This colorful French colonial-era apartment tucked away at 14 Ton That Dam street in Saigon's district 1 is home to some chic cafes and boutiques and happens to be a great spot for shooting video and grabbing a bite to eat.
N°14 Ton That Dam
Saigon in HLG HDR
More luscious HDR goodness, this time shot with the 16-35mm GM, 50mm f/1.4 Planar and 85mm f/1.8 lenses. Mostly architecture around Ho Chi Minh City from the French colonial era. Forget everything you heard about HLG being backward compatible: the clip must be viewed on an HDR display or it will look dreadful. https://youtu.be/3agRiX5kD5g "Ruby"... Continue Reading →
Scouting Locations in Saigon
If you're on the lookout for places to shoot models in Saigon that are safe, quiet and won't break the bank, here are a few suggestions. The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts in district 1 (above), built in the early 20th century by a French architect, has some lovely light. Admission for... Continue Reading →
30/4 Park Rushes
It's been too long since I've posted any new videos, so here's a peek at the first minute and-a-half of a mini-documentary I'm working on about young people in and around 30/4 Park in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. One thing I discovered is that when converting the ProRes 422 files to QuickTime H.264 using... Continue Reading →
Lunar New Year Vietnam 2014
Phuong, a 21 year-old accounting major studying in Saigon, invited me to spend the Tet holiday in her hometown in Dak Lak province. Located in the Central Highlands, the region is noted for its coffee plantations and a sizable population of ethnic minorities. To get there, you have to catch a bus at Mien Dong... Continue Reading →
Sunday Afternoon in the Park
There are always loads of photographers in and around the park, especially on weekends: wedding photographers, amateurs, fashion photographers and television crews. Last weekend, I had the good luck to run into Thanh, a cameraman with VTV, a Vietnamese broadcasting network. I arrived at the park at around three in the afternoon, where they'd been... Continue Reading →
Party at Anh Duc’s
A rooftop BBQ party celebrating the grand opening of Anh Duc's new rooming house and bar. http://youtu.be/_1_pqfBAM78
My Soon-To-Be New Neighborhood – FCPX Test
This is a short test of FCPX shot in Binh Thanh, HCMC. http://youtu.be/bvRanpDyJj8
A Vietnamese Meal
An extraordinary meal at lunchtime served at Quan 95, a restaurant in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Cost - $6.00 USD. Care to guess how much this would run in the States? http://youtu.be/jP6HA_i3SSY
30/4 Park Revisited
I recently added a new tool to my arsenal - a handheld stabilizer that goes simply by the name of Hand Held. I have no idea where it's manufactured. The Freefly MōVI it is not, but then again, it doesn't carry a $15,000 price tag either. It's elegantly crafted from brushed aluminum (no plastic!), with leather for... Continue Reading →
30/4 Park
What an ordeal it was trying to upload this video to YouTube! First of all, Apple's QuickTime only allows videos of up to 15 minutes to be uploaded to YouTube, and the clip is almost 24 minutes long. Then, when I tried using YouTube's own uploader instead, I had to verify my account, but when... Continue Reading →
Vietnam Lunar New Year 2013
http://youtu.be/7xFLQiI_2xQ Free background music from JewelBeat.com
The Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens
The Saigon Zoo, located just twenty minutes or so from my apartment, is one of the oldest zoos in the world. In addition to the exhibits, there are acres and acres of parkland, where you can get away from the traffic and noise of the city, have a picnic, or eat lunch at one of... Continue Reading →
18A Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Extended Cut (with Audio Commentary Track)
Here’s a look at my new neighborhood and surroundings. The voiceover commentary track was recorded with my brand new Yeti USB microphone purchased from Other World Computing. I’ve added a bouncier soundtrack than the earlier versions, made some additional color corrections and added several new shots. Hope you enjoy. Be sure to watch in HD.... Continue Reading →
Suoi Tien Theme Park, Vietnam
Here's a video of Suoi Tien amusement park in Ho Chi Minh City. http://youtu.be/mKN-dlBlFso Free background music from JewelBeat.com
More x264 Comparisons
Here are some screen grabs of clips exported to QuickTime with the x264 Encoder, with and without 2.2 gamma added, then uploaded to YouTube. They were first converted to QuickTime files using ClipWrap, then transcoded to Apple Intermediate Codec before importing to iMovie.
Vietnam Winter 2011-2012
Most of the photos here were taken in Can Tho, Saigon, and Hoi An, using my Canon Powershot S95. The quality of the photographs is much better than the video, but then again, that's what it was designed to do.
The Adventures of a Couch Potato in Vietnam
When I went to Vietnam in February 2011, I brought along my trusty iPod. For the first time in years, I was inspired to take photos again. The streets of Saigon were so vibrant and full of color, it was almost impossible not to take photographs. Belatedly, I discovered that my iPod also took video... Continue Reading →
The Daejeon Chronicles 