(NADS) - The season of cotton tree flowers begins in March, when the weather changes from spring to summer. "The cotton tree flowers flicker. Deep in the banyan tree, the village communal house..." (Ho Viet Binh). And this time, I really got to "witness" this verse.
"Are you going to take pictures of the cotton flowers this Sunday?". I really like my best friend's photo collections and I'm in Hanoi , so I enthusiastically said, "Yes!"
Immediately, my friend added me to the "Hoa cay" photography group. I was a bit shy because I was a "queen mother" and not a young, beautiful model, so after joining the group, I just... stayed quiet.
Time and schedule are planned quite carefully for an outdoor shoot. Everyone assigns tasks and instructs them to bring props. The night before the shoot, photographers go through their equipment list and props to make sure they have everything they need. Forgetting to bring the lens they need or props will greatly limit the creativity of the photographers. Therefore, this checklist is very important.
My friend said: Mr. Vu Tu told me to go to Ms. Lan Phuong to rent Ao Tu Than, Quan Ho and Ba Ba. Now I understand why, she is very attentive, showing me how to wear clothes, hold the hat properly, and even modeling on a mannequin for me to see so I can feel secure. She said, she often looks closely at the photos to see if the clothes are worn correctly, how to tie the belt, how to hold the hat. She is truly a responsible, careful and thoughtful person.
The season of the cotton tree flowers begins in March, when the weather changes from spring to summer. "The cotton tree flowers flicker. Deep in the banyan tree, the village communal house..." (Ho Viet Binh). And this time, I really got to "witness" this verse.
Bich Dong Cave, Ninh Binh Province is the first destination of the group. Here, the towering cotton tree reflects on the river, next to it is a small, pretty bridge leading to the cave.... This place still retains the very typical space of the Northern countryside: cotton tree at the village entrance, by the riverside, temple gate. "This is one of my favorite destinations" - photographer Vu Tu shared.
Getting a good photo is a lot of work. First, it depends on the weather. All the preparation and arranging the right time to choose the day to shoot but the weather is not favorable is all in vain. Luckily for the group, it was raining in Hanoi that day but not in Ninh Binh. The morning sky that day was not bright and sunny but cool, which was also a lucky thing. The good thing was that both the photographer and the "models" were not tired.
The second thing that affects landscape photography is space. Even if the landscape is beautiful but there are too many people passing by and it is too chaotic, photographers cannot realize their ideas. So, the "models" both performed and hurriedly asked the guests "stop here please. Thank you"... In the morning, they finished taking pictures of the first destination. And that very evening, when we were exhausted from a day of shooting, photographer Vu Tu showed me some beautiful photos that made me exclaim to my roommate "so beautiful"! The peaceful, lively, poetic space of the old countryside appeared in the photo. A curved bridge across the river, a few silhouettes of "schoolgirls" in Ao Dai on the bridge, a branch of cotton flowers hanging down against the blue sky, a silhouette of the gate of Bich Dong Pagoda lying peacefully surrounded by mountains... all were composed in a very harmonious picture. The photo seems to convey a message: in the hustle and bustle of life, everyone is busy with life, and then after all, each person's soul calms down, it is so peaceful and warm when remembering the countryside, dreaming of the flickering cotton flowers in March, with the river, the communal house gate. The photographer must have been very passionate, so he forgot all his tiredness to complete these photos at lightning speed!
In the afternoon, our group was luckier when the golden sunlight poured down on everything. The group moved to the second destination, a country road with rows of ancient cotton trees next to the fields of Yen Lam commune, Yen Mo district, Ninh Binh province. My eyes were drawn to the row of tall and beautiful cotton trees, with a weathered appearance. Under the golden sunlight, the row of trees stood tall between the sky and earth as if on fire, glowing red, burning with a strong personal desire.
The backdrop of the kapok flowers at this point evokes in me a bit of fragility, gentleness like a whisper with romantic, poetic, and poetic images:
"Did you come back to visit the cotton flowers in March,
To remember a time of red flowers,
The time when I used to dreamily look through the window,
And let your soul drift into the cloud sails...
Kapok flowers are all over the grass path this afternoon,
Hear the sobbing of a sunny dike,
Flowers are still red in the empty sky,
Each petal is like a ray of sunlight…”
(Phan Thu Ha)
Under the bright sunlight, the "models... queens" had to walk back and forth. Meanwhile, the photographers Tu Vu, Van Tan, Truong Tien Dung, Tu Quyen, Thanh Mai ran back and forth to find shooting angles, calling out to the non-professional models to perform. They waded through the fields, not afraid to lie down in the fields to get beautiful shots. My friend, an office worker, had also participated in several photo shoots, so her performance was very professional. As for me, it was my "first time doing it", so I was still fumbling around. For the photographers who take pictures of landscapes, perhaps they like ordinary people, with the aim of creating the most realistic photo shoots possible. Perhaps, the way people like us pose gives the photographers a source of inspiration for a new trip??? Anyway, I also got a bonus of "lifetime" photos, so I was very excited. The photos that I like the most at this point are the ao dai of female students cycling on the road of bright red cotton flowers, or the photo of us picking cotton flowers on the road... It reminds me of the verses of poet Luu Quang Vu:
“How can I forget the roads,
Yellow leaves fall on the grass...
"Remembering your shoulder, the red cotton flower swaying"...
The last destination of the day is an ancient cotton tree on the dike, next to the slowly flowing river in hamlet 10, Yen Mo district, Ninh Binh province. In the distance is a mountain range reflecting on the river. The ancient cotton tree is full of mystery, its branches and leaves are curved, creating a mysterious and charming beauty. The tree trunk is bare, moldy and has lumps and bumps that make the tree more rough. The tree roots stretch across the ground like giant pythons crawling across the dike, crawling down the riverbank. In my imagination, this place must be the memory of many generations of people, the origin of the most beautiful stories: every cotton flower season, children flock to the base of the tree, picking up the bright red flowers with excitement; some look up at the sky, watching the red cotton flowers dream about the distant horizon; then couples sit on dates under the cotton flower roots, next to the poetic river... The roughness, roughness, and mold of the cotton tree are like evidence that preserves many memories of the people here...
At this shooting location, we had to change into three outfits: Quan Ho, Tu Than and Ba Ba, so it was very urgent. The group had to finish taking pictures of the models before the sun went down, then the photographers would prepare to capture the sunset moment.
To create an exciting atmosphere for the photo shoot, photographer Vu Tu even painstakingly brought a bluetooth speaker to play Quan Ho folk songs. In his messy outfit, with his conical hat, with the hustle and bustle of the photo groups, with the Quan Ho singing from the speaker... I felt like I was going to a festival!
There are quite a few photographers here, and quite a few people come to take pictures (groups and spontaneously), so the photographers’ work is more difficult. The photographers are very respectful and do not affect each other even though they are not in the same group. This seems to be the code of conduct in the profession.
The photographers were racing against the sunlight. Without anyone telling them, they quickly ran back and forth from one angle to another to get good shots. My job was to concentrate on my performance and not care about who was taking the picture because there were too many lenses.
When the sun set, no one told anyone to run down to the field to capture this moment. The photographers hurriedly set up their cameras and lenses. The sun had set close to the sea of clouds, stopping on the mountainside. Looking up from the field, the kapok tree stood tall, stretching out its curved arms. In the distance, the golden-red sunlight shone down on the sea of clouds. What a mysterious and charming picture. Truly, this moment is a priceless gift that nature has bestowed upon mankind.
When the sun set, many photographers still wanted the models to act out the scene of carrying a shoulder pole and hurrying back on the dike or leading a cow home. Each of these scenes required us to go back and forth until we were exhausted. Yet the photographers were still engrossed and did not want to stop and even praised the models to encourage us. I secretly admired the passion, diligence, and silence of the brothers and sisters who did the work that, according to the photographers, was “only for their own satisfaction”. I secretly wondered, why is human passion so terrible???
She shared that people often think of NAG as just a leisurely job, but in reality this job requires professionalism in terms of hours and time management skills. Beautiful photo sets and receiving compliments are a great “gift” that helps them stay enthusiastic about the job.
Saying goodbye to everyone, I returned with many of my own "documents". I had to record this trip because it was not like my other trips. A day with a journey of nearly 300 km back and forth and almost non-stop; a day with the experience of being a photo model with many interesting things when learning more about the work of photographers; a day experiencing many emotions with the rustic flowers of the countryside... And I suddenly realized that the wonderful beauty of the cotton flowers is not only a memory but also a vividness in the soul. And the photographers are the ones who have contributed to bringing that beauty of the soul to life. They are not simply photographers, they are also the ones who create the stories that their eyes see through the lens.
March and the red cotton flowers do not belong to anyone. But when entering the art of photography, with their own emotions and unique styles, each photographer draws a line of March and the red cotton flowers in their own way. Whether fragile or bold, March and the red cotton flowers are always beautiful, beautiful both in reality and in memories and love...
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