Every year, I have the pleasure of being invited by Pics of Asia‘s Etienne Bossot to co-teach his tour cum workshop in central Vietnam. Long-term visitors might have seen my set about the chaos of the morning fishing village we begin the tour with. We started there again this year for a trial-by-fire welcome to our guests. We spent a great couple of hours photographing the fishermen and women going about there business before sitting down for a gorgeous Mi Quang in the market and hopping back on the bus to enjoy a little A/C. In the summer, central Vietnam heats up by around 9 or 10am and it’s best to avoid the overhead light and hot temperatures.
We spent a little time in a morning market the following day exploring the concept of light. It’s so important to be able to recognise light and understand how to photograph it. This session was a lot of one-on-one sessions where we tried to make a great image from seemingly very little by paying attention to the light.
It wouldn’t be a Pics of Asia tour if we didn’t at least photograph a few silhouettes, right? Over the course of the week, we had so many gorgeous sunrises that it was hard to resist playing with the beauty of that light and those colours to make our shapes stand out.
For good measure, we through in a couple of sessions that required us to get up close and personal with the locals, form relationships, and build images. It’s tough at first, but people are much more welcoming than we give them credit for. It’s all about respect.
If you haven’t already, sign up for the Pics of Asia newsletter (and mine too!). There are quite a few central Vietnam tours each year and plenty of tours all over Asia. Do yourself a favour and explore Asia with us. You won’t regret it!