video – Ming Thein | Photographer

Postprocessing: Robin’s approach

August 14, 2018 by Robin Wong

I do minimal post-processing and very quick edits for images used in articles published here and on my own blog. Strangely, many readers have asked me for my “secret sauce” that I apply to my images and requested for a video showing my usual post-processing routine. Before making that video, I asked for specific requests from my readers via a post on my own Facebook Page. Taking into consideration the numerous questions, I have made a short video.

A quick disclaimer: I am not associated with Capture One Pro, the only reason I am using this software is the efficiency of handling Olympus RAW files. I still prefer Olympus Viewer 3 to optimize my Olympus RAW files (color balance, sharpness/details, noise reduction, etc) but that software is just unbearably slow for anything practical. I found the Capture One Pro to work significantly faster than Olympus Viewer or Lightroom. You can see how short the previewing and processing time of Capture One software is in the video above.

Disclaimer #2: Let it never be said mingthein.com is not democratic even though one of us works for C1’s competitor 🙂 In all seriousness, workflow is a very personal and goal-oriented thing: depending on the task at hand, I might make one pass through PS, tether/convert in Phocus, use a combination of Autopano Pro and/or Helicon and PS, IG’s filters, LR mobile, or even Olympus SOOC JPEG. Best tool for the job as always… -MT

Video: Dispatches from land’s end, and FW 1.19

October 25, 2017 by Ming Thein

I recently got a chance to shoot for a week in Iceland with the Hasselblad X1D Field Kit. I was a bit torn in not bringing the H6D-100c, but the uncertain weather, walking distances etc. landed up tipping things in favour over the small weather-sealed box, and I’m quite glad they did – conditions weren’t exactly pleasant, but the gear survived just fine. If you look closely you may also spot one of my favourite lenses, adapted…Interestingly, the e-shutter behaviour (0.3s rolling sensor readout time) is such that you get a free motion blur effect even at high shutter speeds, negating the need for neutral density filters on things like waterfalls; you’ll see this as I post the stills in due course. There will also be a full set of stills with raw files (probably the first time ever for me) available as image samples via the Hasselblad website.

In the meantime, enjoy the video – and be sure to watch it full screen at full resolution; we shot it in 4K… MT

Lastly: there’s also new firmware (v1.19) available for the H6D and X1D today; you can download that here. For the H6D, it adds CF adaptor support, folder management, more custom button options and a few other tweaks. For the X1D, it’s a pretty major update including using the rear screen as an AF point selection touchpad while using the EVF; extensive button customisation options; EVF-only LV, and a ‘bokeh fix’. The latter allows the lens aperture to open beyond the physical stop of the lens, which means that circular opening is the only limit allowing smooth circles at maximum aperture. This works on all lenses and also gains a (tiny) bit of speed. 🙂

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More info on Hasselblad cameras and lenses can be found here.

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Filed Under: hasselblad Tagged With: dispatches from lands end, hasselblad, iceland, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, thein, video

On Assignment: Above and Beyond – a collaboration with Koenigsegg

July 10, 2017 by Ming Thein

Above and Beyond: Ming Thein x Hasselblad x Koenigsegg from Ming Thein on Vimeo.

This one has been some time in the making – planning started at the beginning of the year, with the shoot in May to balance weather and sunset/sunrise times, for release only now – today’s video and post is a taste of what goes into a production of this size. Please click the link above to watch it in full 4K glory.

In a nutshell, the concept is pretty simple – but as far as I can tell, unique to date – long exposures, cars, aerial perspective, twilight, Swedish locations for a Swedish car and camera, high speed sync flash to freeze. It is a way of visually describing the journey: the light trails are the past, the history, and the future; they’re not smooth because there are bumps in the road and and paths can diverge significantly due to small changes in causality*. The clearly frozen car is the here and now, and the moment we should be enjoying: it’s the immediate manifestation of the present, with viscerally clear details. The past and the context fade and blur away, dtails blurred by the biased lens of memory. After a little discussion with Christian von Koenigsegg and his team – they bit, and we were in business. Since we were going for the best of the best all around – the only choice was to use the flagship H6D-100c and DJI M600, of course.

*Physics reference.

Fortitude: resolved, a film (or: Thaipusam 2017 with the H6D-100c)

March 25, 2017 by Ming Thein

Fortitude: resolved from Ming Thein on Vimeo.

Note: the video was shot in 4K, and will play at 4K if you click through to Vimeo, or use the full screen player and pick the appropriate setting.

Every year, a huge number of Hindu devotees gather at the Batu Cave temple outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the Thaipusam festival. It celebrates a significant event in the life and mythology of Lord Murugan: the gifting of a weapon to defeat evil. Participants burden themselves with offerings to Lord Murugan in various forms – from milk pots to portable Kavadi shrines and other offerings piercing their body. It is believed that the more significant the offering and the higher the personal suffering, the more blessings are accorded to the devotee in their struggle against their own personal challenges.

NEW video: T1 Travel Photography

December 10, 2016 by Ming Thein

Click to watch the trailer above

We’re pleased to offer a new video in time for your holiday season viewing and vacations: T1: Travel Photography!

Shot on on location in Prague, T1: Travel Photography focuses on making the most of your trip photographically – and how to come home with unique images that represent what you saw and experienced. It covers everything from pre-trip planning to post-trip workflow, camera maintenance, field tips and everything in between. The location city is both beautiful yet widely seen and visited, making getting something different an interesting challenge. Join us in this video for a unique blend of philosophy, technique and composition/seeing.

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Filed Under: On Photography, Teaching Tagged With: ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, photography, prague, teaching, thein, travel, travel photography, video

New: Workflow III for Photoshop or LIGHTROOM

August 3, 2016 by Ming Thein

Workflow III unifies workflow across Photoshop and Lightroom, works with a single curve in RGB mode only, eliminates the need for color correction and includes my custom profiles for most popular recent cameras (the full list below), compatible with both PS and LR. Almost every image you’ve seen on this site since the beginning of 2016 has been processed (or reprocessed) with Workflow III.

Click to continue after the jump for more info, testimonials and to buy.

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Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: lightroom, ming, mingthein.com, photoshop, teaching, thein, video, workflow, workflow iii, Workshop

Coming soon…

July 14, 2016 by Ming Thein

…Yes, I’ve had some time with the X1D. Yes, I’ve shot a wide variety of subjects and situations with it. And yes, there’ll be a video. In the meantime…

Also, there are more new images after the jump 🙂 MT

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Filed Under: hasselblad Tagged With: hasselblad, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, penang, teaser, thein, trailer, video, x1d

New: MT’s Weekly PS Workflow Classroom

December 27, 2015 by Ming Thein

PS weekly review

It’s time to take postprocessing further in the new year.

Given the popularity of the photoshop and postprocessing videos, and the continual feedback for more of the same – I’ve decided to try an experiment for 2016. Every week, with the first instalment available on 3 Jan 2016, I’ll be putting out a new video. The concept is simple: it’s a classroom where submitted images are critiqued and postprocessed and subscriber questions answered. This is the closest I can get to a providing a consistent learning environment for a large audience.

Subscribers can submit images of their own; I will try to critique all of them
We select the most interesting to post process in ACR/photoshop using workflow II, with a discussion of the rationale behind it
Any subscriber questions are answered
In addition, I postprocess images of my own so you can see the complete workflow from capture and conception to completion – to see how the complete ‘idea’ comes together (i.e. capture with previsualized output)

Each weekly video will run for ~1h15min.

It’s my birthday, so I’m giving you all a little gift…

July 17, 2015 by Ming Thein

Ming Thein’s How To See Ep. 5: Havana from Ming Thein on Vimeo.

I’m currently finishing off some retouching from my last assignment before preparing for the Hanoi Cinematic Masterclass with Zeiss, but once again, as curiously happens the same time every year…it’s my birthday so I’d like to celebrate by giving you all a little gift – a thank you for your support over the last couple of years. ~~For the next week, using the voucher code ‘MING2015’ gets you $30 off any video or bundle on the teaching store for purchases over $100.~~ There’s no limit on the number of vouchers per person – use as many as you like in combination with whichever videos you wish – but the total number of vouchers is limited. First-come, first-served and valid for one week until 23.59 KL time (GMT+8) on the 25th of July 2014 – or the vouchers run out, whichever comes first. So if there are any videos you’ve been curious about, or need to complete your set, now’s the time 🙂

And as a gentle reminder, there are some places left for the Chicago workshops in September/October – won’t last for long though, I’m sure!

26 July: the week is now up, thank you all for your support! MT

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Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: birthday, gift, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, teaching, thein, video, voucher, Workshop

Now available: Photoshop Workflow II

February 20, 2015 by Ming Thein

Buy now: Video A2: Photoshop Workflow II (US$80, 4h10m in two parts with downloadable raw files)
A2 builds on and supersedes the original Intro to Photoshop Workflow for Photographers, using the new tools in ACR 8.x (PS CS6, CC, CC 2014) to streamline and significantly speed up postprocessing whilst simultaneously improving tonal quality and flexibility. The best way to describe the results are with the words transparency and clarity. Although the fundamental logic remains the same – it includes a large number of improvements and represents the current state of my workflow. It has personally reduced my own postprocessing time by about 20% compared to the methodology in the original Intro to Photoshop, leaving more time to shoot. New to this video is a full color management how-to and downloadable sample raw files. It is of course back-compatible with both the Monochrome Masterclass and Outstanding Images Ep. 4 & 5: Exploring and Processing for Style. It works on JPEG images if opened in ACR or opened in PS then acted on using the Camera Raw filter. It won’t work with Lightroom because there are still limitations to the software.

(And yes, there will be a reveal of the mystery camera at some point.)

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Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: ming, ming thein, photoshop, photoshop workflow ii, teaching, thein, video, Workshop