Hanoi Fall 2023 — X-PEDITIONS

X-Pedition Hanoi / Tam Coc

A workshop for traveling photographers
November 9-18, 2024

Instructor: David Hobby
Dates: Nov. 9 – Nov. 18, 2024
Location: Hanoi and Tam Coc, Vietnam
Cost: $3,899*
Read our payment and cancellation policy at the bottom of this page.

UPDATE: Our 2024 workshop has filled.

To join the wait list for this workshop, please email Joe Newman at
info@f8photographic.com

Why Hanoi

This will be our fourth X-Pedition Hanoi workshop. We have absolutely fallen in love with the city as our ongoing base of operations. And we’ve seen that same reaction, again and again, in our travelers as well.

Both the city and the friends we have made there have become an integral part of our program. So much so that we have created a standalone page to explain why Hanoi is an ideal environment in which to experience a period of rapid growth as a photographer.

You can read more, here.

About David

David completed more than 10,000 assignments in his two decades as a staff photojournalist before leaving The Baltimore Sun in 2006 to found Strobist.com. Over the past 16 years, he has led dozens of photo workshops all around the world — including teaching for Santa Fe Workshops in Cuba and Mexico and launching the X-Peditions travel workshop series in January 2018. This will be his 23rd trip to Asia. In 2014, David created the video series The Traveling Photographer, for Lynda.com. Shot on location in Hong Kong, Dubai, London, Paris and New York City, The Traveling Photographer teaches photo enthusiasts how to travel with the heart of a vagabond and the eye of a photojournalist.

About Thu

Thu Lê Hoài is a professional photo/video producer and lifelong Hanoi resident. Which means that she, a) understands the needs and priorities of photographers, and b) knows Hanoi and northern Vietnam like the back of her hand. Any seasoned journalist knows that your efficiency when working in a far-flung city is greatly improved by teaming up with a local “fixer,” as such producers are often called. We are very lucky to have Thu serving in that capacity for our program to to Hanoi. If she can’t find it, get it or arrange it, suffice to say she knows someone who can.

What They’re Saying

“Bloody awesome. The most unique and interesting cultural and photographic experience ever.”

— Graham Broadbridge, Australia

“The value is superb for the experience, friendships, and connections made. The photographs are a treasure but the experience goes way beyond that.”

— Martin Howard, USA

“I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

— Jim Musumeci, USA

*Workshop pricing includes Vietnam entry visa, in-country Covid insurance, airport transfer, nightly single-occupancy accommodations in Hanoi, daily breakfast, six group dinners, regular photo walks and group outings, group transportation outside of Hanoi and double occupancy lodging on our rural overnight trip. You’ll receive individual and group editing sessions and a selection of classes as part of your 8 days of hands-on instruction with workshop leader David Hobby.

Please note that roundtrip airfare from your city of origin to Hanoi is not included.

Highlights

Our group is limited to 12 participants, which allows for both individualized instruction and sufficient time to get to know your fellow travelers, both through regular shooting excursions and social outings.

Our program is crafted to give a complete and well-considered photographic experience. In addition to regular classes and editing sessions, we reserve generous amounts of “on your own” time for shooting and exploring the city — especially during the best light of the day.
Hanoi, our home base, is frenetic and vibrant. But your trip also includes an overnight excursion into rural Northern Vietnam. These two days will provide a window into small-village life in Vietnam.
On the way to Tam Coc, we’ll visit a rural village that will be busy making nearly 100% of the incense that will be used in the upcoming Tet holiday. (Imagine a lot of incense. Now imagine way more incense than that.)
We’ll stay overnight in a family-run lodge on a lake in Tam Coc, Ninh Binh, where our time will include a climb up to the Hang Mua overlook, and a boat trip down a scenic river.
On the way back, we’ll visit a traditional wood-fired pottery operation to see and photograph techniques that have been in continuous use for hundreds of years. For more info on the Tam Coc excursion, see our FAQ section below.
After we return to Hanoi, we’ll also take a day trip to a traditional rice paper making village.
You’ll learn to stretch yourself as a traveler, to gain the confidence and experience to travel to a wider variety of destinations in the future.

Our Approach

X-Peditions is run by former journalists, and we bring that ethic to our teaching.

Our photo workshops, led by David Hobby and Hanoi-based producer Thu Lê Hoài, are designed to help you grow both as a traveler and as a photographer. You’ll learn to approach travel more like a working photojournalist, using your camera as a catalyst to better understand the world around you.

Our educational component starts long before we depart for Hanoi, ensuring you will be well-researched and well-informed by the time we arrive in-country.

Once in Hanoi, we’ll focus on a mix of hard and soft photo skills. Learning to be a better camera operator is fine and good. But that represents only a small portion of the overall skillset of a thinking photographer.

You can learn more about our approach to education, and download the 2022 X-Pedition Hanoi Yearbook filled with work produced by our participants, here .

Traveling Light

We’ll adjust our priorities with the rhythm of the day (and night) to maximize and balance both personal and photographic experiences. We’ll always be out shooting around the edges of the day — and especially during golden light and blue hour — when the city is at its best.

When the morning sun gets higher, we’ll focus more on classes and editing. Or maybe even an early-afternoon nap, to save some gas for later. In the evenings we’ll shift into a more social mode, and keep the discussion going over a beer.

Speaking of cameras, X-Peditions are unique for another reason. The name itself is a nod to Fuijfilm’s X Series cameras. Small and lightweight, but with fantastic image quality, Fujis are ideally suited for travel photography.

Do you have to shoot Fuji to come along? No, you don’t. But no matter what your camera brand, we will stress the benefits of traveling light. We want you to be more confident, and less encumbered.

Every possession is a burden. And at no time is that more true than when you are traveling. Working with less gear on the road is a blessing. It’s also more culturally respectful, and safer. Most important, a neck full of cameras should not be the first thing your subject notices about you. You always want to be seen as a person first, a photographer second.

If you want to know more about our approach to gear — and everything else you’ll need to know before you head to Hanoi — you can download the 130-page X-Pedition Hanoi Handbook we have created for our participants.

What to Expect

Here are the important things: eight full days, in a world-class city and surrounding countryside, in a small-group learning environment, with a group of peers who are similarly interesting enough to throw in for an experience like this.

You’ll attend classes that challenge you to rethink your approach to photography, as well as plenty of time to go out and shoot. You’ll edit, and re-edit, and go out to shoot some more.

You’ll get up early. You’ll eat very well. You’ll be challenged. You’ll have fun. You’ll leave Hanoi with a new set of connected friends, a solid collection of images and a bunch of memories that will last you the rest of your life.

If you’re looking more along the lines of tangible details, you’ll find them here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have questions? There’s a good chance you’ll find some answers on our Frequently Asked Questions page here.

Payment and Cancellation Policy

The fee for this workshop is $3,899. Participants can reserve their place in the workshop with a $500 non-refundable deposit. The balance must be paid in full 90 days before the start of the trip. X-Peditions reserves the right to cancel workshop reservations that are not paid in full by the due date.

If for any reason you must cancel your trip, you must do so in writing via email to info@f8photographic.com. The following is our refund schedule:

Cancellation before Aug. 11, 2024: Full refund, minus any bank or credit card processing fees and any advance expenses made on your behalf, such as fees for visas, lodging and transportation.
Cancellation between Aug. 12 and Sept. 9, 2024: Refund of amount paid, minus deposit and any advance expenses made on your behalf, such as fees for visas, lodging, transportation and bank/credit card processing fees.
In the event you experience a documented significant illness after Sept. 9, 2024, we will consider partial refunds with an eye toward the most equitable solution.
If Vietnam closes its borders before our trip — or institutes a mandatory quarantine on arrival of greater than one day — the trip will be canceled. f8photographic will provide a full refund less any unrecoverable advance expenses made on your behalf.
Except for the above, no refunds are available for cancellations after Sept. 9, 2024.