ricoh gr – Ming Thein

Photoessay: Mono street photography from Singapore

August 28, 2014 by Ming Thein

Shadows

Contrary to popular belief, I don’t shoot that much street photography by either time or output; it just appears that way because a lot of the work I do can’t be published for some time (or at all) due to client embargoes; and by the time I can make it public, I’ve honestly just forgotten or realized that the shoot was so rushed that I didn’t get a chance to shoot any ‘making of’ b-roll. Hence the large quantity of street photography. By a similar token, I don’t believe in a conventional definition of street photography; I think of it as something on the documentary spectrum but towards the end where you don’t have a set objective or assignment, and just record what you see. In some ways, that makes it more difficult because you have to make or interpret your own story from a bunch of usually discordant pieces.

Photoessay: The people of Taipei

May 28, 2014 by Ming Thein

An obsession with things on sticks, I

Whenever I travel, I find the people more interesting than the location: they give a place character, and say a lot about the local culture. It is therefore natural that we photograph people as part of a travel photography set, and seek to capture a little bit of everything: some culture, some uniqueness, some context – in essence, the spirit of the location. Things that stand out are behaviours that I find unfamiliar or inexplicable; but this must be balanced with normal people going about their lives to avoid a biased view of extremes and stereotypes. I found Taipei to be a quirky blend of China’s modern awkwardness at attempting to copy the west; Japan’s tech-obsession, and a little of that old dynastic elegance. Enjoy! MT

This set was shot with a Ricoh GR, Nikon D800E and Zeiss ZF.2 1.4/55 Otus APO-Distagon.

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

Photoessay: Signs of life: shadows and silhouettes in Prague

February 15, 2014 by Ming Thein

And now for something a little different – what if I took the abstraction of man to the next logical step? The idea of a person, not the specific individual? What interests me is the way man interacts with his environment, leaves his mark, but is ultimately temporal; more so in modern society where the multitudes of us land up mostly being nameless, faceless and somewhat commoditized. What does generic man look like in native habitat? I’m sure it’s soulless, clinical and a little cold, but hey, I can’t help it if that’s the way I see the world sometimes.

Photoessay: Prague monochromes, part I

December 27, 2013 by Ming Thein

I actually shot very little black and white in Prague; a few hundred from the Ricoh GR, and a couple of rolls with the ‘Blad; of course they were all of varying subjects with a heavy architectural emphasis, but I did get some very satisfying street images out of my time there. Despite the very strong luminance contrast available – October at these latitudes means all-day shadows and intense sun with blue skies – I just found color to pack a little something extra in most situations. That said – this set would not have worked in color at all.

Photoessay: The boats of Amsterdam

December 5, 2013 by Ming Thein

I must first apologize for the enormous processing backlog that has kept me from posting any images from the Amsterdam and Prague workshops several months ago to the site; the astute of you will have seen them go up on Flickr a little while ago, though.

Decision time

May 28, 2013 by Ming Thein

A flash of inspiration; also, ninja timing matters in both photography and online shopping. Ricoh GR

Many of you will recall the 28mm shootout between the Ricoh GR and Nikon Coolpix A, and the not-so-simple decision process that ensued. What’s happened in the last two weeks is that both cameras have gone home, and I’ve had time to think a bit more about which camera would work best for me. I’m making my decision based on which is the best creative fit for me, rather than which is the best camera: take a moment to think about that, because it’s not quite as simple as it seems.

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Filed Under: Gearhead: Reviews Tagged With: 28mm, compacts, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, nikon coolpix a, ricoh gr, thein

Battle of the 28mm compacts: Ricoh GR vs Nikon Coolpix A

May 7, 2013 by Ming Thein

Following on from yesterday’s review of the Ricoh GR (Digital V) can only be one thing: the comparison shootout between the GR and its natural rival, the Nikon Coolpix A (full review here). Or is it the other way around, since the A came first? Doesn’t matter a single bit, it’s all about the images. Fight!

I’ll continuously upload images from both cameras to respective sets on my Flickr stream – the Coolpix A is here, and the Ricoh GR is here.