The Daily Bubble Tea

I finally got around to dusting off my old P3 to take some pictures of my Lowepro Fastpack 250. My previous camera bag was a simple shoulder bag which left my shoulder incredibly sore after hiking or carrying it around town all day. Since I began work in Caotun, it became quickly apparent that I would need a bag large enough to carry around my rain suit for the occasional daily downpours, my camera equipment because I’ve been appointed to photograph events at my school, and anything else I don’t want to stuff my in pockets during my daily commute.
Continue reading ‘Lowepro Fastpack 250′

Taiwanese and international newscasts reporting the deadly quake

At 1:47 in the early morning of September 21, 1999, Taiwan was struck by its most devastating earthquake in over a century. The massive 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed 2,415 persons, left 29 still missing, injured 11,305, completely destroyed 44,338 houses while severely damaging another 41,336, and caused NT$300 billion in property damages.
Continue reading ‘921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan’

So far, Cathy and I have photographed and identified 13 12 different species of butterflies around the beautiful island. Our identification book lists 133 species so we obviously have a long way to go!

NOTE: We have identified a few more than 13 12, but the quality of the pictures were not quite good enough to be on this blog’s dedicated butterflies page, which will be added on in the future!

So far we have:

• Byasa polyeuctes termessus
• Chilades pandava peripatria
• Hypolimnas bolina kezia
• Kaniska canace drilon
• Athyma selenophora laela
• Kallima inachis formosana
• Symbrenthia hypselis scatinia
• Idea leuconoe clara
• Ypthima multistriata
• Neptis sappho formosana
• Milionia basalis pryeri [that's a moth n00b]
• Telicota ohara formosana
• Heliophorus ila matsumurae

This morning I biked in the direction of Nanpu [南埔] to see where it would take me. The weather was lovely and there were plenty of interesting things to photograph along the way.
Continue reading ‘Saturday Morning Bike Ride’

After more than five years together… we’re finally getting married this December!

Green Skimmer [Orthetrum sabina sabina]

Catherine and I went to the nearby lotus ponds to check things out and wondered behind one to a large natural pond with an unbelievable variety of dragonflies all in one place. We spent awhile there taking turns shooting the wonderful creatures that graced the pond. Scientific names are given on the species I could positively identify:
Continue reading ‘Dragonflies, Damselflies, and a Butterfly’

The Lotus Flowers [荷花] in the ponds near Jhongsing Gate began blooming a couple weeks ago. Given my current work schedule, the only time I have daylight to photograph anything is before work, so 4 of the last 5 days I have dropped by the ponds to get in a few minutes of shooting before clocking in.
Continue reading ‘Jhongsing Lotus Pond’

One late afternoon we took a trip to see the Tung blossoms [油桐花]. We didn’t have nearly enough time to make it up to Miaoli, so we opted for the New Era Resort [牛耳石雕公園] on the way to Puli.
Continue reading ‘Tung Blossoms at New Era Resort’

As mentioned in the previous post, Petit Fancy 8 was held at National Taiwan University’s campus over the weekend, here is the picture heavy post that I promised. David Reid wrote a post about the event over the weekend, as did Darren Melrose on his new WP-powered blog. My anime phase passed after Cowboy Bebop aired on the Cartoon Network, so I have no idea who most of these characters are.
Continue reading ‘Cosplay at NTU - Petit Fancy 8 [the extended post]‘

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting up with bloggers/photographers Craig Ferguson, David Reid, and Darren Melrose for the cosplay event Petit Fancy 8 held at National Taiwan University. The event also marked my first time shooting in RAW and right now I am trying to get used to using Adobe Lightroom as opposed to sorting and adjusting pictures in iPhoto.

I’ll have a longer post, with more pictures, in the next few days.