These images from from a weekend on the central coast in Vietnam, lots of conical hats and boats will follow. You have been warned!
Last weekend, I again joined my good friend Etienne from Hoi An Photo Tour on a 3 day workshop and tour around Central Vietnam. I had a brief break between assignments, and was in the area already, so a weekend of travel, shooting, and teaching photography…sign me up and done!!
FRIDAY
The first image I shot as we crossed the Cua Dai bridge at sunrise while a man, up way before us, was out exercising. I loved the contrast of the yellow lamps with the rising blue sky. And of course there had to be someone in there, or I probably wouldn’t have shot it!
A few frames from the fishing village of Duy Hai. I’ve been here about 4 times, now, but always find different scenes and images each time.
Ok, just a bit of fun for this one. Am I the only one who reads emotions into the fishes faces? The one on the left is looking at his buddy with a freaked out look of disbelief that they ended up here, while his friend seems much more resigned to the fact that they’re going to be breakfast or lunch for someone in a matter of hours, and he’s ok with that…
After a while shooting boats and fisherpeople, I got a bit bored so started looking for reflections, which anyone that knows me will not find surprising at all!
Yep, it was the mirror that sucked me in. Every. Bloody.Time…
The last shot as we were walking out of the village. Just like reflections, a good frame and lines will get me every time too!
Back in the old town of Hoi An on Friday afternoon, it was the colors and of course the framing that led to this image. The guy saw a few cameras pointed at him, but couldn’t have given less of a crap as he stood there smoking his cig on a wee break from work.
The colors you can find in Vietnam that only time can create…
In another small village, a man repairs a fishing net on his front porch.
A small factory where these women were making some kind of little cake snack. Every few minutes she raised the lid of the pot and steam would come flooding out, adding an interesting element to an otherwise perhaps not so interesting scene.
I think it was the geometry and colors of the scene here that drew me in. And having a nice face in there never hurts as well!
In the same village, we happened to stumble into a peanut oil factory, with an amazing character I couldn’t resist shooting!
SATURDAY
To kick off Saturday morning, we headed off again at sunrise across Cua Dai Bay by boat to a local market. Like clockwork, we encountered these two ladies, who make their way across the bay to the market every morning to sell tobacco. Not a bad morning commute eh?
The same ladies. We hitched them up to our boat to save them a bit of energy (and put the subjects right where you want them!)
Having lived in Vietnam for too long, markets can get pretty mundane for me to shoot in, so when I get bored, I start shooting the light (which is I guess what we should always be doing, right?)
Wrapping up the market in the morning, we saddled up the car and headed over the Hai Van Pass to Lang Co Lagoon, which has to be one of the most prettiest places in Vietnam. I decided to shoot a bit different and slapped a wide angle lens on and see how things looked. We found this guy working on his boat, and the colors, scene and background all just fell into perfect place, if I do say so myself!
Apart from the little fishes above, just one more image sans-people. I don’t often do landscape/fine art/still life kinda things, but when I do, boats are usually involved.
Again messing around with a wider angle view, I’ve been playing with the idea of little people in big places.
Hats, boats, mountains, sunset = click!
SUNDAY
Waking up in the Phu Loc Lagoon, another of the most stunning places in Vietnam. I’ve shot here a number of times before as well, and things can kind of bit hit or miss with the action and humanity that can be found on the water and the colors that come up behind the mountain. This morning was not as great as others, but still managed to find a few scenes to aim at.
And one final frame I kinda liked. I wish there were more people/shapes toward the middle or back of the boat, but this boy standing on the front was enough for me!
Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed! Should you fancy a print of any of these images, just click through or send me a message and we can get it done!
