Hanoi by dawn

This photography experience is for max. 02 participants only
For an advanced street photography workshop, you might want to check out the Momentlives exclusive “Street photography workshop with Fujifilm Global Ambassador“
You can combine this workshop with “Vintage Hanoi” on the same day to have a full experience while gaining discount

Hanoi photo tour at dawn

Dawn is a magical time for photography.

It is the delicate bridge between night and day, a moment when the world awakens with a quiet, transformative beauty. At dawn, everything seems to move toward a fresh start, and photographers are gifted with soft, shifting light—perfect for bringing their subjects to life.

In Hanoi, dawn becomes even more extraordinary. The city springs to life with vivid colors and vibrant energy. At the bustling Long Bien Market, vendors and buyers engage in a lively dance of trade, creating a kaleidoscope of sights and sounds. Around the serene banks of Hoan Kiem Lake, locals immerse themselves in morning exercises above the silvered surface of the lake’s water. Meanwhile, the historic Old Quarter stirs awake as shop owners prepare for a new day of commerce, filling the air with the hum of anticipation.

“Hanoi by dawn” is for all photographers & photography enthusiasts, offering a unique opportunity to capture the city’s essence during its magical hours. The scenes, the people, and the streets come alive in unique ways that cannot be replicated at any other time. Each shot tells a story—distinct and irreplaceable.

Join us as we venture into one of Asia’s most photogenic cities at its most captivating hours. Let your lens explore the magic of Hanoi by dawn.

Photography in Long Bien market

An unforgettable photography experience at dawn, where you’ll capture the essence of Hanoi while most travelers are still in slumber. The journey with our cameras begins at the enchanting Long Bien Market, a bustling hub of fresh produce that springs to life every midnight and goes on till the morning. Here, the air buzzes with energy as stallholders and laborers prepare for the day ahead.

On a photography persectives, we will be having a look at:

Camera settings: How to optimize your settings to best capture the actions in low-light conditions. When do use Aperture Priority and when to use Shutter Speed priority?
Panning: How do we pan in low-light conditions
Framing: Market is a busy place, how do you come up with creative, alluring frames? And where do you look for those?
Lining and leading lines: How do you line up your subjects? Or how do you make lines to bring up your subjects?
The decisive moments: How to spot out in a market environment?
And more…

Photo walk along the Hoan Kiem lake

Lakes are the lungs of Hanoi. A place where crowds gather from very early morning for excercising. Here, each and everyone can be seen to be in their unique moves, some of that you will not have seen anywhere. With the silvered backdrop of the lake’s water, we’ll see into how to bring up this early city’s character to life with our camera frames.

Here we will focus on:

How to create different layers
How to borrow the foreground/background to highlight the subjects

Finally, treat ourselves with a hot bow of Pho, and enjoy a cup of Vietnamese coffee while looking at the shots we have done on our enriching “Hanoi By Dawn“.

Photo tour summary

Tour duration
5 hours

Tour route
Contact us

Level of difficulty
Easy

Tour cost
168 USD/pp (Grp. of 01)
98 USD/pp (Grp. of 02)

Group size
Maximum 02

Transportation
Car

Hanoi by Dawn - Itinerary

The itinerary

Our Hanoi photo tour starts at 3.45am from your hotel. Travel to Long Bien market – the most bustling market in town and one of the busiest markets in South East Asia. Here, we will see into using different modes and settings of the camera. Master the ISO and the different camera modes.

For 1.5 hrs, we explore the market through your lens. We will capture various scenes as the workers are racing to get the supply ready. WIth the market scenes in front, we’ll study the different camera modes, as well as the optimal composition to bring up the scenes.

Later on, walk the Hoan Kiem Lake and photograph the local doing their morning excercise – a character of the Vietnamese.

We end the tour with a bowl of traditional Vietnamese Pho, coffee and review the photos you have taken with advice from Momentlives photographer.

Arrive back at your hotel around 8.45am.

Price & Coverage

Price includes:

– English speaking photo guide
– Private car, driver, fuel
– Breakfast & coffee/tea
– Water
– All entry fees

Price excludes:

– Personal expenses
– Items not listed in the inclusions

Photographer checklist

Lens: A lens of 85 mm or less (if your camera is full frame) or 50mm or less (if your camera is cropped) will be practical.

Dress: Comfortably. Walking shoes are suggested.

Think: That you are depicting life in Hanoi with your camera. This might just be some good photos to show friends, or to keep your memory. So learn to do it more properly, thus the photos are more intriguing. Don’t pressure yourself.

A photo tour at the madness

Long Bien market is the largest fresh vegetables and fruits market in Hanoi. It lies to the North-East of Hanoi’s famed Old Quarter, where most of the hotels, restaurants and bars are located. This is the stage of our Hanoi photo tour.

This market, unlike any other in town, rises when the Hanoians are mostly asleep. Huge flow of traffic with big and small trucks making way into the market’s only one gate connecting to the outside road, accompanied by 200,000 scooters or what look like, all eager to get in as if the flood of the Red river is behind themselves.

Photographing the market is a task of extreme fun, since there’s a clear tendency of capturing everything within one photo, but you just simply can’t.

Well, the market is the largest and busiest, and it feeds a large portion of the city’s 7.5 million people who are keen on fresh products. Looking for one peaceful square feet to shoot photos is a challenge.

And things are constantly moving rapidly in the dark. You will need a good lens with wide aperture to make this happen. Crowds of people seem to be running frantically for something uncertain. The only language is shouting, since one has to beat the sounds of engines to get the message traveled. Photographing the whole is a daunting experience. One can only select a good piece of it to capture.

Fruits and veges are unloaded from trucks, and here the battle begins. Some 30 people fight to buy the cargoes. Then each nearby scooter will load a hill of fruits or veges to dart out of the market. During this time, a crowd of hawkers, each with a 2 bamboo baskets hanging on their shoulders, increase the sound frequency since they want to have their portion, too. From here, they would walk to the Old Quarter to resell, making a living. Finding yourself amidst these people is a thrill, and taking photos of this scene is a true photography experience.

Well, it would be a miss not to mention the Long Bien bridge, overpassing the market. Being rustically old, the bridge is a symbol of the city, and it appears in photographs demonstration the city’s icons. Luckily, there’s a pedestrian line on the bridge, where you can go up to breath some fresher air, hopefully. From here, you can photograph the market from above, or simply framing a smaller action, without having cart pusher in your face.

As the sun rises above the old bridge, the market becomes calmer, as the daily battle has reached an end. People have been making way out of the gate. Out there, Hanoians start their day by the morning exercise in one of the parks, or simply sit on the road side sipping a cup of tea from one of the many small tea stalls. Why not end your morning photography with a walk in the Old Quarter, seeing how the local start their day?

For more information please contact sales@momentlives.com.

Book this tour