 2015, masterclass, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, prague, switzerland, teaching, thein, venice report

Prague 2015 Masterclasses open for booking

December 29, 2014 by Ming Thein

Prague

Venice Masterclass report; Prague and Lucerne 2015 Masterclasses

December 12, 2014 by Ming Thein

The Venice Masterclass (in late November) is now concluded, and with it the last of the workshops for 2014. As has become a tradition, here’s the report – and a selection of images and thoughts from the participants. 2015 is looking to be a busy year, and so I’d like to lock in the first sessions for the new year into my calendar. Read on for the report and for more information on the Prague and Lucerne Masterclass in early 2015.

Photoessay: Architectural juxtapositions

April 22, 2014 by Ming Thein

I’m pretty sure none of the architects or designers involved with this project could have envisioned the sightlines I used for these images, or if they did, it’s almost uncertain that they would have been able to forsee the changes in the environment surrounding the buildings. Some believe that photography is no more than a derivative work of somebody else’s primary creation; I of course disagree – and that will be the subject of a future article.

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