These images are leftover from the Taipei nuclear protest. I actually shot a ton of images that day, and only posted 12 or so on the original post.
Since the political season in Taiwan is heating up, I’ll have to make a point of learning about Taiwanese politics. This will be a heavily emotional/environmental issue after Fukushima, especially with Taiwan being so small and sources of energy being hard to come by while still remaining earthquake-prone.
Filed under taipei101
This shot was taken at the Taipei 101 observation deck while my family visited last weekend. We are currently in Kaohsiung still and I’m glad to be able to spend time in the southern parts of Taiwan for a change.
I liked this mix of old and new – this monk and nun were visiting the top of the second-tallest building in the world, and I thought it showed good contrast to the many facets of Taiwan. I feel like I’ve certainly been seeing this this past week, as I’ve been dragging my family members through futuristic city districts which sit next to traditional markets.
Filed under taipei101, taiwan2010
The Taipei 101 visit was something I had been looking forward to since my time in the States, so it was worth braving the crowds of tourists from all over to get in and see the observation deck. Lucky for us, we arrived just in front of a massive Chinese tour group, so we were able to move along in line as my boredom was quelled by my trusty iPhone.
Taipei 101 – named as such because it’s in Taipei and has 101 stories – was the tallest building in the world until early this year, when Burj Khalifa in Dubai opened. Visitors who see the Taipei skyline might think that the city has no tall office buildings because they are simply dwarfed by the massive structure.
Unfortunately for us, we visited on a pretty hazy day, though there was some glimmer of sunlight during the evening’s sunset. I hope to go back to Taipei in the not-too-distant-future to get some shots of this in the skyline at night. I’m sure it’s amazing.
The above is Taipei 101 in the early evening. It’s a 3-exposure HDR as is the following picture…
…which was taken inside the smaller building’s mall. Anyone up for some luxury shopping?
…this HDR shows that glimmer of sunlight we had. Conveniently in the west as well is a mountain peak and river. You’ll want to click on that photo for the full-size image in Flickr…
The above photo is another HDR (this location lent itself very well to multiple exposures!) of the winddamper. Located in the middle of the building near the top, it is a giant counterweight meant to, well, damper the wind. The effects are noticed – if you go near the windows, you will sway a little bit… but not near this behemoth.
Another HDR taken in a park just outside the mall. I’m thinking that this would be a cool photo if the ground were wet and the lights were reflecting more…
Looking up again… another 3-exposure HDR. Though the following photo didn’t need this treatment…
…and another view from the top. I’ll attribute the softness of this HDR to the fact that it was unfortunately taken through the window of the indoor observation deck.
…and to finish off, a photo of the outdoor deck. The man in blue is a security guard – probably making sure we have no jumpers. The giant cage was good as it doesn’t interfere with your photos (a lens fits right through) and it seems much more effective than the Rockefeller Center’s plexiglass.
Filed under HDR, photos, taipei, taipei101, taiwan2010
