A fantastic introduction to street photography as a genre. - A fantastic introduction to street photography in a fascinating location, professionally delivered by our guide, Tung Phan. Despite less than perfect weather we were able to get some great images of a part of Hanoi not frequented by many tourists. Our guide gave us both technical advice and composition suggestions. Thanks to his knowledge and rapport with the local residents and businesses,he enabled us to shoot with freedom, subjects and locations which would have otherwise have been out of our comfort zone. We would highly recommend the tour to anyone interested in street photography.

INTO THE THIEVES MARKET - I was gifted a tour with ‘Vietnam in Focus’ during a recent visit to Hanoi. My schedule was pretty tight, and after a little discussion with the team, I settled on the ‘Thieves Market’ tour with Brian - but as a vegetarian, I opted to skip the Wet Market parts. That wasn't a problem, my guide, Brian, replanned in such a way that I didn't even know I was missing anything. Brian picked me up in the morning, we had a quick coffee, talked about experience levels and aspirations and then hit the market. From the first moment, we were spotting great shots, and Brian enabled me to work with various stall holders to capture images without feeling like I was intruding. When you step into the market, you immediately feel like you're ‘right in there’ but Brian just led me down ever smaller alleys, into quiet squares and all manner of locations I wouldn't have found in a week. If you're a street photographer, travel photographer or a portrait photographer there is so much great content, and the challenge quickly becomes knowing when to stop and move on. For me though, the real highlight was the table tennis club - it was a gold mine of characters, action, light and texture. Once again, Brian got me into the location and was known and trusted by those playing there - that meant I was free to be as creative as I liked and could maximise my time. Throughout the whole tour Brian gently guided me through the market, taking photos alongside me, helping me see possibilities, and challenging my ‘go to’ tendencies. We talked about Hanoi, Vietnamese culture, traditions, and expectations - it quickly felt like two friends going out and exploring with cameras! When we did wrap up, I suddenly realised how intense the experience had been - 4hours of constantly seeing pictures left me feeling pretty exhausted, but excited to start editing. I can't recommend ‘Vietnam in Focus’ enough - whether you only have a few hours or a couple of days, they'll work with you to maximise the opportunities.

Deep culture dive - Photographer and guide were amazing, every detail polished. Great locations for photos. I did a number of tours around Vietnam, Saigon and Mekong Delta. Great planning, great experience.

An authentic photo experience - I got to go to the explore the Thieves market as the last part of a custom tour which included the lychee harvest and night markets. My guide for this part, Tung has a lot of knowledge about the area and knows how to interact with the locals. He also brought a lot of photography experience and helped me find new compositions in places I found difficult to work in. Even though I have lived and explored Hanoi for a few months, he could still show me some more hidden corners that I wouldn't have found by myself. I have been on multiple tours with ViF now and have yet to be disappointed by them.

Amazing access to life on the backstreets of Hanoi - I toured the Thieves Market with Brian. This tour was one of the highlights of my time in Vietnam. Brian is not only an exceptional photographer, but he knows many exciting things about life in Hanoi. He is excellent with the locals. I aimed to get intimate images of the locals in their small shops. Because of Brian, the locals received us warmly and didn't mind us photographing them. Some asked to be photographed and invited us to sit and have tea. Everyone I met on this tour was warm and welcoming. I got some great images and can't thank Brian enough for this beautiful tour!