Photos from 8D7N Hanoi Halong Bay & Sapa Valley Photography Trek

[limwhow]

... I’m interested to see what other's got.

Hey, divinemoment.
Your treatment of the exposure is very good.
As you have mentioned, this is a difficult scene because:

• too wide a dynamic range as the children are in the shade while some parts of the buffalo are out in the sun. And often times, the children darted in and out of the shaded/sunny areas and it's a nightmare to shoot. As a result, many of my shots have blown out highlights.
• The many children involved in this scene means that it takes a good angle and the necessary amount of patience for the right moment to come by as they all smiled and looked towards the photographer.
• Coupled with the fact that the buffalo's head also has to be at the right angle and in the right position to make the shot ideal.

Still, like yourself, I would like to see how the others' photos turn out.
I believe this would be a good learning experience.

The achievement is really satisfying if a panning shot turns out good, and I know exactly how you feel. Good job.


Doc, I'm very sure youself (and others) have many more good, gooder or goodest photos to share.

Thank you for your endorsement, divinemoment!

Hi divinemoment, I was going to give up on this photo cos my lens was fogged up when I took it. As you can see the kid in yellow and the buffalo's head is lighter than the rest. So I tried pp..this is the best I could do:dunno:

Well hey, Helen, your shot is really not bad.
You have adjusted the contrast correctly, in my opinion, to make up for the wide discrepancy in dynamic range. And by doing so, you have turned it into a sort of mid-low key shot.
Good shot, as one of the children is looking cutely outwards, while the others are busy playing on top of the buffalo inside. And you have correctly burned (darkened) them to draw attention out towards that solitary child!

 

[limwhow]

Oh yah, if I may add in one more thing, Helen.

You were not the only person to have your lens fogged up.
In fact, some time in the middle of the rain, ALL our lenses (both SereneXMM and mine) fogged up.
The fogging up occurred just behind our UV filters and we were aghast to find those patches of condensation on the inside of the filters.
We gave up and removed ALL our UV filters, and things were fine after that.
I think that is why Adrian took off your UV filter that afternoon.

 

[divinemoment]

[/QUOTE]
Thanks for sharing. My shot was taken -1EV. My general approach is as long as my LCD indicates any blown out, I will drop the EV until all highlights are gone. Then use PP to recover. There could be some introduction of noise and colour may be off, but this can be addressed in PP (though may not be as good as original). But on the other hand, once blown, that is it.

For this particular scene, RAW certainly helps greatly for the wide dynamic range for recovery. But mine was taken in jpep.

On a similar note, I do find at times capturing our model Miss Ngoc Han quite tricky, esp. the outdoor shots because of the wide range again. Some of my shots were
-0.66 EV but I can recounted none of my shots were at 0EV.

 

[limwhow]

T R A V E L O G U E ~ Day 8 Hanoi - Home

It had been a very enjoyable trip for both myself and SereneXMM.
Over the period of 8 days, everyone got to know everyone better.
And with each meal, with each photo-sharing session, with each joke thrown at each other,
we begun to experience a comradieship not unlike that in an Army platoon.
And after all of us deliberated on the issue of carbohydrate on that fateful afternoon on board the Cruise,
and shared and enjoyed a couple of sessions of Full Body massage at 70,000 - 80,000 Dongs,
we attained a level of understanding among the team members.
What more, this being a photography trip, we all share a single passion - the passion for pressing shutter buttons.

Again, to quote Adrian, it is the group dynamic that makes the trip an enjoyable one.
Personally, I would say this trip is really enjoyable.
And SgTrekker has made this possible, time and again, with its own unique style of photo-travelling,
with its own principles in environment preservation, in cultural preservation,
and in its very own special way, the preservation of the human dignity for those whom we interact with in our course of travel.

Sadly, we own no shares of SgTrekker.
But very satisfied customers we are, both SereneXMM and I.
We are very honoured to be acquainted with this very energetic and passionate team of photographers from all walks of life.

I hope the feelings are mutual.
And to just put to a period this small travelogue, I hope the day will come when we all will
travel together again for another meaningful Photography trip.

 

[limwhow]

M O R E . P H O T O S ~ Hanoi - Halong - Sapa Trip, 1st - 8th June 2010


And here it is.
This is where every one of us will be continuing our further contributions.
I am sure there are some photos that we may have inadvertently left out.
Or some that have only been just PP-ed (in between World Cup matches, etc. etc. haha...)
But I would say this is where every one of us can post our pictures
in whatever orders, in whatever fashion, to make this thread more complete.

Looking forward to more great works from our team members:

Adrian
Jim CPA
George
Stevepow
Divinemoment
Acpical
Helen
Chubbykei
SereneXMM

 

[limwhow]

Thanks for sharing. My shot was taken -1EV. My general approach is as long as my LCD indicates any blown out, I will drop the EV until all highlights are gone. Then use PP to recover. There could be some introduction of noise and colour may be off, but this can be addressed in PP (though may not be as good as original). But on the other hand, once blown, that is it.

For this particular scene, RAW certainly helps greatly for the wide dynamic range for recovery. But mine was taken in jpep.

On a similar note, I do find at times capturing our model Miss Ngoc Han quite tricky, esp. the outdoor shots because of the wide range again. Some of my shots were
-0.66 EV but I can recounted none of my shots were at 0EV.

Ditto this, divinemoment.
Our model Ms Ngoc Han was wearing a white Ao Dai.
And in the morning sun, especially when it became brighter as the shoot session progressed,
there was a tendency for her Ao Dai to had its detail blown out.

 

[limwhow]

Unforgettable

Just to put in this photo which I have been meaning to share.
I think every one of us would have come across certain individuals, certain person while travelling
in Vietnam who have been, in one way or another, unforgettable.

I was just wondering, could any one of us remember this nice little girl?
Her name was Chai. She was a little Black Hmong girl.
I still remember on our first morning in Sapa, she followed me all the way from the top to the bottom of the valley.
She was a very timid little girl. And she was only 10 years old. And she was so petite.
Along the way, she made a little dog out of grass for me (but then again, which one of us didn't have grass dog made for them
by the Hmong lady/girl who followed him/her? hahaha...)

Towards the end of our trek, she asked me if I could buy something from her.
SereneXMM, I and Chai walked to the hut where we were to have lunch, and I held her hand like I was holding the hand of my youngest daughter.

What was memorable was, she quoted me 10,000 Dong (13,000 Dong = S$1) for a nice little pouch that she had.
Immediately she got reprimanded by all the older ladies around her.
I laughingly ended up buying it from her at 50,000 Dong.

Here she is. Unforgettable to me. Chai.

Chai holding a Polaroid photo (Fuji Instax mini) of herself taken by me.

 

[SgTrekker]

Hi Whow,

wonderful travellogue. NewNikon was right, i should grab you to work at SgTrekker before Lonelyplanet haha!

Going through the thread, it has really brought back alot of fond memories.

Your photos have been an inspiration and you are seriously too humble

Anyway, i'll look forward to seeing you & Serene again on our future trips.

Once again, thank you everyone for your generous support!

 

[divinemoment]

Hi Whow,

wonderful travellogue. NewNikon was right, i should grab you to work at SgTrekker before Lonelyplanet haha!

Going through the thread, it has really brought back alot of fond memories.

Your photos have been an inspiration and you are seriously too humble

Anyway, i'll look forward to seeing you & Serene again on our future trips.

Once again, thank you everyone for your generous support!

Its certainly a very good effort with all the nice and good misc photos that we seldom take notice and record it. I reckoned he had brought not only cameras, filters, tripod, polariod, but also a voice recorder which he has hidden.

Here's my contribution, caught them in the market, the Red Dzao (I'm I right?)

Seems like twin sisters with twin brothers/sons !!

 

[limwhow]

Hi Whow,

wonderful travellogue. NewNikon was right, i should grab you to work at SgTrekker before Lonelyplanet haha!

Going through the thread, it has really brought back alot of fond memories.

Your photos have been an inspiration and you are seriously too humble

Anyway, i'll look forward to seeing you & Serene again on our future trips.

Once again, thank you everyone for your generous support!

Adrian, the gratitude should be ours to express!
And yes, can't wait for the next trip to come.

Its certainly a very good effort with all the nice and good misc photos that we seldom take notice and record it. I reckoned he had brought not only cameras, filters, tripod, polariod, but also a voice recorder which he has hidden.

Haha... yah, that is why we both carry the tau Leng Kong luggage mah, right?

Here's my contribution, caught them in the market, the Red Dzao (I'm I right?)

Seems like twin sisters with twin brothers/sons !!

Yes, the Red Dzao!
They are indeed rare to come by hor?
Sorry, I seem to be talking about them as though they are some kind of specimen.
None intended at all. Just very interested to see different minority tribes.
Good combination here :- Mother-child, Mother-child!

Divinemoment, please do show some more pictures and keep this thread going.
We are still waiting for the rest to post their pictures.

 

[divinemoment]

Divinemoment, please do show some more pictures and keep this thread going.
We are still waiting for the rest to post their pictures.

Wow, Now my sleep reduced by 3 hrs liow.

 

[limwhow]

Ngo Dong river

I am sure all of us remember that afternoon at Tam Coc where we boarded our Sampan on Ngo Dong river.
We all had fun, I would say.
The view was, in my opinion, breath-taking, to say the least.
I have not seen this type of scenery for a long time.
Adrian and Tommy were telling us: "Remember to tip the rowers about 50,000 Dong at the end of the trip.
Some of them, if you don't tip them enough, may leave you stranded in the middle of the river...!"

That was good advice from our Tour Leader Adrian and our Guide Tommy.
A few of us ended giving them 100,000 Dong plus a couple of cans of drinks and some even bought
table cloths. Hahaha...

Jump

Here we were, at the end of our Sampan trip where a few of us would remember a small group of chlildren playing
and having fun jumping in and out of the water.
Here is my take of this cute little boy who kept jumping from the Sampan into the water.
Amazing!

 

[divinemoment]

[/QUOTE]
I got a few shots but none are keepers. You had it in the midst of their action and I liked the framing.

 

[divinemoment]

SG Trekkers sandals endorsed officially by the Flower Hmong tribes.

Just wonder do they have their traditional footwear?

 

[limwhow]

SG Trekkers sandals endorsed officially by the Flower Hmong tribes.

Just wonder do they have their traditional footwear?

Hey they are REALLY wearing SgTrekker Sandals!!
How come I didn't see that?
All day, day in day out I only saw them wearing the China-made flip flops!

 

[AlexK]

limwhow, a job well done for this wonderful travelogue. I really enjoyed reading. Cheers :thumbsup:

 

[acpical]

Amongst the many photos, i find this quite challenging. The children were fridgeting and to get at least one of them looking at you was already a challenge, not forgetting the buffalo head kept turning about as well. I’m not contented with just one face looking at me, I also wanted the buffalo’s face to be in a more proper angle. Added to the formidable task was the wide disparity in exposure level (but at least this can be corrected in PP, that’s what I did). Here was my best attempt, but not happy enough. ? So far I only saw Doc's pic which reflect many good smiles. I’m interested to see what other's got.

I couldn't get a decent shot at all! I guess the most active boy was the one who kept banging on the ox and if I could only choose one child, it was him. But I don't see the boy here (or I had forgotten how he looked like).

 

[acpical]

Day 7 - Cat Cat Valley trek:

Saw a shy German Shepherd on the way down. After this shot, it ducked under the canvas and refused to come out again.

Another view of Cat Cat Valley. Later on the way back, I would be riding pillion on a motorcycle, on the winding road shown here. I would be balancing two cameras, a tripod and one hand on the bike grip. With no helmet. Quite an experience.

Rice-planting is a community effort, it seems.

A playful girl was climbed the cable of the small suspension bridge just before we rode the motorbikes. I was at the wrong end of the bridge. It would be great if I could get her face in the top image.

 

[acpical]

Day 8 - Hanoi walkabout.

We had just reached Hanoi. I believe many were exhausted but it was the last day after all. Who knows when I would ever walk the streets of Hanoi again? So, fighting off the desire to rest after days of trekking, off we go on the walkabout!

Here, we see the legendary but ultra-rare Hanoi mist! It was so cold...brrr...

Actually, it is due to the condensation on my lens. It was humid, more so considering we just came down from Sapa. :bsmilie:

My walkabout pictures are nothing fantastic, so I have compiled into one montage to save you from scrolling through too many pictures. All, but one, are taken that morning.

Clockwise, from top left:
1. Man resting on motorcycle. 2. It's a hot day! 3. Sapa girl on the phone. 4. Brushing teeth. 5. Friendly old man. 6. A hot girl - turned out to be a hot mama! 7. Old lady selling textiles. 8. Old lady scratches her armpit. 9. Old lady fanning herself, with the gentleman in (5) peering out. 10. Breakfast on the sidewalk. 11. Reading newspaper. 12. Florist. 13. Hanoi traffic.

And so ends my poor man's version of my mini-travelogue. Nothing near as good as yours, limwhow!

 

[acpical]

Ngo Dong river

Here we were, at the end of our Sampan trip where a few of us would remember a small group of chlildren playing
and having fun jumping in and out of the water.
Here is my take of this cute little boy who kept jumping from the Sampan into the water.
Amazing!

This picture will remind me to move around, instead of staying at one spot hoping for the right action.

Else, I may have a chance of capturing images like yours! :thumbsup: