Vietnam with the X-T1

[lichtundlaerm]

Hi everybody!

 

During Christmas 2014, me and my girlfriend spent three weeks traveling through the northern half of Vietnam. The tour was (unsurprisingly) more or less: Hanoi --> Cat Ba --> Ninh Binh --> Hue --> Hoi An

 

I would consider myself more of a landscape photographer and I have definitely shot far better landscapes with my trusty X-T1 than on this trip. (Probably because I spent too much time enjoying the country and the incredibly delicious food...   ) However, I would like to start my first topic here with Vietnam anyway for a simple reason: This was the trip that made me finally switch completely from Nikon to Fuji, for reasons of weight, bulk and inconspicuousness.

 

So, expect a little bit of mediocre landscapes and some decent street shots. I anyway put it in this forum since the subjects are mostly typical travel-centered things. Hope you enjoy!

 

As a starter: One of my favourites from Hanoi's West Lake:

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[jeffryscott]

Lovely image. I traveled to Hanoi in 2000, totally falling in love with that country and its people. Would very much like to see more!

[Toon]

Great photo! I can totally feel the calm.

[joshinthecity]

Shooting street in Hoi An, would be a dream to me.

All those amazing old buildings, and the colours, and the fishing boats..

I need to go back there.

[joshinthecity]

Edit

[lichtundlaerm]

Thank you all for the nice words! There's more coming soon, I'm still figuring out how to "use" the forum, gallery etc.

 

@josh: Yeah, Hoi An was great and I'm looking forward to showing the pictures here. As I can see you've already been to my blog, so you more or less know what's coming However: Could you please "edit out" my picture you posted above? I wanted to show it at a later date, I'm not a 100% satisfied with the editing. Thanks!

[lichtundlaerm]

Another one from Vietnam, this time from Lan Ha Bay. We did a boat trip that day, the conditions were great for boat tripping and crappy for photography - more or less perfect blue skies. However, when we came around this corner and I saw the lonely fihser's hut, with the net bathed in a single splash of sunlight - it was very beautiful. Took me some processing though to transport what I saw to an image that captures the feeling (screw you, dynamic range of the human eye!). Hope it worked...

 

[joshinthecity]

Thank you all for the nice words! There's more coming soon, I'm still figuring out how to "use" the forum, gallery etc.

 

@josh: Yeah, Hoi An was great and I'm looking forward to showing the pictures here. As I can see you've already been to my blog, so you more or less know what's coming However: Could you please "edit out" my picture you posted above? I wanted to show it at a later date, I'm not a 100% satisfied with the editing. Thanks!

Absolutely.

My apologies.

[lichtundlaerm]

Thanks a lot Absolutely no problem!

[lichtundlaerm]

So here's another one that's more "landscape"ish. When we've been to the area of Ninh Binh (aka "the dry Ha Long Bay"), we didn't stay in the city itself but in a homestay in a tiny village a few kilometers away. It was a great way of seeing how the people actually lived, a fun experience and in the midst of beautiful landscape. This spot was in 5 minutes walking distance to our room and captures the "remoteness" of the place very vell.

 

[lichtundlaerm]

Together with today's shot comes a slight change of plans: While I initially wanted to show some of the street shots also in here, I've decided to make a dedicated thread in the respective forum. Check it out here: The streets of Vietnam.

 

Besides that, there's not much to talk about today. It's another one from the boat trip I mentioned above.

 

 

 

Lan Ha Bay (as seen from a ridge on Monkey Island):

 

[GambaJo]

I was there last november for 3 weeks. I did a travel diary.

[EricPaulPhotos]

That first shot was great.  It was a trip to Asia that for me as well convinced me to drop Nikon for Fuji.

 

I'm planning on visiting Vietnam next year, which place was your favorite to shoot?

[lichtundlaerm]

Hi Eric, thank you!

 

I enjoyed Hoi An a lot, but mostly because we spent a lot of time there - so I got to know the "spots", the way the people act and react, etc. (Also, the inner part of Hoi An is a "traffic calmed zone", so carelessly stepping onto the street while you are shooting does not equal instant "death by motorbike").

 

The best place however was the small village I can not remember near Ninh Binh. We spent a few nights at a homestay there and it was just great. Just a few miles outside the city, but like a totally different world. It was a place where people actually lived, rather unaffected by all the tourism, and where you could at least get a (very) small glimpse of the actual everyday life of the people. And they were all very friendly!

 

Also, here's another landscape