Holy cow, it’s been an amazing week or so since my last post! This blog post entitled Cat Ba & BaC Ha has been lingering in my “drafts” folder, for almost 10 days but I have not had even a moment to try and finish it up. Mind you, I’m not complaining because I would rather be out shooting than working on the computer but I feel strangely responsible to you, my viewers, and feel compelled to get some content uploaded for you.
At this point, the Vietnam portion of the tour has ended and our group reduced to only 6 guests who elected to continue on with the Angkor Wat extension, which I will be blogging soon.
Anyway, everything is going well and I’m finally happy to share some images from the past days, in an attempt to bring you all up to speed on what we’ve been up to.
So, now, please re-read the title to this blog post and try and say that as fast as you can, 5 times…Cat Ba, Bac Ha, Cat Ba, Bac Ha……
The two locations differ only by one letter, but they might as well be “worlds apart”, one a small port city on the Gulf of Tonkin, the other, a mountainous village near the Chinese border. Both Cat Ba and Bac Ha have tons to offer in terms of photographic opportunities.
We boarded our private boat in Halong City and toured Halong Bay. En route to Cat Ba Island, the crew served up a delicious lunch of fresh seafood and a selection of fine wines.
In Cat Ba, we rented small 2-person boats to tour the harbor, where fishermen live.
After a night on Cat Ba Island, we returned to Hanoi in time to catch the over-night train to Lao Cai. From there, we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed up into the mountains to photograph several markets including the colorful Bac Ha Sunday market.
The area surrounding Bac Ha is a treasure-trove of photographic opportunities. Rice paddies and agricultural fields abound, and locals are happy to allow us to photograph them.
The early morning soup kitchens are a great place to photograph, and since our group stays over-night in Bac Ha, we are able to experience the market before the other tourists arrive from Sapa (another popular hill tribe market).
Marco Ryan, one of the instructors at my annual Angkor Photo Workshop, joined us for a few days in Vietnam, in order to shoot some stills and video for a promotional piece that Jim and I are putting together. Marco, who has shot extensively in Vietnam was “in his element”, enjoying the photo opportunities, when not assisting our tour participants.
Above, Marco Ryan along with Hung, our local tour guide, walk to a remote village between Bac Ha and Lao Cai. Be sure to check out Marco’s blog for more images and information about his experiences.
Marco let me use his Canon 85mm f 1.2 lens….I almost didn’t give it back! The shallow depth of field makes for some unique portraits (as seen above).
Along on this trip was Lew’s wife, Jan, who was our only “non-photographer”. Jan wasn’t shootin’ but that didn’t stop her from having a great time wherever we went. When Jan wasn’t helping carry tripods and extra lenses, she was handing out stickers to the little kids, smiling, laughing, meeting the locals and genrally having a blast. Her infectious spirit and unbounded energy (she’s an avid walker…in Hanoi she walked around Hoan Kim Lake 6 times!) made our trip even more enjoyable. Thanks Jan!
So that’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed the images….more to come from the Angkor Wat extension in Cambodia.
Happy shooting, Karl
Gorgeous!
Wow, great, great, great…photos. I noticed a lot of pics this trip of the group participants…really gives
a good perspective for future tour travelers…
Liked all, thanks for posting
Absolutely amazing Karl! Loved these photos. Should have never have touched that 85 1.2…looks like a Nikon 85 1.4G may be in your bag soon? Thanks for letting us join in your adventures.
Thanks for the comment Darren, I really appreciate it. This trip included Henry and Marlyn Greene, and your ears should have been ringing when we re-lived the “Mekong River incident”. Hope you are doing well wherever you are and hope to travel again with you soon. I just had a look at your website and blog http://www.mcmichaelphotography.com EXCELLENT!
Take care, Karl
Great shots as always, Karl. And what a delight to see Bob, Lew and Jan along on the journey! Traveled with them on Jim’s trip to Peru in May 2011 and they are the best traveling companions. Thanks for sharing.
Karl;
Great shots as usual. Finally bought a camera (with Rockwell’s advice) so I’m ready for a trip. Give me a call when you are back in town. Best, John.
Karl your work is beautiful. Photos of people are the most beautiful to me. I have never been to the places you photograph and I never really thought of the role of the humanitarian photojournalist when I read reports etc. Your work is really interesting and important. I’ll be back!
Thanks “this is lemonade”, for your nice compliment! I checked out your blog and really enjoyed many of your posts! Keep up the great work. Cheers, Karl
LOOOOOOVVVVE the 1.2! Beautiful images.