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Saigon

3-Day Street Photography Workshop in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

3-Day Street Photography Workshop

in Ho Chi Minh City

  • FEBRUARY 9TH-11TH : HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
  • ADVANCED STREET PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP WITH FORREST WALKER

I’m excited to announce a 3-Day workshop I’ll be leading this February 9th-11th in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Read on for more details and how to sign up…

  • Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam ©Forrest Walker

This intensive three-day workshop will focus on finding yourself in your photography and seeing the photos you want to make through lessons covering a variety of work, reviews of your own work, editing, activities and plenty of shooting throughout the streets of Ho Chi Minh City. Led by international photographer Forrest Walker, this workshop will be an immersive and educational experience.

*ONE SPOT LEFT!*

Full 3-Day Workshop Fee – €500

Reserve Spot

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Full 3-Day Workshop Fee – €500

Reserve Spot

Places are strictly limited, sign up early to avoid disappointment

WHERE: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

WHEN: February 9-11, 2019 (3 Full Days)

Daily Schedule (Detailed itinerary will be emailed to participants):

  • Saturday February 9th: 10am-6pm 
  • Sunday February 10th: 9am-6pm
  • Monday February 11th: 9am-6pm

*We will break for lunch daily and all are invited to dinner and drinks afterwards for more interaction

Workshop Description:

Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as many locals still call it, is not only one of my favorite cities in the world, but also one that I’ve lived in and know well. That especially goes for street photography. For more info on this amazing city, you can look through the Street Photography Guide I created for Ho Chi Minh City.

The workshop will include a mixture of daily photo walks, photo and editing critiques, portfolio reviews and interactive lectures. This is an intensive workshop with an emphasis on helping you fully immerse yourself in the city and find yourself through street photography, so you can learn, while also having a great time experiencing Ho Chi Minh City.

What’s Included?:

  • A variety of guided street photography walks giving a wide view of photo opportunities and exploration in Ho Chi Minh City.
  • 1-on-1 shooting with your instructor to provide feedback, tips, guidance, and allow you to observe how I work. You will also be allowed to work on your photography without distraction during the walks.
  • Multiple educational and inspirational lessons covering different aspects of street photography.
  • An initial portfolio review followed by daily critiques and a final editing lesson covering your work during the workshop.
  • Constant access to your instructor, including outside of the workshop’s scheduled time. 
  • Activities planned to give time for bonding with other photographers, while having a great time in Ho Chi Minh City.
  • A memorable experience not only improving your photography, but also enjoying one of Asia’s most amazing cities.

Additional Information:

  • The workshop will be very limited to keep the group small and give plenty of personal attention and quality interaction.
  • The workshop fee covers not only the time during the workshop schedule, but also the time spent on workshop preparation with each individual, and any time needed outside of the daily schedule while in Ho Chi Minh City.

WHAT TO BRING:

Good walking shoes, camera(s), lens – between 50mm and 21mm equivalents preferred, sunscreen, water bottle, cool and comfortable clothing, laptop with appropriate processing software installed (Lightroom, Capture One or Photoshop), spare batteries and memory cards, notepad, pen, and mobile/ smart phone.

*ONE SPOT LEFT!*

Full 3-Day Workshop Fee – €500

Reserve Spot

Places are strictly limited, sign up early to avoid disappointment

 

Terms and Cancellation Policy:

  •           Workshop fees include tuition ONLY. Participants are responsible for their own equipment costs, food and beverage costs, and travel expenses.
  •          Forrest Walker accepts no liability for any loss or damage of participants’ equipment or liability for injury, illness or misadventure during the course of the workshop. The public liability of the participants is their own responsibility as is conducting themselves safely and according to Vietnamese Law at all times.
  •           Forrest Walker reserves the right to cancel the workshop at any time, for any reason. In this event, participants will receive a 100% refund on any fees paid.
  •          Forrest Walker is not responsible for reimbursement of travel expenses in the event of a cancellation. We recommend that you buy refundable air tickets and/or travel insurance. Cancellations: More than 21 days before workshop begins, participant will receive a 100% refund. Between 7-21 days before workshop begins, participant will receive a 50% refund. Within 7 days of workshop, participants will receive NO refund.

50 Street Photography Photos From 2017

Time for the New Year’s tradition here and share some photos from the old year to bring in the new.

While 2016 had been my busiest year yet on the road working on my 100 cities project, 2017 was even busier. I was on the road non-stop, clocking in at over 5,000 miles walked while covering 33 cities, including 26 major cities for the project. I started in city #41 Quito, Ecuador and finished in #66 Mexico City, Mexico, leaving 34 major cities left to do. I’m attempting to make 2018 even busier so I can get most of it finished before I start working on the book in 2019. 

While focusing on the project, I was still able to make it to a few street photography festivals this year, including the London SP Festival as a judge and the Miami SP Festival as a guest artist speaker, which were great experiences. In addition, I led some successful workshops in London, Budapest and Havana, and plan on doing more in 2018. All in all, it was an extremely busy year with its share of downs and setbacks, but it’s only made me more determined to make this all work. The blog had a busy year growing too, as it’s now ranked #2 in the world in the street photography genre on feedspot. I have more plans for the blog this year, which I’ll share soon, but for now, thank you to everyone that’s been following along!

One thing I did decide this year was not to share all of my favorite photos yet, as I want the future book to be at least a third never seen work. Still, with such a busy year of street photography, walking an average of 15 miles/22km per day year-round, I have more than enough to share now too. So, here’s 50 photos from the year that take you through all 33 cities I photographed in 2017. It’s not a top 50 of my favorites, but some selections to share for now in bringing on 2018. So, I hope you enjoy. 

Happy New Year to all and Cheers to 2018!

– Forrest

50 Street Photography Photos From 2017

(in order of capture date)  [Read more…] about 50 Street Photography Photos From 2017

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Dog Clap”

Saigon Shooter Files

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken at September 23 Park in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Taken in the same area as a previous Sunday Street Shot, this long, skinny park runs along Saigon’s backpacker district up to the popular Bến Thành Market. In the heart of the city here, there’s always something going.

After shooting in the park some, I noticed this little white dog at the edge of the grass. I really liked the colors, with the bright white dog inside the red cloth set on green grass. As I walked over to take a photo, his owner came over too. The short, older man leaned over and started playfully talking to his dog while clapping. Due to how short the man was, I was able to tower over them by stepping on the grass side curb. I tried to compose the shot directly above the dog to accentuate the combination of colors, while also creating a sort of illusion with the man’s hands and feet only showing from under his hat. While it was a little difficult balancing above for the shot, the old man got a good laugh once he noticed what I was doing. 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/8
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600

Saigon Shooter Files

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Bridge Work”

Saigon Shooter Files-18

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Cuong Tran, a local street photographer in Saigon, was kind enough to take me along for a few walks to show some of the places he likes to shoot. One stop we made was at a village along the river in Binh Thanh, a district in the center of the city just north of District 1. While it’s in the heart of the city near skyscrapers and modern developments, this area takes you back in time and out of the city with its atmosphere.

After exploring the narrow village streets and talking to the friendly locals, I spotted some work being done on a small bridge. Saigon is in constant development and you see construction and electrical workers in their blue jackets all over the city. I liked the blue/turquoise shades of the bridge, water and sky matching their uniforms, and the background reflection of the city and village on the river. So I decided to wait and see if anything interesting happened to capture.

As one worker was strapped below the bridge and making his was back up, I made this shot in mid-effort to pull himself up. Judging by his expression, it’s not easy work. 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800

Saigon Shooter Files-18

33 Street Photography Photos from Three Months in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Saigon-33-cover

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam became my base this year, and a chance to stay in one spot during all my travel. That being said, I was only able to spend 3 months there so far before leaving to Europe for the summer. And some of that time was spent traveling outside the city. Still, 2+ months, while having an apartment in the heart of Saigon, gave me plenty of time to explore and photograph this lively city.

Saigon Shooter Files-22

But for now, here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Saigon…

[Read more…] about 33 Street Photography Photos from Three Months in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Saigon Stretch”

Saigon Shooter Files-36

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam at September 23 Park (Công viên 23 tháng 9). This park stretches multiple blocks along Phạm Ngũ Lão street up to Ben Thanh Market. So it’s in the heart of the city right by the touristic backpacker district and ends at the city’s most famous market, making it one of the busier spots in the city. You get a mix of locals and tourists, different events, students looking to practice english, people playing shuttlecock, and people exercising like the man in this pic.

Saigon has these exercise stations in parks all over the city. They’re for very simple exercises that don’t take much strength and seem to be used by the city’s elderly more than anybody. This can create some humorous scenes. They rarely dress in exercise clothes, but they’re rarely breaking much of a sweat, either. This man was a different story, though. He was giving full effort in his button-up shirt. 

He was doing this ab workout where he’d bring his legs up and down, while also stretching them in and out at the same time. So I decided to capture a shot of this funny scene right when his legs were fully out and his facial expression showed all that effort he was putting into his routine.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600

Saigon Shooter Files-36

7 First Impressions of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
(From a Street Photography Perspective)

saigon-impressions-cover

After traveling around Sri Lanka, India and Nepal, it was finally time stay in one place for a little while. That place was Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, or better known as Saigon. Honestly, everyone and everything in the city still refers to Ho Chi Minh City as Saigon so for this post we’ll go with the much shorter (and quicker to type) name too.

For my time in Saigon, I had my own apartment right in the heart of the city in District 1. Currently at 19 districts, Saigon uses this numbered system to section off different neighborhoods, many of which have their own character and what they’re known for. While District 1 is the heart of the city, and where most of the attractions are located, there’s a lot more to see if you have the time. Luckily, I had plenty of time to explore the many districts. 

Saigon Shooter Files-47

So here are my first impressions of Saigon (HCMC), from my personal Street Photographer perspective…

[Read more…] about 7 First Impressions of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (From a Street Photography Perspective)