Floral Vietnam Photo Tour Workshop
Hanoi Ceramic Road
Drying Colorful Sedge
Flower Boat
Flower Village Hue
Waterlily Vietnam Photography
Flower Field
Candle Litting Hue
Releasing Flower Garland In Hue
Immerse yourself in a symphony of color with the Floral Vietnam Photography Tour. Led by world-renowned landscape master Daniel Kordan and National Geographic’s Tran Tuan Viet, this expedition is timed perfectly for the Lunar New Year (Tet). Capture the soul of Vietnam through its ancient floral traditions, from the scarlet incense clouds of the North to the floating marigold forests of the Mekong Delta.
Tour Summary
- Duration: 8 Days of peak bloom
- Group Size: Intimate (Max 12)
- Mentors: Daniel Kordan & Tran Tuan Viet
- Peak Season: Pre-Tet (Lunar New Year)
- Operator: Vietnam Photo Tours LLC
Floral Hotspots
- Hanoi: Incense & Mosaic murals
- Hue: Imperial river rituals
- Hoi An: Lantern-lit heritage
- Sa Dec: Floating flower forests
- Cho Lach: The "Kingdom of Flowers"
Luxury Included
- 5-star heritage hotels
- Business-class domestic flights
- Private bus (2 seats per person)
- Gourmet Tet-season dining
- All-access drone & model permits
Photography Workshops
- Color Theory in Tet Festivals
- Drone Patterns & Symmetry
- Low-light Lantern Portraits
- Long Exposure River Scenes
- Advanced Post-Processing
Chasing the Bloom: Technical Insights
The Visual Philosophy
This tour is a masterclass in "High-Chroma Storytelling." Vietnam during Tet is an explosion of primary colors—the red of incense, the gold of marigolds, and the pink of peach blossoms. Under the guidance of our mentors, you will learn how to balance these intense saturation levels without losing detail. We don't just take pictures of flowers; we document the human connection to these blooms—the weathered hands of a florist, the spiritual weight of a riverside ceremony, and the geometric precision of the floating nurseries in the Mekong.
Pro Tip: Managing Saturation
When shooting the intense reds of the incense village or the yellows of Sa Dec, digital sensors often "clip" the color channels. Daniel Kordan recommends underexposing by -0.3 or -0.7 EV to preserve petal textures. In post-processing, we will show you how to use HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminance) sliders to refine specific floral tones rather than pushing the global Saturation slider.
Daily Expedition & Masterclass
After checking into our 5-star Hanoi haven, we head to the iconic incense village.
Photography Focus: Use a drone for top-down "Geometric Abstract" shots of the red incense bundles. On the ground, use a wide aperture (f/2.8 or f/1.8) to create a soft bokeh background that isolates the master artisans at work. We conclude with a welcome dinner to discuss our creative goals.
Sunrise at the waterlily ponds to practice Reflections & Symmetry. Later, we document net-sewing and mat-weaving.
Photography Focus: Use a 70-200mm lens to capture candid portraits from a distance, preserving the authenticity of the artisans. In the soy sauce village, look for "God Rays" filtering through the steam and vats to add a cinematic quality to your frames.
Dawn session at the Ceramic Road flower murals. Fly to Hue for a luxury riverside stay.
Photography Focus: The afternoon focuses on Action & Motion. We will teach you how to use a slow shutter speed (1/15s or 1/30s) while panning to capture the graceful motion of fishermen casting nets, creating a painterly "motion blur" effect against the sunset.
Sunrise with the legendary Ro Cho fishermen. Midday, we meet "Vietnam’s most beautiful grandmother" for a private session.
Photography Focus: Environmental Portraiture. Learn to use natural window light or soft-box diffused light to highlight the character-filled wrinkles and expressions of our elderly models, telling a story of a lifetime through a single frame.
Visit Thanh Tien village where artisans create paper flowers for ancestral altars. Afternoon drive to Hoi An.
Photography Focus: Low-Light Mastery. As the sun sets, we focus on the "Blue Hour" in Hoi An. Learn to balance the warm incandescent glow of lanterns with the cool blue of the twilight sky using Manual White Balance (set to around 3200K-3800K) for a magical, professional finish.
Fly to Can Tho and transfer to Sa Dec. This is the heart of the tour, where flowers are grown on platforms above water.
Photography Focus: Aerial Composition. This is the perfect time for drone photography. Look for the "Leading Lines" created by the rows of flower pots and the colorful boats navigating the narrow canals between them.
Sunrise in the flower lanes followed by the riverside market.
Photography Focus: Street Photography Techniques. We practice "Zone Focusing" and "The Decisive Moment." Capture the frantic energy of vendors loading blossoms onto boats. We will also host a hands-on Lighting Workshop in the field to show you how to use reflectors to fill shadows on floral subjects.
Pre-dawn session at the Cho Lach flower market—a sea of chrysanthemums.
Photography Focus: Color Contrast. Look for the juxtaposition of the green leaves against the yellow blossoms. Use a CPL (Circular Polarizer) filter to cut glare from the leaves and make the flower colors pop. We transfer to Saigon for 3:00 PM airport arrival, marking the end of our floral odyssey.
Check seasonal departures and availability on our official booking site.
The Mentor’s Gear Guide
To get the most out of this Tet Floral Tour, we recommend the following:
Wide-Angle
16-35mm for the massive flower murals in Hanoi and expansive Sa Dec vistas.
Telephoto
70-200mm for intimate portraits and isolating specific blooms in crowded markets.
Drone
Essential for Sa Dec and the incense village to capture the geometric "Tet patterns" from above.
Meet Our Team
Daniel Kordan
Daniel Kordan, an artist celebrated globally as one of the very best landscape photographers. His work, featured in National Geographic and trusted by clients like Apple, alongside his role as a Nikon ambassador, showcases his unparalleled mastery and makes him an inspirational mentor.
This is an exclusive opportunity to learn directly from such a distinguished master, absorbing profound insights from a true visionary. Elevate your photography under his guidance and capture the worlds beauty as never before.
Tran Tuan Viet
Tran Tuan Viet, a professional photographer and internationally published visual storyteller based in Hanoi. Since 2007, Viet has passionately documented the landscapes and culture of Vietnam.
His photographs have been featured in National Geographic, Discovery, Smithsonian, Google Arts & Culture, Apple, Samsung Global, etc... Viet is an official Canon Ambassador, a licensed tour guide, and founder of Vietnam Photo Tours LLC since 2009.
