Believe me or not, I had never taken street images (portraits and scenes) with a 50mm at f/8. Why, if you can use the shallow depth of field to create an atmosphere, and/or separate layers one from another? I usually photographed at f/1.8, and f/4 or f/5 when I wanted more details in the frame...

I got interested in f/8 recently after I created a discussion on r/ActualStreetPhotos about choosing aperture for street photography. One of the comments was:

And I thought, why not?.. Why not max-detailed images on a 50mm?

So I decided to have a f/8 walk to see how it would work in my case. In Da Nang, Vietnam, on November 10, 2023.

Take a look at the images and learn things about that crazy country called Vietnam. 🇻🇳

Mattress Store

I was walking along a noise chaotic avenue and wanted to take 2-layer image with blurred-in-motion motorbikes and some colorful shops in the background. My first choice was a motorbike store:

That guy, a shop assistant or the owner, quickly disappeared, and the background lost its inhabited-ness. I tried to include passersby but failed.

I was luckier with a matress shop:

f/8, 1/100, ISO 100. f/8 helped to make the foreground readable. Lovely. 🤠

Painters

Away from the noise avenue, let's go to smaller streets where specialized stores group, to the south of the Con market (Chợ Cồn).

I noticed painters there. One of them was resting and another was painting the street sign pole. Having spotted me, they looked at me with a question in the eyes. I drew a rectangle with a forefinger in the air, explaining in this way that I wanted an image. The reaction was: they nodded, the resting guy quickly joined the work, and I got this mixed posed/non-posed picture. As it often happens in Vietnam. 🙂

Restaurant

Da Nang streets aren't ancient. The old town was partly constructed at the time of the French rule, for example, centrally located Danang Cathedral (1963), but most buildings are newer.

Many of them look plain, many of them look even ugly. But in this chaos, there is its own charm.

One of the numerous restaurants of Da Nang with interior opened to the street. I didn't ask permission but they spotted me and I got what I got. A decent travel shot but nothing so special.

Closeups

Yes, this is a typical Vietnamese urban environment - narrow Lego-townhouses, vivid colors of shop signs, words-syllables in weird Latin, and the endless motorbike traffic.

(No, Thailand is different, they have much more order in the streets, much more cars, and more developed public transport; not saying their original script gives completely different flavor to the streets).

In this Lego chaos, you can find a variety of craftsmen: shoemakers, mechanics, watchmakers, etc, and their shops, some of them have charming displays. Let me share some of my finds:

Drinking Coffee

Vietnam can't compete with such a street food heavyweight as Thailand. But coffee ☕️ is amazing in Da Nang, and costs only 0.6$ + a glass of cold green tea for free.

Drinking coffee is also a street photography opportunity: you can sit at a street junction and just peacefully wait for a nice moment to shoot.

And this is what I did that day.

Amazing green folding gates (of a noodle soup restaurant)... It's pity I didn't come back to have more time at this vibrant place...

Street Baguette Vendor

Another peculiarity of Vietnam is the French influence. One of the examples is bread 🥖 that has become part of the Vietnamese culinary. A typical feature of the urban landscape in this country is ladies selling French bread along streets:

I started late that day, so didn't take a ton of images. But I was satisfied with my f/8 test. While I was thinking about all this on the go, a baguette lady addressed me. I decided to buy one (for eating with peanut butter at the hostel 😋). I decided to take an opportunity - I drew a photo frame in the air with my forefinger, and looked at the lady questioningly. She agreed. And this is how I got that image with the too-much-sun smile. 🙂

More images and stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out the previous ones on my personal Pinmapple map, including 15 posts from Da Nang City.

I took the images with Nikkor 70-300mm on Nikon D750 in November 10, 2023 in Da Nang, Vietnam.