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Hoi An at Night: A Long Exposure Exposé

Hoi An at Night: A Long Exposure Exposé

One of my favorite techniques while photographing at night is the long exposure. While in Hoi An I go out my tripod and tried to capture the city on camera.

Hoi An is beautiful at night, full of hanging lanterns, cobblestone streets, and the paper candle lanterns that it’s famous for. I took the opportunity to setup around the riverfront with my new tripod and my camera set to the shutter priority mode.

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What I love about long exposures is it allows you to see in pictures what you see with your eye at night, and sometimes even more. In case you are wondering, a long exposure shot is where you are essentially taking a single picture for several seconds, allowing the camera to pick up all the light, no matter how dark it is. For most of these, I had my camera set to a 10-30 second shutter speed.

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Another fun part about these pictures is that they blur any motion. Since you are taking a picture over several seconds anything moving shows up as a streak or other unique shapes. I think it’s interesting to try these in a busy place because you never really know what’s going to show up.

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I love the way this type of picture brings out the details at night and the paints the landscape with all of the colorful lights.

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Hoi An was by far our favorite town in Vietnam, and even in most Southeast Asia. The town and the river are truly special at night.


If you looking for additional Vietnam Destinations check out our other posts:

Frances Mer Lim

Sunday 10th of July 2016

Great post! Did you have to use a tripod in these photos?

Louis

Monday 4th of April 2016

Makes me excited, I am heading to Hoi An tomorrow!

Adam

Monday 11th of April 2016

You'll love it! I can't wait to get back there.

Eshita

Monday 8th of February 2016

Great pictures, I recently visited Hoi An and its amazing. Really great use of your skills and lenses.

Pippa Vague

Thursday 21st of May 2015

This is SO cool. I love that you've captured a different side to Hoi Ann and that you have more than just they 'typical' tourist photos. You've inspired me to look into long exposure shots! Very very cool :)

Jen MacLean

Thursday 16th of April 2015

I love these! I need to pick up a lightweight tripod and give it a go. Absolutely beautiful! Do you have any tripod recommendations? I'm looking for lightweight so I can take it backpacking. I really love these shots!