Canon PowerShot G7 X (22.669mm, f/4, 1/1250 sec, ISO125)
Another from my Beautiful series. This time its Taipei, the capitol of Taiwan. A place that I visited only twice in bad weather.
This is maybe one of the more exotic destinations I have ever been. It has a lot of tourism but mainly from China, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan. So for visitors from Europe or the US it is kind of hard to tell tourists and locals apart. My hotel was rather fancy (picture below) but they had to call an intern from Finland in order to deal with the English speaking guest.
Taipei means Taipei 101, the 101 floor 508 meter high skyscraper that I had to visit on my first trip. On the first image you can see the top of the building sticking out of the clouds. When I visited in the evening there was a thunderstorm so I couldn’t go outside and the tower was slightly shaking. A strange experience. I went down again after about half an hour slightly sea sick from the movement.
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/3.6, 1/40 sec, ISO1250)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/1.8, 1/25 sec, ISO1600)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO2500)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (14.886mm, f/2.5, 1/30 sec, ISO800)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO125)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO1600)
I visited Taipei in January and the weather was really bad. A cold wave that even bought some snow and subzero temperatures. Rather unusual for this part of the world and something I wasn’t prepared for. I bought my rain jacket and I had my trusty Patagonia fleece that I use on long haul flights but I was steel freezing. I guess that’s why such a high amount of images were taken indoors. I had to seek shelter from the rain and from the cold.
So here are the images from my first visit:
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO1600)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (15.418mm, f/2.5, 1/50 sec, ISO125)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (32.89mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO500)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/1.8, 1/30 sec, ISO250)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO4000)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (36.8mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO800)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5, 1/60 sec, ISO1250)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/2.2, 1/25 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO2500)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO2500)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO2000)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO400)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5.6, 1/150 sec, ISO200)
But of course sometimes it really pays to go outside and stand the awful weather. I’m very glad with the above image. I just love how everything came together. The perfect location and the lady in the red raincoat. I dedicated this photo and the background story its own blog post HERE.
This was also the first time that I was on a business trip on my birthday. It was also my only three week business trip that brought me to the following places: Taipei, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Saigon, Jakarta and Manila. But back to Taipei: After I returned to my hotel to get changed for the evening I got a call from the reception. Minutes later my room was filled with staff that brought me a cake and wished me a Happy Birthday! How nice is that. Maybe I should have travelled more on my birthday but I guess there are not too many places in the world where this would happen. The weather is poor but I love the place.
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/1.8, 1/30 sec, ISO125)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (14.224mm, f/2.5, 1/100 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO320)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (17.902mm, f/2.5, 1/50 sec, ISO125)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/1.8, 1/30 sec, ISO320)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/1.8, 1/125 sec, ISO800)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (26.487mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO800)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (20.211mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO800)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/1.8, 1/40 sec, ISO400)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/4, 1/50 sec, ISO125)
Canon PowerShot G7 X (8.8mm, f/1.8, 1/125 sec, ISO320)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/9, 1/420 sec, ISO200)
As you can probably tell from the sunshine in the sky those are taken during my second short stay there. January again but no cold wave. This time all pictures are taken with the Fuji X-Pro2 and the 14, 23/2 and 35/1.4. My standard setup for photography during my business trips in Asia. The Canon G7X is gone because I figured out that I just don’t enjoy to shoot compact cameras anymore even though their image quality has become much better. It’s just the shooting experience that I dislike.
I visited many places again simple because those are the main attractions and because I just love to revisit places.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/8, 1/400 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/400 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO800)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/4, 1/160 sec, ISO1000)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/2.8, 1/240 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/2.5, 1/450 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/2.8, 1/3000 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/9, 1/550 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/4, 1/160 sec, ISO320)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/4, 1/40 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/3.6, 1/160 sec, ISO1250)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/4, 1/160 sec, ISO2500)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/4, 1/550 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec, ISO320)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/4, 1/160 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/600 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/850 sec, ISO200)
Of course I check for places to visit on the web but what I most enjoy is to simply walk through a city that I don’t know. There is so much to see and the more exotic the place the better the pictures will be. The inner city of Vienna is beautiful but for me it is not exotic. I lived in Vienna for the good part of my life so while I still appreciate its beauty it I just prefer to shoot in places that look very different to what I’m used to. That’s why I love India or Vietnam so much. Wherever you point your camera there is a picture. I’m sure that people who grow up in New Delhi would feel the same when they visit Vienna.
Taiwan is an extremely industrial country. Taiwan just has 23,5 million people but it’s amazing how many products are produced here. Practically all semiconductors, carbon frames for bikes, computer parts, …. the list goes on. It doesn’t feel ultra modern though. Just like Hong Kong it preserved this old-fashioned look which I love. There are also a lot of people on scooters or even on bicycles.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/4, 1/800 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/3.6, 1/40 sec, ISO250)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/5.6, 1/40 sec, ISO400)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/1.4, 1/200 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec, ISO400)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/2.5, 1/3200 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/1.4, 1/2500 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO2500)
There is a massive language barrier but you can get around with a little help of strangers. When I was in this sushi restaurant I could easily order my food on an iPad, the only thing missing on the iPad was the drinking menu – big problem. But the young lady next to me watched my attempts to order my drink and came to rescue. Her English was next to perfect and we had a nice chat.
The world has become much smaller. A lot of people speak English and even if they don’t you can also use your smartphone as a translator. Of course it’s nice to travel to a country where they speak your native language or a language that you can speak. It is great to have a real exchange with others even on complex topics but it is a lot of fun to speak with hands and feet. And don’t underestimate the power of alcohol. Especially in Japan I was surprised how alcohol helped to improve the communication in Englisch. Japanese people try to avoid mistakes and embarrassment so even if they speak a little bit of English they try to avoid it. A couple of drinks help to losen their tongues.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO1250)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/1.4, 1/100 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO640)
Even the menu above isn’t a big problem thanks to Google translate. Choose the right language (traditional Chinese) and the translation will magically appear on your mobile phone screen. It’s nothing short of amazing. Smartphones and the internet may have a a lot away from us. They play a major role in our pandemic of loneliness and isolation but they also dramatically enhanced and simplified communication and traveling. Another good example that everything has two sides.
I visited Taipei only two times. Both times in January in poor weather and for a rather short business trip. I really enjoyed my time there though. I’ll be back.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO640)