I went to Taiwan in January 2023. I was there for a few weeks — mainly in Taipei. Here are some photos I took while I was there.
preface
My family is from Taiwan, and the last time I had been to Taiwan was probably around 2012. I was really young at the time and I remember seeing and experiencing things and sights that, looking back, I don’t feel like I had fully appreciated. Before now, I had been wanting to go back for a while, but I never had the chance to do so, and by the time I did, COVID hit. I think part of the urge to go back was to see things that I had seen before like lively night markets and culture, and I had fears that those things would be gone by the time I went back.
pictures
All of the pictures were taken with a Panasonic LUMIX G DC-GH6.
The lenses I used:
臺北 (taipei)
f/3.2, 1/640s, 42.5mm, normal mode
Can you make an album on Taipei without a picture of Taipei 101? I was on the roof of a friend’s apartment building shooting drone footage when I took this. It was actually pretty scary being on the roof because there’s no railing… You can just look off the edge and fall down…
f/3.4, 1/80s, 23mm, portrait mode
On the same roof, same day, I noticed these nice old ladies in the morning doing their morning routine. I quickly wrapped up what I was doing and rushed down and out a few blocks to find them. Initially, I felt a little embarassed taking pictures of them, and as I was putting my camera away because I was done, one of the ladies rushed over to tell me how happy they were that I was photographing them! She got everyone together to pose up. This inspired me to work on my Mandarin more.
f/1.7, 1/100s, 42.5mm, portrait mode
Same roof, different day, at night. I got my friend that lived in the building to come up to the roof. The cityscape regardless of time of day is just stunning.
f/3.9, 1/125s, 50mm, portrait mode
Going to school 💀💀💀💀
f/4, 1/125s, 60mm, normal mode
I don’t remember which MRT station I took this at, but I really like the composition of this shot. The depth of field looks pretty strong here, but it’s because I edited it in. Maybe I could have done a better job by masking out the subject and blurring the background above her waist.
f/1.7, 1/100s, 42.5mm, normal mode
Love the outfits in this one. Really gives it a vintage vibe.
f/1.7, 1/100s, 42.55mm, portrait mode
Night market.
九份 (jiufen)
f/1.7, 1/100s, 42.5mm, portrait mode
I think this one is a camera lens (f/1.7) difference. Just the layers in this photo that the camera is able to capture is 👨🍳🍳😘👌💋. Sometimes I wish that the reflective glass in the foreground wasn’t there but this is what I get. I heard that ND filters can get rid of reflections? Anyways, a lot of the stalls in Jiufen are like this — sort of indoors but still outdoors haha, idk how to describe it. I think it’s a nice vibe.
f/3.5, 1/50s, 42.5mm, shutter priority
It started to rain in Jiufen while we were waiting for the bus back. Saw this moped coming down while my camera was still out. I like the the expression on the driver’s face. Practicing low shutter speed shots to capture motion.
f/1.7, 1/100s, 42.5mm, portrait mode
Famous stairs area in Jiufen. I could’ve done a better color grade on this photo in my opinion.
f/1.7, 1/100s, 42.5mm, portrait mode
Of my friends. Genuinely one of my favorite shots. The rain makes it look good.
淡水 (tamsui)
f/2, 1/500s, 42.5mm, portrait mode
f/3.2, 1/1,600s, 42.5mm, portrait mode
I was told that this place was a big spot for fishing and tourism. Unforunately, due to existing political tensions, it seemed that a lot of the tourism stuff near 情人橋 (Lover’s Bridge) died out. There were a lot of closed shops, and it was a bit sad to see that it wasn’t as lively as it used to be from last time I was there (2012).
f/2.2, 1/800, 42.5mm, portrait mode
f/2.8, 1/400s, 42.5mm, landscape mode
Though I said that things near Lover’s Bridge were quiet, it was nice to see that Tamsui was still pretty lively closer to the city center.
other places
f/5, 1/1,600s, 42.5mm, landscape mode
紅樹林 (Hongshulin). The sunlight was peeking between two buildings here.
f/4.5, 1/1,000s, 42.5mm, normal mode
老梅沙灘 (Laomei Beach).
f/1.7, 1/500s, 42.5mm, manual mode
f/1.7, 1/500s, 42.5mm, manual mode
深坑區 (Shenkeng District) AKA tofu capital 
. I think for these two photos I was trying to shoot a hyperlapse but these two photos came out really nice.
lessons learned
- don’t be embarassed to take pictures.
Not really lessons learned, but things I would like to learn:
- good color grading
- photography etiquette
other final thoughts
I took way more pictures than I displayed here. I think around 95% of pictures that I’ve taken are garbage, and maybe 5% are good, but less than 0.1% are here.
I want to take more pictures of people. That’s what makes a picture interesting. But what’s the proper etiquette? Sometimes I’m afraid of being judged or being embarassed. The last thing I want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable.
醉生梦死
~ max
