The largest flower market (Quang Ba) in north Vietnam is here in Hanoi and it takes an early start if you want to experience it. Sometime just after 3 am the market begins to fill with wholesalers from across the north as they prepare for the daily ritual of buying and selling.

Local street vendors on bicycles and scooters, flock to the seller’s stalls to hand pick the best products under the dark evening sky illuminated only by bare light bulbs dangling from awnings and overhangs. Its all business here in the middle of the night as trucks roll in spilling over with flowers, their cargo slowly depleted one scooter at a time as the street vendors head to their waiting customers.

Street shooting too is about waiting. With a light source and some direction, the photographer is half way there needing only the patience and timing to find the other half of the picture. In the absence of daylight, any light source will do. To my knowledge, there is no substitute for patience and the benefit an early start to the day can bring.