Taiwan and Sufjin Stevens

I just arrived back from Taiwan today and would like to share my experiences.

Preface: Taiwan is pretty small country its land mass is only 35,000 sq. km and population of 22m, Canada is approx. 9.9 million sq. kms and has a population of 31m. Interesting. Also Taiwan has had interesting history of rule. First, Chinese, then Japanese and back to Chinese and then finally Taiwanese. Amazing the trials and tribulations that occur over here over many thousands of years. Nevertheless, Taiwan is still a pretty amazing place to visit.

We landed in Kaoshiung, in the southern tip of Taiwan and we stayed for 1 night at the Orange Hostel along the Love River, which was aptly named after a couple decided to commit suicide because of their forbidden love. So we stayed in the cockroach hostel closest to the river. It was cheap and we slept on "yo" which is a straw mat with a cloth covering and some small padding. it was really good for my neck which has been acting up.

After waking up to a nice wet day we set out for another adventure, we set off for Kenting. After some time and an interesting lunch we set out for a 2 hour bus ride, oops.. 3.5 hour bus ride. During our time my partner in crime decided to fall asleep and I was in charge of finding our way and attempting to determine the path from the Mandarin typed signs. Interesting.. Still fun though.

Once arrived our vacation was great. It was warm (most of the time) the sun was shinning and we drove a scooter around the southern coast. We drove from the Taiwanese Straight to the Pacific ocean, about 10 minutes. It was pretty amazing to stand of the edge of the world's bath tub and simply bask in its marvel. (I also figured out how to use it's, and its properly, hopefully)

Taiwan surprised me in many ways. I often saw disparity in places the least expected and in a country so dominated with technological advancement and development that most of the country is still working with archaic technology. However, on the people side people are amazingly friendly and very helpful. A beach town may not be the best representation of a society, but they did a good job convincing me of their hospitality.

Aside from the wondrous travels around Taiwan, its been a pretty wonderful experience. I have learned so many new things about our world and I'm beginning to slowly understand that the world does not do what is always expected and that the unexpected can come when least expected, nevertheless life continues.

Check out my photos tell me what you think. If my style is good, what I can do to improve my shots and how I can generally make more appealing photos.

Have a great rest of the summer everyone

my new hobby....

I have always had an interest in photography however it has never really come of anything. I have played with my digitals attempting to make fun shots. The occasional photo will turn out well, but for the most part they are simply added to the ever growing collection of random photos in my library. When I came to Korea

I purchased a new Dslr to help in the development process. To say the least it has been a lot of fun. I am enjoying living and experimenting with my new toy. Nevertheless, there is a lot to taking a good photo. I am just beginning to get the hang of all this photo business. I recently purchased a new Tamron AF17-50mm F.2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (can you tell i copied that form the site). Its also a wide angle lens which will work for night shots and buildings. I look forward to get to use it.

My first adventure is night pictures. They are pretty simply in that a tripod is used and it makes for easy photos. Playing with shutter speed and aperture can create a very exciting photo.

For my Taiwan vacation I have been looking into doing night sky photos. This is hard to do and requires a lot of patients. Therefore, I am looking to have a good time trying out some new techniques. I will report back once I have had a try and the night sky. Any recommendations please feel free to forward my direction. They will be most helpful.