North West Vietnam - The Toil of Hand Photography Tour.

The Tour.

Join us for a photography tour of the Red River Delta and Sapa in North Vietnam, starting and finishing in Hanoi. This tour highlights the region's hard-working traditions and its stunning locations.

At sunrise the next day, we photograph people doing all kinds of exercise at Hoan Kiem Lake. After breakfast, we venture into the heart of Hanoi's Old Quarter, where it’s not difficult to find people working hard. Walking the streets, we actively search out locals working at street level and practice candid street photography among vendors and peddlers. Then we photograph students at the Temple of Literature celebrating their recent graduation, and the street where railway tracks run past people's front doors.

From there, we journey south and have a great day photographing various cottage industries, including incense stick dyeing, basket weaving, Soya sauce production, and fish farming.

The next morning we wake up early to take a long walk through Mangroves to find local fishermen working on what's become known as Infinity Beach. Timed carefully to coincide with low tides, the beach takes on a mirror-like sheen and offers incredible opportunities to photograph local fishermen hauling in their unusually large fishing nets as they look for prawns.

We then move on to Ninh Binh, already famed for its unusual landscape and often likened to Halong Bay on land. Here we have plenty to see on the water and the narrow pathways that navigate farmland, but we also have a few friends there who always make great photos.

Next, we head north to an ancient village on the outskirts of Hanoi, offering a wide variety of local handicrafts and authentic historical architecture. By early evening, we should arrive in time to catch some nice rays over Long Coc, one of Vietnam’s most picturesque Tea Plantation regions.

After another day among the gentle hills of tea plantations photographing sunrise, the workers, and sunset, we head further north into the more dramatic rice terraces of the province of Sapa .

We take our time driving through extraordinary rice terraces with some carefully selected visits to local villages populated by various hill tribes. Our highlight is two nights at an amazing resort in Mu Canh Chai, an Instagram favorite for good reason, but with a bit of cunning, we will steer you away from the crowds and reward you with stunning shots.

After driving through some more charming villages and past Vietnam’s highest mountain at Fansipan ( Phan Xi Pang), we arrive at the capital of Sapa, which is without doubt a slightly overdeveloped tourist center but retains a certain amount of charm in terms of back streets, hill tribe ladies walking the street, and misty morning views.

A long drive back to Hanoi is rewarded with a late afternoon street walk, a rooftop bar, and some great restaurants

Led by Nathan and an experienced local guide, this tour is designed to help you elevate your photography while experiencing the best of Northern Vietnam. We also make many unscripted stops whenever unique scenes arise, so you can capture authentic, intimate moments. Meanwhile, an optional pre-tour technical workshop and Lightroom post-production sessions help you get the most from your images.

Tuition.

On any of our tours, stunning photography is the name of the game, and our objective is for you to leave with a collection of images that you'll be proud to show off. Indeed, many of our past participants have gone on to win awards and competitions with photographs taken on our tours.

Nathan’s teaching approach is very hands-on, as he believes in learning by doing. He will guide you through technical challenges, provide artistic inspiration, and lead by example in approaching locals for great portraits. You'll be amazed at the striking and authentic images you'll be able to capture.

We also offer Lightroom workshops during our tours, where we cover workflow management and picture processing. We'll show you the tools to take your travel photography to the next level and provide tips on saving your pictures for various outputs like social media, e-books, and printing.

If this is your first tour with us, you can also join Nathan’s pre-tour workshop, designed to equip you with essential skills for travel photography. Covering technical competence, creative observation, and ethical responsibility with a focus on people and culture, this workshop is perfect if you’re new to travel photography or need a refresher. The workshop runs on the first day of the tour from around 2-5pm. Enhance your photography skills and capture breathtaking moments to treasure forever. Apply via our tour request form and prepare to take your photography skills to the next level.