A few frames from a typical Saigon Sunday morning.
Motor bike parking was at a premium in Saigon's District 1 this morning as Independence Palace was thrown open to the public with free admission for Vietnamese, (foreigners buy tickets at the ticket box, and by the way, thanks for nothing!!) in the lead up to celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Me too.
I'm super excited to have recently recently picked up a Profoto B1 Air TTL Off Camera Flash Location Kit. The kit consists of two 500 watt second mono block flash heads and chargers which are operated by a Profoto Air Remote that uses TTL (through the lens) metering via the camera body in order to obtain incredible flash exposures almost instantly and without the need for a light meter.
The kit comes in an awesome backpack and when combined with a couple of Manfrotto light stands and some light modifiers it is a completely portable battery powered lighting solution for studio or location work. The batteries are small and clip onto the side of each light and recharge in an hour. A fully charged battery will deliver 220 flash pops at full power (500 watt seconds is equivalent in power to 10 speed lights (on camera hot shoe flash units) at full power, and at minimum power will deliver up to 50,000 flashes. There is never a cord between the lights and the camera.
I spent an afternoon in the studio yesterday and used the kit for the first time and it was an absolute joy. Looking forward to getting them out and into the field next for some awesome location shoots.
During February I was given the opportunity to shoot the cover for the March issue of Oi Vietnam Magazine. A location for the shoot was quickly identified and scouted, the atmospheric Villa Royale Tea Rooms and Antique Shop in Saigon's District 2. The theme of the issue was to be "sweet things to eat in Saigon".
We needed a model and luckily the beautiful Rachel Cabakoff signed on for the project. Wardrobe was arranged from a local designer, Thuy Design House, and we were good to go.
The shoot got off to a bumpy start when, arriving 15 minutes early, the owners guard dog woke up half the neighborhood and the owner and our host for the morning. Hair and makeup was done in a cabana overlooking the Villa's swimming pool, another tough day at the office, and at 8 am we started the shoot.
Thankfully the session went smoothly and without a $20,000 Ming Dynasty vase being accidentally smashed on the floor. A selection of images were delivered to the client the next day from which one was eventually chosen for publication as the March cover.
The four "fiinalists" are below. Grab or download a copy of the magazine to find out which one went on to become the cover.
It was a real thrill to photograph the Australian Consulate Ho Chi Minh City Australia Day function recently. The highlight of the event was a performance by acclaimed Australian singer, Christine Arnou who preformed a set of some of her most famous songs including the very appropriate "My Island Home".
I was fortunate a couple of weeks ago to do a shoot for a photo essay for Oi Vietnam Magazine with a group of dancers from a show called The Mist which is running at the Saigon Opera House. The show depicts contemporary dancers performing scenes from traditional village life. The idea for the photo essay was to capture dance moves in a traditional village setting as well as in a modern setting in a luxury hotel with the dancers performing mundane tasks while doing dance moves. The photo essay appears in the February issue of Oi Magazine.
The shoot was a lot of fun and the dancers were super talented, incredibly athletic and great to work with.
There were a few lessons learned on the day also. 1. Shooting two locations on a hot day when pressed for time is too much. Better to choose one concept and shoot that at a more relaxed pace. 2. Don't have too many subjects, less is more. We had eight dancers for this shoot plus hair and makeup, props and management, which was, in hindsight too many people. 3. Keep props to a minimum. We had a lot of props from the show and in the end didn't use many/any. The dancers did the talking without the need for props. Keep things as simple and streamlined as possible. 4. If you get an opportunity to do anything like this GRAB IT!
A few of my favorite photos from the shoot are below. some made it into print while some others did not.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Authentique Home ceramics in Saigon and photographing the intricate hand painting of their individually made ceramics. Another example of a great local business doing beautiful hand crafted work, that I knew nothing about. I have to get out more. A few frames from my time there.
