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

[limwhow]

Wow, Now my sleep reduced by 3 hrs liow.
....
I got a few shots but none are keepers. You had it in the midst of their action and I liked the framing.

Hey, we suffer the same fate of sleep deprivation! Who's fault? Society's fault - Adrian's CS thread and World Cup lor...
Actually in retrospect, I realised I may have made a mistake not going lower down that steps to meet these children playing at the sampan, at eye level.
Next time I will do better.
But thanks for encouraging me on the framing, divinemoment.

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

AlexK, thank you! You know me well lah.
I am that joker who is kay poh like nobody's business and goes around nosing into everything.
Then take record shots of everything.
I do this so that when my shots turn out lousy, I just use the excuse that they are all record shots
and that I am a mere record photographer mah...
But jokes aside, thanks brother!
Looking forward to taking some record shots in JZG of you, vngks, Rudy & friend, LowLights (from our Laos trip) and divinemoment and acpical (from our this Vietnam trip)!

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.

I remember this scene very well. I was just walking behind you.
The dog was good looking. And it knew it!
And it just ducked underneath and disappeared after your shot.
How come? Because you forgotten Adrian's words - always as for permission before you shoot! Hahaha...!

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.

Aiyah... you also like me no helmet ah?
It was quite an experience, but DAMN fun! Some more with my equipment and cameras ding ding dang dang by the side...

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.

Yah, good one.
This time round, I am on the other side - her head side.
But still, I didn't manage to catch anything. Lousy, me!

 

[limwhow]

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:

Agree. We seemed to have encountered endless episodes of fogging of the front elements of the lenses as well as the UV filters.

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!

Nonsense! Look at your Montage! It's a summary of a walk in Hanoi.
You are seriously too modest, acpical!
My favourite? Lower right hand corner. I think I saw that scene when you and I were standing side by side.
But being an intrinsically shy person, I dare not shoot her like this. But you did, you naughty boy!

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:

Thank you for your thumbsup!
But you have already walked around more than me in your Hanoi Montage liao!
I just machine-gunned only mah...
Anyone can do it.
Serious.

 

[limwhow]

Ngo Dong river

While I was at Tam Coc at the end of Ngo Dong river before we boarded our sampan,
I looked around and was presented with this marvellous view of sampans moored together,
with a multitude of hues and colours.
I kept asking myself: how am I able to present a picture of serenity, a picture showing the quiet calmness of
these sampan's stringed together, with the river, river bank and the knolls as backgrounds?
I really didn't know.
This is the best I could do.
Please tell me if I could have done it in another better way.

Sleeping and Awaiting

 

[limwhow]

My apologies to all my team members.
I am really posting too many pictures. So sorry so sorry.
But please forgive me, for it's society's fault - what with the World Cup keeping us all awake at night - for dishing out
extra time for me to PP my pictures and develop deep feelings for the places we have been to and the people we have met.

Sincerely, I am simply putting in my shots one by one, in the hope to draw all my team members'
photos that are still hidden somewhere in the hard disks of their laptops or thumbdrives.
I am still waiting for more photos. Because every photo from every member would bring with it
a moment, that instant which is etched in your memory as something to be cherished.
And to me, travelling is all about leaving nothing but taking away memories.

Golden Hour

Adrian has an obsession with the Golden Hour, like most photographers.
We were sound asleep in the minibus after a tiring day out on Day 2 when we hit Golden hour.
And the minibus screeched to a halt upon Adrian's command -
straight ahead, farmer lady in straw hat right in the middle of the rice padi
- and the evening sun streaming downwards.
Woooaaahhh... heavenly lighting!

I tried but somehow I could not manage to keep any good shots of the farmer lady.
My only shot that depicts the golden sunlight that shines down on the field and the environment is this one.
An old, abandoned cart at the edge of the field, basking in the Golden Light.

Stevepow, sorry I did not clone away the cables in the sky.
Number one I was too lazy.
Number two it was too complicated cos it extended to the hill and houses on the left.
Number three, which is the most lame excuse was, it looks more natural this way. Hahahaha...!

 

[zoossh]

not really, i think this is pretty good. and perhaps the putting of them together is even better. some ppl can do individual good pictures but do not a good vision when making a collage out of it. the other person i know is good in this is lestweget, but he's mostly on non-portraits streets. i'm not a streets photographer, but as a travel photographer who do a little of everything, what u shoot is what i will aspire for, which i deemed to be the basics that i'm lacking and many other photographers also do not have. u capture the mood well and the composition is right on. u seem to do that quite well quite consistently, and i suppose u shoot fast and good, at a distance i guess? 50-150mm at 1.5x crop factor?

so far the night pics from steve, the partial portrait of the cow, and many of the portraits of the people at sapa makes a very exciting travel photography, some of which i will say have a strong personal character and something i would not have otherwise envision and which i may even emulate in future.

i will be patronising if i say that all the rest are all great pictures, but they are all quite enjoyable to read and forms a record of the group experience, which is something that to some people are more impt than aesthetics in the pictures. sometimes the chat are moving faster than the pictures, and i'm following and zooming to areas i'm interested in. and perhaps this thread will form my skeleton if i venture there.

though i might rechecked the weather before i go. i see you guys braving through the rains and fully equipped for that. i dun think i will shoot in the rain... and hopefully dun have to trek that much to get some shots around sapa.

back to the pic. the picture may look better with a broader white border as the pictures are tight together. also the purple words are too loud. get some fonts that are bold but compact (arial black, impact, etc) and leave some space around the words from the pictures. becos your pictures have a lot of different colors, choosing a palette shade with a non colorful color will make better for the words, such as light grey, sandy brown or olive green. do consider that. my 2 cents.

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!

 

[roylai]

jus fantastic!...i nvr actually tot i will c evry page....a very exciting trip indeed.....

thanks for sharing....

 

[divinemoment]

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).

This rascal?

 

[divinemoment]

Ngo Dong river

While I was at Tam Coc at the end of Ngo Dong river before we boarded our sampan,
I looked around and was presented with this marvellous view of sampans moored together,
with a multitude of hues and colours.
I kept asking myself: how am I able to present a picture of serenity, a picture showing the quiet calmness of
these sampan's stringed together, with the river, river bank and the knolls as backgrounds?
I really didn't know.
This is the best I could do.
Please tell me if I could have done it in another better way.

Sleeping and Awaiting

You have essentially capture the essence of the idyllic place. Simplicity is the hardest to achieve in photography and you have pieced together well.

If you don't mind, I would just like to use my ameturish knowledge for my 2 dong comments:
1) I'd "horizontal" the waterline. Though what you captured maybe the true situation, but as we see an image in a cropped manner, the illusion gave us an impression of a tilt camera (its personal taste and choice)
2) Its already a tough shot taking against the sky and the clouds would naturally turn out white. A slight tint of blue may enhance it better (again this is really personally).

So something like that:

 

[limwhow]

You have essentially capture the essence of the idyllic place. Simplicity is the hardest to achieve in photography and you have pieced together well.

If you don't mind, I would just like to use my ameturish knowledge for my 2 dong comments:
1) I'd "horizontal" the waterline. Though what you captured maybe the true situation, but as we see an image in a cropped manner, the illusion gave us an impression of a tilt camera (its personal taste and choice)
2) Its already a tough shot taking against the sky and the clouds would naturally turn out white. A slight tint of blue may enhance it better (again this is really personally).

So something like that:

Divinemoment, thank you so much.
You have essential solved the issue that was troubling me all these while, as I was looking at this picture.
I have 'horizontalised' the horizon, but as you have rightfully mentioned, the more I looked at it, the more I felt that it was not horizontal.
And it was indeed because of the cruvature of the river bank.
And the way you have adjusted has given me the final inspiration!
Now I understand how to adjust them in the future!
And the blue sky certainly add in the flavour to an otherwise monotonous white!

Kam Sia, Kam Sia!

 

[kuantoh]

limwhow #159
Er... my humble attempt at shooting older specimen of the female gender...

As lowlights mentioned, tighter crop and possibly some dodge and burn to bring out more details even more on the face. :thumbsup:

Working on the padi field

1)

This shot really caught my attention. Nice capture.

The effect of a foggy filter

Nice misty feel to the scene.

Can see that you all enjoyed the trip. Great effort must have gone into planning of the itinerary. Great job guys and gals!

 

[divinemoment]

i see you guys braving through the rains and fully equipped for that. i dun think i will shoot in the rain...

It was indeed my first experience shooting under such rain condition with polythene cover protecting our precious gear, but inevitably water still splashed onto the lens and body. If I'm alone, I'd have stayed put and lim kopi.

But this great bunch and Adrian works just like the army, inspiring one another "Common gentlemen, lets push on and charge, move..... move ......otherwise I'll kicked the sh*%^t out of your butt." Joke lah, its all very mutual and with telepathy understanding when we moved around.

 

[divinemoment]

One moment we were trekking a monotonous track scouting for the simplest subject to photograph (like ducks and pigs), and the very next moment, we came by this school during reccess time where children were having good time at the swing and see-saw. This was our last stop of a 10km long, winding and almost soaking wet journey. Who lah lah, it was really really a great photo opportunity with lots of action but somehow I lost the plot of how to "attack." Its a gem mine. See until tow gong gong, action here, action there just like the Sapa market. I saw our big bro limwhow firing away with his tua leng gong. So I also followed lah with my pistol. Despite the so many on-going actions and clicks, I've few keepers. Its a classic case of too many cooks spoil the soup where trying to simplify the compo weren't easy.

I took some panning and zoom shots and this perhaps one of my keepers.

 

[divinemoment]

We chanced upon this pig that was mercilessly bound. Though this household has a pig sty, I don’t understand why he couldn’t join the group of pigs in the sty. Maybe he’s a big bully, or next in line for a sumptuous meal.

 

[limwhow]

jus fantastic!...i nvr actually tot i will c evry page....a very exciting trip indeed.....

thanks for sharing....

Thank you so much for your compliment, roylai!

This rascal?

Yes, this rascal!

As lowlights mentioned, tighter crop and possibly some dodge and burn to bring out more details even more on the face. :thumbsup:

Thank you for much for your comments, kuantoh!

 

[zoossh]

It was indeed my first experience shooting under such rain condition with polythene cover protecting our precious gear, but inevitably water still splashed onto the lens and body. If I'm alone, I'd have stayed put and lim kopi.

But this great bunch and Adrian works just like the army, inspiring one another "Common gentlemen, lets push on and charge, move..... move ......otherwise I'll kicked the sh*%^t out of your butt." Joke lah, its all very mutual and with telepathy understanding when we moved around.

the cover is provided? or everyone had prepared for that and brought the stuff?

i no longer bring my weather cover and dry bag to keep myself as light as possible, cos weight and hot weather drags me down and i can't shoot well when i'm not inspired. to me, mood is the first and foremost thing. it is almost like appetite and lust - u can't proceed without having that desire to move on.

 

[stevepow]

Got the itch back again so some pix for sharing

A perfect gentleman or it's part of the package ???

My take of the night scene at Sapa Town
Pretty noisy ISO at 2000

 

[acpical]

I remember this scene very well. I was just walking behind you.
The dog was good looking. And it knew it!
And it just ducked underneath and disappeared after your shot.
How come? Because you forgotten Adrian's words - always as for permission before you shoot! Hahaha...!

I think it thought you looked like a dog meat lover, that's why it hid from you! :bsmilie:

 

[acpical]

...50-150mm at 1.5x crop factor?
...
back to the pic. the picture may look better with a broader white border as the pictures are tight together. also the purple words are too loud. get some fonts that are bold but compact (arial black, impact, etc) and leave some space around the words from the pictures. becos your pictures have a lot of different colors, choosing a palette shade with a non colorful color will make better for the words, such as light grey, sandy brown or olive green. do consider that. my 2 cents.

Thanks for the feedback, zoossh!

I was rushing this montage and I guess it really shows. You are right. It looks quite tacky. I will keep your inputs in mind when I redo it.

And I am not that daring as you suggest. The focal lengths ranged from 100mm to 300mm on a crop body.

 

[acpical]

Nonsense! Look at your Montage! It's a summary of a walk in Hanoi.
You are seriously too modest, acpical!
My favourite? Lower right hand corner. I think I saw that scene when you and I were standing side by side.
But being an intrinsically shy person, I dare not shoot her like this. But you did, you naughty boy!

Well, you had...ahem...constraints. I understand.

 

[zoossh]

Thanks for the feedback, zoossh!

I was rushing this montage and I guess it really shows. You are right. It looks quite tacky. I will keep your inputs in mind when I redo it.

And I am not that daring as you suggest. The focal lengths ranged from 100mm to 300mm on a crop body.

70-300mm? the aperture seems quite small and difficult to handle..