Written By - Gabriele De Capitani
From the Laotian Sky
Vang Vieng, Sky - Laos
One early morning, in the northern parts of Laos, I woke up just as other travellers in my accommodation were heading to sleep. I had somewhere to be, and the excitement and anticipation of this experience were overwhelming me since I had booked it just the evening before. I was about to fly, and while at the time I had been on many flights, much higher than the one to come, I had never experienced flying just like this before. My time at the field was very short; before I knew it, I had once again signed my life away via a simple sheet of paper, and in less than 5 minutes and 0 safety briefing, I found myself strapped in a chair, taking off from the ground as the mist of the morning was slowly dissolving into cumuli of clouds. I soon realized there wasn’t a safety briefing, and there wasn’t much I could do if something went wrong… but that wasn't the time to think about that anyway.
I had brought my camera with me, of course, as I was not going to miss the chance to take some pictures from the sky, having very little idea of what I was doing at first, and learning to use my settings, composition, and the need to regularly wipe away the wet clouds from my lens in the 45 minutes I was up there.
The valley between the mountains opened up, so green and lush, with rice fields filling any gap between nature and buildings. After the first few minutes, I began to feel more daring and comfortable with my camera, tightly strapped to my neck and gripped by my hands, and began to twist, turn, and kneel out of my seat while taking pictures, each time being reminded by the wind that my 200mm lens was, in fact, long and dragging me wherever the wind was blowing; an interesting feeling, really, as if the wind was guiding the camera, as fighting it was pointless.
Vang Vieng, Sky - Laos
I found the mountains to be a particularly beautiful subject.
So steep, with patches of trees and exposed rock, they appeared to be emerging from nothingness and culminating in spiky, rough tops. Many of these peaks, in fact, aren’t climbable, and human presence on them has been very limited. It’s quite amazing to think that in a world where humans have and can set foot on almost anything. It’s very likely that some of these mountains have never been touched since they were present millions of years ago.
I love the fog, soft and gently covering the ground; you don’t know how tall the peaks are, could be just a few meters from a hill, or hundreds meters straight down to the ground. The air also pushes the clouds in between the pointy peaks, rushing between them like rocks in a river, diverting its stream and sticking out on the surface’s edge.
Vang Vieng, Sky - Laos
Vang Vieng, Sky - Laos
I wasn’t alone up in the sky; I shared this experience with another traveller and our pilots, of course. While taking on this trip on my own wasn’t my first choice, I was very happy to find friends and travel buddies evverywhere I went. in fact, it’s a common converstation ummongs stolo travellers how some are happy to be on their own, not tied down to anytone else, and others are a bit werry and scared to be alone during teir travels, while all can agree that while having friends to share experiences can absolutely make a trip incredibly fun, baing on your own, in a way, forces you to talk and get to know others. At times this translates into a simple evening with fun people, or a whole day tour with fun strangers; other times it connects people so much they decide to travel together to a new city or country, and in some special moments it fosters long-lasting friendships or love; this is another one of those mysteries the fog and clouds hide from view, until you decide to fly over them.
In this case, however, the young chap in this picture is a traveller I had gotten to know the evening before, who decided to strap himself onto a flying tricycle, equally as spontaneously as I had.
But let’s talk a bit about photography. As we’ve discussed in the past, foreground elements are important. In this scenario, they help identify size and distance, as well as giving the camera a defined space for the viewers. You can see how grand the sky is, how distant the mountain is, and how high up I was taking this picture from, thanks to the paramotor near us, the hot air balloons a bit further, and the mountains even more in the distance. You can see how minute the towns, trees, and fields look, and have perspective on just how exciting an experience it was by looking at someone in the photo partaking in it.
If you consider the young man looking at the scenery as the subject of this picture, you are then brought to look where he is looking, admiring the view, the balloons, and the valleys, immersing yourself in the moment he was in.
Composition-wise, large, contrast, defined, and closer things have more “weight” than others, making the viewer's eyes start at the bright spot in the center of the frame, but quickly moving left to the people on the paramotor; the head of the passenger stands out with the white background, and following his eyesight,t we look right, finding the hot air balloons and expanding our view to the scenery unfolding underneath and above.
After so many black and white pictures, I leave you with this colored one. I was very happy with this one, as we were positioning ourselves for landing, and I was able to get a full view of my paramotoring friend with his glider, as well as the view of the rice fields divided by the highway.
We see what the subject sees, gliding down from the sky through the low clouds.
If you are ever in a situation where $45 gets you strapped to a paramotor for almost 1 hour, my recommendation is: if you’re scared but have a good feeling about it, do it :).
Vang Vieng, Sky - Laos
You might be wondering why I would pick black and white pictures when the landscape is so clearly green and vibrant with lush vegetation…
Well anyways, I chose this picture to best show the valley of Vang Vieng. Rich in nature, small towns, and vast rice fields, surrounded by tall, steep mountains. The morning fog, clearing out and accumulating between the mountains, gives the place a mystical feeling. It’s hard to see how large the mountains really are and how far they stretch. I imagine stories and legends taking place in locations like these, perennially partially hidden by wondrous fog that makes the world around us a bit more mysterious.