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One place available: Cinematic Masterclass with Zeiss: Hanoi, Jul 21-26

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Due to one of the participant’s work commitments, I now have one place open for the Cinematic Photography Masterclass with Carl Zeiss in Hanoi, from 21-26 July – click here to book and for more details! MT

After the jump, a few snippets of thought from previous Masterclass participants…

I think that Ming is the best out here with his compositional skills and capabilities, I’ve seen practically numberless compositions from numberless authors, but he is tops in this genre, if not the best, then certainly one of the very best. And more importantly from your aspect, he is able to pass on to you much of this.” (Emil Varadi, Prague 2015) 

“Thanks again for your time and mentorship, and for going the extra mile in trying to make it a more personal experience….I know this doesn’t come easy for you, nor for me, but I think it adds a lot to the mentor/mentee relationship.  it was very rewarding shooting (or at least seeing) alongside you as a fellow photographer…” (Ian Carroll, Prague 2015)

“…It is with much regret that Ming’s Prague Masterclass came to a close yesterday with a very positive final review day. The Masterclass was once again very challenging, but great work and much progress came out of it. Final Day Review was very inspiring ……. Thanks go to Ming for his unending patience and encouragement and skillfull criticisms – always focussed on pushing you forward. It was a great group, comprised of many talented people. You couldn’t help but be inspired.” (Michael Letchford, Prague 2015)

“This was my second Ming workshop, the first being in Amsterdam some 18 odd months ago…the Masterclass took this to another levelAt the final review session, the progress in the final 10 images the participants showed was outstanding…On top of that the group we had was fantastic.” (Junaid Rahim, Prague 2015)

The Prague Masterclass was my first workshop with Ming and won’t be my last.  Ming has a direct and very intentional style of instruction that is straight to the point. His workshop is demanding and free of fluff that one might find in other venues…shooting with Ming in beautiful Prague helped me to see what I was missing and in the end achieve better, more balanced compositions.  My fellow photographers were both an inspiration to me and a joy to socialize with. I’ve learned, improved and made new friends; exactly what I had hoped for!  A great week with Ming in Prague and highly recommended.” (Kevin Foisy, Prague 2015)

“…I must say it is quite rewarding having such qualified feedback from such outstanding photographers as I truly admit the whole group were. But just as rewarding it is to have a chance to give one’s opinion back to 70 outstanding images. It is on such rare occasions one’s fantasy starts boiling, our attention and senses are fully alerted, and we are getting new ideas and broadened and perspectives to one’s own work…The critique and feedback from Ming and the group were priceless and there were such a common energy present while we all took and gave, all while being taught and induced new ideas upon our efforts…So also this time I am overwhelmed by the progressive process it is to pass a Masterclass. It is so rewarding and I would do it again and again so long there are Masterclasses to attend. I want to thank each one in the group for all we had together and in particular thank you Ming for being such an inspiration and source of photographic wisdom. It was unforgettable and enormously enriching.” (Gerner Christensen, Prague 2015)

Even though I read all the enthusiastic comments that previous masterclass participants left on your website, I came to Prague unbiased and open to any outcome. In retrospect I can say that they were not at all exaggerating. I experienced a very dense week which has left some strong marks in my approach to photography. Your straight, clear cut and always well thought critique brought me on the track to compose much denser images. Looking back it’s amazing to see how much progress is possible in a few days with proper and instructive guidance.” (Patrick Hautle, Prague 2015)

In short it was by far the summit of my photographic experience ever. Beside enjoying endlessly the beautiful and romantic city of Venice, the whole WS, the come together in the spirit of learning and sharing, was an almost spiritual experience for me. Almost, wrong word?.. why do I doubt .. better to say it certainly was a spiritual experince in the sence of trancending oneself and becoming filled with joy and solid trust in my ability to become a better photographer…All of us went through a dramatical conversion from start to end. An impressive personal transformation and output showed at the end of the WS for all of us. From tense anxiety in the beginning to fun and vivid fluency at the end. Being together around photography in Ming’s atmosphere and the following growing awareness of being a member of a team left us all in an immense state of dedication and love for photography. Ming has to be hold a great deal responsible for making that happen :) … The shootout with Ming was an unforgettable experince. How can I express it? It was like having borrowed Ming’s eyes for light and composition for some hours and being left with a permanent footprint, some seeds in the photographic soil in ones head. It is about furtilizing those seeds now and let them grow. We did not ahve much of any shadows, so we decided to do painterly photography. For sure Ming was painting super realistic with his camera and he simply sees what is the obvious where I do not even sense there is an inherent immage to bring back home. Amazing! Thanks Ming showing me how you work and interprete Mother Earth and the human creations. Thank you for being such a share willing soul. …following Ming curating his images and do his 10 live on stage is a previledge beyond the four dimensions!!!” (Gerner Christensen, Venice 2014)

“This fantastic mixture of hard work ;-) within a wonderful group of inspiring and hearty people will be kept in my mind forever. Thanks to all of you adding this outstanding days to my experiences of life. A special thank to Ming for his never ending patience and discipline leading this workshop to a great success for all of us. Ming, I greatly admire your educational skills which enables you to transfer – at least a part of – your knowledge to us.” (Holger F, Venice 2014)

Everything said already I could subscribe to as well. I enjoyed the learning experience and the inspiration gained from Ming and all participants. One sad note: It is getting more and more difficult to come home with a picture that is to my satisfaction, the expectations have been raised to a new level. But after all, that’s what we paid for – and it’s good so.” (Rudolf F, Venice 2014)

‘I enjoyed every minute…I learned a lot and hopefully will be able to reproduce that in the future. Thanks again to Ming for his professional and always friendly manner! This and our evenings made it an outstanding week for me.” (Michael S, Venice 2014)

“I feel refreshed as a photographer with new ideas and new ways of seeing. And of course a special thank you to Ming for his expert guidance, workshop preparation and approachable, friendly manner. Spending 6 days purely on photography has been a wonderful indulgence that I will benefit from every time I lift a camera to my eye. Thank you Ming.” (Phil L, Venice 2014)

Your breadth of experience and skill, combined with your personality, teaching style, and flexibility created an unforgettable week of photographic immersion. You created a flexible structure for each of us to define and then pursue our goals; I learned not only from you, but from each of the other participants. I especially appreciated how you taught to both our strengths and weaknesses, and how you let us (literally, in my case) drive our own agenda for our session with you. I can still hear the echo of your advice every time I look through the viewfinder: “Take your time!” Thanks for the many words of straight-forward advice and thank you for a great experience at the SF Masterclass!” (JP Atkinson, San Francisco 2014)

“Ming wants to help you be the best photographer you can be, whatever your photographic vision or goal may be. He isn’t interested in making clones of himself. You may already have a distinctive photographic style, but that artistic vision could be held back by technical issues. He’s going to be blunt about telling you what you need to fix, but he’s also going to help you fix those problems. In my case, working on a couple of compositional issues is going to make my work and what I want to say stronger, clearer, and more consistent than ever before…The positive atmosphere, enthusiasm, and great energy of your fellow students are infectious! Each day, I looked forward to seeing what everyone else had done, and it was really great to see how everyone had improved and changed over the course of only 5 days at the ending portfolio review…Lots of people have written about seeing Ming edit, and that is truly a wonder. But when you’re out in the field with the man, and see him bound down a hill with a large tripod in one hand, and a large roll-aboard camera case in the other chasing a fading sunset, or standing in the cold fog freezing various body parts off just to get one more shot, you can’t help but be inspired by his energy and enthusiasm. He truly loves photography, and that rubs off very easily.” (Andrew Yew, San Francisco 2014)

The Masterclass was a fantastic learning experience for me! The half-day that I spent with Ming one-on-one, working on a very specific set of skills, was absolute gold — Ming watched me try things my way, and then rapidly diagnosed my opportunities for improvement and taught me some fantastic principles and tricks of the trade that I know will serve me well for years to come. And the interactions with my fellow students were fantastic, both during the formal portfolio reviews and the daily lunchtime get-togethers where we compared notes and received input from Ming. I’d certainly sign up again, with an eye toward other parts of the photographic universe — who knows, maybe next time it will be architecture or landscape!” (Gary Getz, San Francisco 2014)

Previously, we participated in a couple of workshops led by pro photographers…unfortunately, they always seemed short on meaningful instruction. I always went away feeling disappointed that I didn’t learn as much as I would have liked…Judging from his website, we felt that if anyone would be a good teacher, it would be Ming…The critique of the student images on the first and last days of the masterclass was incredibly interesting and eye opening. Ming’s teaching style helped to guide us on how to make a strong image once the photographer decides what the primary subject is…David and I teamed up to do one session of street and one session of landscape photography with Ming, and it was incredibly instructive to see how he works, and what he sees as potential subjects. And also what potential subjects just wouldn’t work for a technically good photograph and why…From spending the week with Ming, I am now much more critical of the available light, and if I am taking photos in poor light, I know that it is just for practice. I now also have subject isolation engraved into my brain, with a much better idea of what I want to do to create a better composition. I encourage anyone who has a chance to enroll in a class with Ming to go ahead and do so. It will be a great experience, and Ming really likes to teach!” (Margaret Cheng, San Francisco 2014)

“Having watched (and been highly impressed) by Ming’s Outstanding Images video series, I was wondering how much further the instructional material could be developed…Ming, fabulous teacher that he is, made it easy to learn how to do things I had never done in my photography before. And on the second count (and quite obvious in hindsight), the Outstanding Images videos are just a foundational piece so one can benefit from the personalized syllabus of a Masterclass. Beyond that, the workshop transforms Professorial Ming (on video) to Caffeinated Ming (in person), ablaze with so much enthusiasm for the craft of photography that you can’t help but be caught up in his energy… Among the unanticipated benefits of the workshop: camaraderie with fellow students — seeing the images they created each day and learning from their honest critiques; the daily lunchtime review sessions; watching post-processing live, and realizing how little is necessary when an image is conceived of (and executed) properly; and shooting with Ming in the field — how he sizes up a scene that is either worth shooting (or not), what perspective and vantage point is chosen, how quickly he works, and the ruthlessness with which he discards an image that isn’t a 10 out of 10 in his mind’s eye. (The group even developed a new DxOMark standard — “mingsharp” — to denote an image reflecting enough Shot Discipline to be considered Ultraprint-worthy.)
Highly satisfied with the whole experience and looking forward to participating in another workshop in the future!” (David Pope, San Francisco 2014)

Spending a week with Ming in my hometown of San Francisco was a unique learning experience. His focus on shooting precise, great images is intense – almost overbearing at times. But that’s what provides the stretch – the pull to do better, to get up to the next level. He’s a tough coach – pointing out flaws and compromises while urging a stronger commitment to shooting at a higher level. By the end of the week, I was exhausted – from the physical experience on the streets but also that feeling of good exhaustion that follows exploring the limits and pushing for better.” (Scott Loftesness, San Francisco 2014) 

I’ve been inspired by Ming Thein’s street photography for some time. I’ve learned quite a bit from his blog and videos, but I wanted to get a more personalized perspective on how I might integrate aspects of his approach to street photography with my own style. I got exactly what I wanted from the San Francisco Master Class. Ming doesn’t hold back. He has strong opinions and let’s you know what you’re doing that works for him and what doesn’t. His criticism is always constructive, albeit within the scope of his own style. If you appreciate Ming’s images, if they inspire you as they do me, I highly recommend spending a week in this class.” (Doug Kaye, San Francisco 2014)

I’ve wanted to attend one of these workshops for a while. The most liberating part of the whole experience is that I no longer feel frustrated with my output. I find myself just wanting to shoot – subject doesn’t matter, the more diverse and challenging the better. Thanks Ming & fellow classmates for a great couple days. I’m eagerly awaiting a 2015 masterclass schedule.” (Alex Ohta, Chicago MOI 2014)

An exceptional workshop in the qualities that make an image outstanding and the process of creating them. Personalized and immediate, this workshop is invaluable instruction, and Ming Thien’s direct instruction and constructive feedback are as useful as the atmosphere is positive and nurturing. Highly recommended – a joy to participate in.” (Dan Tamarkin, Chicago MOI 2014)

“The recent ‘Making Outstanding Images’ class in Chicago was a truly amazing experience made so entirely by Ming’s outstanding skills as an instructor. The course quickly identifies the elements lacking from your images but it also raises your awareness of the things that you are doing on pure intuititon. Only when we are fully conscious of the elements that make strong images, can our photography improve. This is accomplished primarily through Ming’s ability to quantify the many elements found in strong images and describe them in an approachable way that only a truly experienced photographer with the gift of exposition could…Ming shares openly from his vast experience in virtually all areas of photography without a sense that anything is held back. His energy seems boundless and his enthusiam is infectious inspiring you to shake off the despair you might feel from seeing dozens of duds on your memory cards and forge ahead to create the images you have always wanted to make. The course does indeed teach you How To See, a skill that will last a lifetime of shooting.” (David Kimmel, Chicago MOI 2014)

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Turn the mood and style up to 11: the Hanoi Cinematic Masterclass in association with Zeiss (21-26 July and 28 July-2 August inclusive) is now open for registration – click here to book and for more information.

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Ultraprints from this series are available on request here

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Visit the Teaching Store to up your photographic game – including workshop and Photoshop Workflow videos and the customized Email School of Photography; or go mobile with the Photography Compendium for iPad. You can also get your gear from B&H and Amazon. Prices are the same as normal, however a small portion of your purchase value is referred back to me. Thanks!

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