Drew Hopper explains how he came to capture this dynamic photo of two boys speeding through a Vietnamese market.
In November 2013, I was fortunate enough to backpack through Southeast Asia with my partner. We visited some incredible places, met some of the nicest people and experienced many amazing moments along the way. The place that is most memorable for me would be Hoi An, a quiet town on the central east coast of Vietnam.
I have always been fascinated by the diversity of cultural lifestyles in Asia. Everywhere you look, especially around the cities, are wonderful photo opportunities. Sometimes the action is difficult to keep up with when you are standing in the middle of a bustling street watching people scattering everywhere. Sometimes the best way to capture all that movement is by panning the camera with a slow shutter speed.
This image is of two young Vietnamese boys riding a bicycle through Hoi An’s Central Market. I stopped the aperture down to f/16 and set a low ISO to reduce the amount of light on the sensor. This gave me an exposure of 1/4s, quick enough to pick up some definition in the subject and slow enough to record the motion blur.
I locked my auto focus onto the boys as they approached and fired continuously while panning my camera with them as they rode past. I ended up with a dozen shots but this was my favourite.
Photo by Drew Hopper. Canon EOS 5D MK II, Sigma 35mm f/1.4 @ 35mm, 1/4s @ f/16, ISO 50.
Story first published in Australian Photography + digital magazine, June 2014.
