Strong photo! I would change it to black and white which it essentially is to avoid the distraction of the bit of color in the upper right corner.

A picture is worth a thousand words at this incredibly beautiful event. It was hard to take a bad photo. All one had to do was be patient for the balloons to compose the picture.

Thank you to everyone who replied.

Thank you. Fortunately, I will be staying with a local who is experienced with the logistics of this event. I would be grateful for any comments about my original questions:
I will be attending this hot air balloon event next week and would appreciate any tips on how to approach shooting it, including focal length (I am thinking of using my 18-280 zoom), camera settings (manual or a priority mode, ISO), composition and possible need for a tripod.

I will be attending this hot air balloon event next week and would appreciate any tips on how to approach shooting it, including focal length (I am thinking of using my 18-280 zoom), camera settings (manual or a priority mode, ISO), composition and possible need for a tripod. Thank you in advance for your help.

When you are in Saigon, called Ho Chi Minh City today, definitely take a cyclo individual Driver driven bicycle tour. Any hotel can arrange it for you. It's amazing to be in the middle of traffic there where there are over 8 million small motorcycles and absolutely no discernible rules of the road. You can get amazing shots that way! Don't be afraid. Just never hesitate when you are walking across the street and certainly never take a step backward when you're crossing streets and you will be fine.
The other thing I would suggest, is to make a study of boats. There are literally hundreds of different sizes shapes colors and sizes of boats in Vietnam. Many are old wooden boats with interesting designs of dragons and crocodile eyes. I saw basket boats and very long extremely narrow boats, boats that people live on and you trade from. Definitely take a Mekon River cruise out of Saigon if this interests you. I was there last March. The weather was wonderful. Not a single mosquito in the cities along the coast from Saigon to Hanoi.

sarge 69: Could you please explain what is meant by "...make sure VR or IS is off"? I am not familiar with those terms. Thanks.

Thank You very much

Thank you Sarge. I was also worried that with all the talk of purse snatching that someone might grab my camera while riding past on a motorcycle. A concern?

Street photography in Vietnam
I will be traveling to Vietnam in March. I have navigated the etiquette of street photography in a number of countries and I'm wondering who has experience with this in Vietnam. How do people react in general and different context such as on the street, in parks, in markets etc. What about photographing people's children?

If you want to find someone who can get you to the best places to shoot and is pleasure to work with, give me a call. He has a powerful jeep and knows all the good places to shoot. 317-407-8289

I hired Susie Reed for 5 hours of shooting time and 3 hours of editing time when I was in Sedona at the end of last month. I did learn a few useful techniques for shooting landscapes as well as a several new tricks with Lightroom and Photoshop. In addition, she graciously accommodated my request to twice reschedule our days when exceptionally bad weather played havoc with the rest of my schedule. However, overall, it was not an very enjoyable experience working with her nor a good value for my money ($75 / hour). She watched the clock to avoid giving me even a few minutes of extra time, yet she herself was not ready at any of our three appointment times, making me wait between 15 and 30 minutes while she finished a phone conversation, walked the dog and/or dealt with computer issues. In addition, when we went out to shoot, she was also shooting and, therefore, equally preoccupied with what she was doing as with instructing me. At one point I had to wait 5 minutes to take a shot because she was blocking it with her own equipment. In fairness, I will restate that the weather was very bad. That may have affected her temperament. We spent a lot of time huddled under an umbrella with ziplock bags over our camera in the freezing rain/sleet!