Ming Thein on Instagram

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Good piece on why a serious photographer likes, and how he uses, the app.

http://blog.mingthein.com/2015/06/04/daily-meditations-on-photography-the-purpose-of-instagram/

I've come around on Insta and really love it these days.

 

[Kwesi]

Great article. Have been on the fence but definitely considering jumping in- especially after reading this. Thanks

 

[KM-25]

I have just started using it for self promotion and find it to be really good as part of a larger operative but would otherwise never use it on it's own as it is just another "Look at me" sensation in my opinion.

I also find it a bit odd that he needed something like instagram to engage in shooting more loose in using a phone over a dedicated camera. Anyway, I would definitely take his opinion with a grain of salt as he, like Kristian Dowling, is not nearly as much of an actual working pro as he is a blogger / workshop / web fan circle dependent type.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I read the guy because he's a good writer, not out of some outdated notion of professional legitimacy. Blogging, offering workshops, and cultivating an internet following seem to me entirely reasonable ways of being "pro" in 2015.

 

[Pioneer]

I read the guy because he's a good writer, not out of some outdated notion of professional legitimacy. Blogging, offering workshops, and cultivating an internet following seem to me entirely reasonable ways of being "pro" in 2015.

+1 - I fully agree with you here.

A pro is someone who makes money from plying his trade. Ming Thein is making a living from photography ergo he is a pro.

People have a tendency to use this word "professional" as some magical term denoting a master of the arts.

There is a wonderful gentleman in my town who is self-employed as a photographer doing school photos, graduations, weddings, etc. He does a solid, yeoman job and makes a good living. I like him but I do not consider him some wonderful artist.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Ming Kardashian and all those dudealikes, I don't know what to think.

They probably think the photographic world can't function without them.

I know, I know, I'm a dinosaur with all my film stuff and prints. I have, perhaps, one follower. My mom. Maybe, not sure about it. But I'm glad Not to be a part of the fake pro crowd. Because that's what it essentially is: people faking it to make it.

Well, you can be sure of one thing: none of them is bitterly condescending to you right now.

 

[cjm]

I joined IG in 2011 and have been pleasantly surprised with how it has developed. To me, it feels like Flickr did in 2006-2007, if that makes sense. There is a thriving community of people who shoot film and post on IG. Check out @filmphotographic.

 

[danielsterno]

question on IG- being 99% of my images are not iPhone generated. To get those images into IG from Aperture, I have to send to my iPhone and then IG? Aperture doen not populate to IG directly like it does Flickr. Thanks!

 

[cjm]

question on IG- being 99% of my images are not iPhone generated. To get those images into IG from Aperture, I have to send to my iPhone and then IG? Aperture doen not populate to IG directly like it does Flickr. Thanks!

For non-iPhone shots, I edit on my computer, upload to flickr, download to my phone and post to IG. It sounds complicated and labor intensive but, after a few times, it works great. Once uploaded to flick, I can post to IG at my leisure (not tied to my desktop).

 

[Ko.Fe.]

...
There is a wonderful gentleman in my town who is self-employed as a photographer doing school photos, graduations, weddings, etc. He does a solid, yeoman job and makes a good living. I like him but I do not consider him some wonderful artist.

It was the same percentage of same kind of photogs before digital and internet. Good to sell themselves and teach some basics, nothing wrong and nothing to be respected for on pictures in terms of art. 50/50 of photogs are like this, with another 49% as crap shooters, but good on marketing. 🙂

Just as any trade folks. I have seen a lot of framework. And last time we did it for ourselves, it was special, 70+ years old person, who is doing it for long time. After framing was done I went to check. The way he did it... I was saying "it is so beautiful, I don't want drywall on it."

 

[Huss]

Ming Thein is a working pro commercial photographer, as well has having his site.
He has developed an ultra high resolution printing technique.

The clue is that he does not have constant updates showing the same snapshots around his house of his wife, dog, potted plant and using that to claim the thing he is using is the best thing ever so buy it now from this link...

 

[jsrockit]

In any profession, there are people who suck, people that are ok, and people that are great at what they do. Photography is no different. However, to Pioneer's point, it is one of the only hobbies were you get called Pro (incorrectly) by people based on skills instead of your income.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

question on IG- being 99% of my images are not iPhone generated. To get those images into IG from Aperture, I have to send to my iPhone and then IG? Aperture doen not populate to IG directly like it does Flickr. Thanks!

I use OSX Photos and iCloud for this: import my film and other non-phone-camera shots into Photos, let them propogate to iOS Photos, then post to IG from there.

One annoying thing for iPhone users: Instagram can't be added to your share sheet, so you can't IG a picture from the Photos app. You have to pick from within the app, which can mean tens of thousands of pictures for most of us! A bit of a pain that I hope IG rectifies.

 

[nightfly]

Interesting article.

I really dislike shooting with my phone but I post my "real" photos to instagram using a desktop application that has since between yanked from the Apple Store.

Before that I was exporting a file to a Dropbox folder, grabbing the file from Dropbox on my iPhone into my iPhone photo library and then posting to Instagram from there. Entirely too much effort.

Wish there was a plugin for Lightroom to do this.

Instagram is fun. I treat the photos as teasers for the full sized thing. You reach a different audience.

 

[KM-25]

Ming Kardashian and all those dudealikes, I don't know what to think.

They probably think the photographic world can't function without them.

I know, I know, I'm a dinosaur with all my film stuff and prints. I have, perhaps, one follower. My mom. Maybe, not sure about it. But I'm glad Not to be a part of the fake pro crowd. Because that's what it essentially is: people faking it to make it.

Oh, I am not sure I would go that far, but it does look rather tiring in a slave-to-the-web sense...

Everyone else, sorry about the zinger, it really zings in a forum format.

Back on topic, I have two instagram accounts, one for the name sake of my website ( about to go live ) and one I just started called "Leicamylife" that is strictly local narrative shot on film with Leica rangefinders.

My goal is no more than 3x a week, so I guess I'll just see how it all goes.... .

 

[Colin Corneau]

Well, you can be sure of one thing: none of them is bitterly condescending to you right now.

Exactly my reaction. Knock it off with the negativity, already.

 

[CK Dexter Haven]

He writes well. I just wish he would stop using that thick, black, 'branded' border around all of his images. Makes them look cheap. Like something in a stock photo catalog, circa 1994. It's probably for that reason alone that i never look at his pictures.

He makes a good point, possibly, about constant/daily use of Instagram as a way of training the eye to always be looking for composition and content. But, is posting to Instagram really a part of that? The 'sharing' of images that are almost predetermined to be 'disposable' seems like a bit of disrespect to anyone who would consider following you. Shoot with Hipstamatic with the same purpose. Keep it private and share anything you think is really worthwhile.

 

[Michael Markey]

I'm sorry to come across this way. I thought that the Kardashian thing was quite funny 🙂

Yes, I also said that today's moto is that you gotta fake it to make it. I also thought it was kind of funny and true at the same time.

No, I'm not bitter, nor jealous. I concede that I'd fail miserably in the self-promotion business. I'm just not good at it.

Made me laugh ...

 

[Michael Markey]

I use OSX Photos and iCloud for this: import my film and other non-phone-camera shots into Photos, let them propogate to iOS Photos, then post to IG from there.

One annoying thing for iPhone users: Instagram can't be added to your share sheet, so you can't IG a picture from the Photos app. You have to pick from within the app, which can mean tens of thousands of pictures for most of us! A bit of a pain that I hope IG rectifies.

Goodness ...I`ve just got a 6 but don`t understand any of this but then I don`t have tens of thousands of pictures and so feel no pain ...

Perhaps its not for me ... 🙂

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

He writes well. I just wish he would stop using that thick, black, 'branded' border around all of his images. Makes them look cheap. Like something in a stock photo catalog, circa 1994. It's probably for that reason alone that i never look at his pictures.

He makes a good point, possibly, about constant/daily use of Instagram as a way of training the eye to always be looking for composition and content. But, is posting to Instagram really a part of that? The 'sharing' of images that are almost predetermined to be 'disposable' seems like a bit of disrespect to anyone who would consider following you. Shoot with Hipstamatic with the same purpose. Keep it private and share anything you think is really worthwhile.

I don't really think of it as "place to see great photos" but "place to see what people who interest me are up to." Sometimes the photos are good, but mostly they're utilitarian.

Those borders aren't to my taste either. But they're better than watermarks!