Random Travel Photography In Ha Tien, Vietnam

To finish circling Vietnam’s Mekong Delta I have returned to do more photography in Ha Tien, one of my favorite places.
Ha Tien is not very touristy, the people are very friendly and it felt good to come back to a place where the hotel staff greeted my with a big smile and was happy to see me again.

The following photos were taken during a few hours of aimless wondering.
I walked more or less along one long road which eventually left the town going through the countryside.

As usual I really took my time stopping often, photographing each new discovery: a person, a house, scenery, waterside or roadside trash.
For me this reduced traveling speed is necessary to be able to notice details and for this reason taking a motorbike or even a riding a bicycle would be too fast paced.
I can tell from the looks of passing moto drivers that seeing me 5 plus miles out of town walking through fish farms and rice fields truly confuses them. Definitely not typical tourist behavior.

I was looking for simplicity with the photo of a boardwalk seen at the beginning of this post; the surroundings had boats, people, floating trash but I decided to isolate this “peaceful” section.

The boy was a bit shy (but stayed around) seemingly quite concerned with the camera being pointed at him but that just added more realism and maybe some insight into his personality.
To take this photo I backed up quite a few yards and used long focal length to give the kid some privacy and to blur the busy background:

Girl eating bread while daydreaming on the boardwalk; her father was working on his boat nearby. I liked the color of her clothes against the blue of the sky and water and the spontaneity of the moment (definitely no second takes, as soon as she noticed me she turned her back to me), I had to compose quickly deciding what to include and what not:

When the subject is more stationary than an overexcited kid there is more time to compose the photo. I was standing in decaying harbor trash trying not to sink in it while attempting to find an angle which would provide the needed symmetry. Moving just inches (not to mention feet) will result in a totally different composition; for these boats this was my best shot:

This red boat might have been missed if I was traveling any faster than walking, a narrow walkway led to it between two houses on stilts.
The surroundings are typical: decaying harbor trash (smell is up to your imagination) and the usual Mekong River architecture but the “intense redness” of the boat is somewhat unique as far as Vietnamese boat painting is concerned:

Making trash in water visually interesting; and perhaps somewhat succeeding; the black and white version of this photo is more “artistic” but this post contains a series of color photos, so let’s say maybe this color version delivers more of the smell:

Nothing in this photo was arranged by me, everything laid on the ground like this. The harsh midday light caused shadows and the natural arrangement were interesting to me; one half facing up the other down. I took the picture to experiment with arranging all parts of a scene; just playing with composition:

A pile of dirty clothes of a motorbike mechanic; I cannot make a longer story about this picture:

A slice of Mekong Delta scenery in the form of two houses, the harsh shadows are courtesy of the hot midday sun:

Refrigerators that run on electricity are not in every house or business in Vietnam; here a man is cutting up a fresh delivery of ice and putting the blocks into a wooden box for (near) future use:

There is never a shortage of kids wanting to pose for a photo; this picture caught a rare quiet and disciplined moment of these troublemakers:

Vietnamese landscape; I call this photo smoke and clouds and yes, I know still definitely light years from being a tear sheet from the National Geographic Magazine

Mine is not a technical photoblog so I am a bit hesitant even to mention the point of this photo: by using circular polarizer clouds stand out against a darkened sky, glare from water is reduced (you can see under water) and colors are more saturated. If this means nothing to you no worries, just return to your normal daily activities:

Decaying sticks of wood underwater in a fish farm pond. Finding peace and beauty in death? This photo is as abstract or artistic as I can get at this time:

Graceful bird, deadly claws of a prehistoric predator, dry piece of wood and its reflection? Yes, this is my abstract side; and as long as you do not call it a “piece of” something else I am game:

This time a left turn became the right turn into a boat factory which was rich with colors and huge boats in dry docks. Just for added excitement notice one of the boat builders demonstrating a picture perfect double biceps pose declaring his alpha male status:

I grabbed a cold drink in the bar of the boat factory; an adorable (first hesitant) little girl became my model for the next five minutes:

Always a great and rare find in rural Vietnamese landscape: a modern high bridge! They give a bird’s eye view to take photos therefore adding more 3 dimensional look to the usually flat Mekong River scenery:

This is one of those lifting up the camera and shooting without thinking kind of photos (some might say all my photos fit that description).
I was at a riverbed taking pictures of fishing traps when a boy on a red bicycle approached; no time to ask for permission just point and shoot. Perfection is not the goal here and I always enjoy if a likable photo is the result from this approach, they usually look very spontaneous and natural:

A few minutes before sunset warm light creates a reflection of a boat. This was the last photo of the day, I wished to get back to Ha Tien before dark so I got a motorbike driver to take me back to my hotel: