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Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Friday, 29 October 2010
Hoi An Photo Tour
Today another very early start. I was picked up in a mini-bus at 5.00am. Me, a retired guy from Florida who takes photographs professionally, and young UK couple living in Sydney. And our charming guide and host, Etienne. He has lived here for about 5 years and has been running the tour for 6 months. This is the Hoi An Photo Tour.
We bumped over tracks to the riverside and boarded a little ferry boat just as the sun was starting to rise - except it was cloudy today so no actual sun, but a moody light with a sky that looked full of rain. The jetty on the other side was packed with motorbikes and bicycles waiting for the trip across to the town side where many of the villagers work in construction at this time of year. On the way Etienne reviewed our cameras, our style of photographing and gave some basics of the art. For me, it was so exciting to be shown how to use my lovely little camera by manually setting aperture etc. A whole new world has opened up.
Etienne told us that to take photos of people in Viet Nam, all you have to do is smile a lot, say hello, have some little exchange. Tell them where you come from. He said they get a buzz from talking with the foreigners. He knows many of the village characters and they are not shy about being the target of the lens. The little children were a little shy, though the boys on bikes were like cheeky boys everywhere and made a bit of a pest of themselves. We wandered around, seeing the fish processing area, the communal ancestor pagoda, a fish sauce factory, stopping for coffee with a local family, visiting a woman who bakes small cakes and has done this every day for 25 years (we sampled her cakes too). Etienne joked with the local drunk, a man he says smells of rice wine every morning but always has a laugh about something. I managed to take some portraits I am really happy with. I'm usually shy about taking pics of people but this was different, the people so open and friendly and so happy to be shown their photos. The guys with the fancy cameras and lenses took some amazing portraits I think.
Have a look at Etienne's Gallery here. Today was not a fishing day as it is the wrong time of year, but there was lots to see just strolling around this unspoilt village.
The trip ended with us picking up bicycles and riding for about 20 min back into the Old Town. That was great for me - I had been feeling slightly nervous about getting on a bike, and it was such a joy cruising along the tracks with little traffic. We rode past padi fields with geese and water buffalo and then alongside of the market, finishing up at an art gallery in town for tea.
And after all that, I was back at my hotel in time to enjoy my breakfast - those banana pancakes I have been looking forward to. Whoo hoo.
We bumped over tracks to the riverside and boarded a little ferry boat just as the sun was starting to rise - except it was cloudy today so no actual sun, but a moody light with a sky that looked full of rain. The jetty on the other side was packed with motorbikes and bicycles waiting for the trip across to the town side where many of the villagers work in construction at this time of year. On the way Etienne reviewed our cameras, our style of photographing and gave some basics of the art. For me, it was so exciting to be shown how to use my lovely little camera by manually setting aperture etc. A whole new world has opened up.
Etienne told us that to take photos of people in Viet Nam, all you have to do is smile a lot, say hello, have some little exchange. Tell them where you come from. He said they get a buzz from talking with the foreigners. He knows many of the village characters and they are not shy about being the target of the lens. The little children were a little shy, though the boys on bikes were like cheeky boys everywhere and made a bit of a pest of themselves. We wandered around, seeing the fish processing area, the communal ancestor pagoda, a fish sauce factory, stopping for coffee with a local family, visiting a woman who bakes small cakes and has done this every day for 25 years (we sampled her cakes too). Etienne joked with the local drunk, a man he says smells of rice wine every morning but always has a laugh about something. I managed to take some portraits I am really happy with. I'm usually shy about taking pics of people but this was different, the people so open and friendly and so happy to be shown their photos. The guys with the fancy cameras and lenses took some amazing portraits I think.
Have a look at Etienne's Gallery here. Today was not a fishing day as it is the wrong time of year, but there was lots to see just strolling around this unspoilt village.
The trip ended with us picking up bicycles and riding for about 20 min back into the Old Town. That was great for me - I had been feeling slightly nervous about getting on a bike, and it was such a joy cruising along the tracks with little traffic. We rode past padi fields with geese and water buffalo and then alongside of the market, finishing up at an art gallery in town for tea.
And after all that, I was back at my hotel in time to enjoy my breakfast - those banana pancakes I have been looking forward to. Whoo hoo.
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Why no pics?
I have been taking lots of photos using the new camera. It came with instruction books in Chinese (which I dumped) and a CD containing the English manual (which I have not accessed). So I'm using it on AUTO setting, true point-and-shoot, although I know the camera offers much more. That said, I'm delighted with the images, especially the night time shots. Hoi An is wonderful at night with gorgeous colorful silk lanterns everywhere. I read that each month there is a lantern night in the Old Town with traditional music and so on, but to me every night is lantern night. It is magic. So I hope I can work out how to get some photos onto the blog for you.
I do have a USB card reader but the computers here in the hotel have blocked USB drives. I had a CD burned the other day with the first lot of pics, so I'll try later to upload that to Picasa online. The wifi network here is excellent, and I'd love to have my laptop. But it is good to travel light.
The lovely ladies at the hotel made me a bowl of pho for breakfast this morning. I didn't say that I had been looking forward to trying the banana pancake - but that can wait for tomorrow. Pho is a beef noodle soup that is the usual local breakfast I gather. I enjoyed it, but still had to have one of those crispy baguettes as well. (I skipped dinner, so I figure it's OK to have two breakfasts.)
My old shoes broke in the rain. I found a shop here with German Rieker shoes for under US$50. So I have new shoes now. There are many shops here that make shoes to order - I hear the American girls here in the hotel talking about having dresses made and then going next door to get matching shoes. ("I like went wild, I'm having this totally awesome red dress made, and the sweetest red shoes") I'm not so sure about the quality. These shoes have to get me a long ways!
I do have a USB card reader but the computers here in the hotel have blocked USB drives. I had a CD burned the other day with the first lot of pics, so I'll try later to upload that to Picasa online. The wifi network here is excellent, and I'd love to have my laptop. But it is good to travel light.
The lovely ladies at the hotel made me a bowl of pho for breakfast this morning. I didn't say that I had been looking forward to trying the banana pancake - but that can wait for tomorrow. Pho is a beef noodle soup that is the usual local breakfast I gather. I enjoyed it, but still had to have one of those crispy baguettes as well. (I skipped dinner, so I figure it's OK to have two breakfasts.)
My old shoes broke in the rain. I found a shop here with German Rieker shoes for under US$50. So I have new shoes now. There are many shops here that make shoes to order - I hear the American girls here in the hotel talking about having dresses made and then going next door to get matching shoes. ("I like went wild, I'm having this totally awesome red dress made, and the sweetest red shoes") I'm not so sure about the quality. These shoes have to get me a long ways!
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