I was just hashing out the details of the next photowalk on May 27th. Posted in a post in the FB group… stay tuned for more details!
Outline of Walk
Inviting everyone to attend the next Photowalk on May 27th at 4:30pm. We’ll be setting off from Mr. Brown Coffee shop @ 4:45pm, located in Youth Park. I suggest to get to the route embarkation point, take a bus or taxi or uber from your nearest location. Google suggests bus #223 from Taipei Station to Youth Park.
We’ll take in the water features of the Youth Park, Solar LIbrary, etc. before heading to Nanjichang Market for a bite to eat. Then we’ll head upto Wanhua Area, stopping in at Longshan Temple and some nighttime photography on the streets of Wanhau. Hopefully we can catch some sunsets in the park or from higher vantage points in Nanjichang Area. Route: subject to change. The total length is about 3km according to Google’s pigeons.
This is not a difficult walk, but precautions for rain, heat, sun & mosquitoes are suggested. Shoes need to be comfortable. There’s should be a convenience store stop for essentials. Routes, times & dates may be revised; please keep uptodate with changes as notified in the Event Page.
Weather may be stormy in the early afternoon. I hope you can come; be nice to see y’all!
I’ll add references for you later.
Routes, times & dates may be revised; please keep uptodate with changes as notified in the Event Page. I hope you can come; be nice to see y’all!
Route Maps:
The Photowalker Route
Link to Google Map (separate window)
Suggested List of Stops on the Walk
Stop 1: Taipei Youth Park
Taipei Youth Park is located in southern Taipei City near the river, and partly overlies an airport that was called Nanjichang until the end of the 2nd World War. Obviously no planes fly there now, as mass development has occurred on the greenfield site. But Youth Park is a large with multiple facilities to attract people of all age groups. There is a pond, coffee shop, swimming pool, library, and a wide range of sports facilities. It’s ideal for street photography and offers a lot of different possible shooting scenarios. For more information about Taipei Youth Park, check out the link at Taipei City Government.
Stop 2: Nanjichang Night Market
Actually, this is as much a refreshment stop as any. I’ve never visited the nightmarket here at night, though it’s rumored to be much smaller. Since we’ll be hitting dinner time, and we’ll likely be quite hot… I thought it would be a cool place for a quick cup of jelly ball milk tea or other suitable iced snacks. Anyone?
Stop 3: WanHua Station Area
There are a lot of little places near Wanhua Station that we can crawl. The article at EverythingTaiwan.cc suggested these places (thanks to Rick Charette!)
- Herbal Lane
It might offer some interesting opportunities to explore. But some Chinese medicine vendors are a bit antsy about photography. We can all speculate why, so be careful what photographs you take there.
- Huaxi Street Tourist Night Market
The same caution may apply here, too. Rumors that the last snake vendors have closed.
- Bopiliao Historic Block
No comment yet.
- Xinfu Market
This place might be worth checking out as one of the original clean markets developed in Taipei City way back in the early part of the 20th Century. There are some iconic photograph locations here, too.
- Xibenyuan Temple Square
Not sure if we’ll get there on this photowalk. It’s a little too far from the Temple.
Stop 4: Longshan Temple
Of course, the pinnacle of the trip will be our arrival at Longshan Temple, perhaps the most famous temple in downtown Taipei with an interesting foundation story that harks back to the founding temple of the same name in China. We’ll likely be arriving after dark, so it could be a little crowded inside. Photography should be possible but you may find slower speeds, narrower F stops, and higher ISO necessary to get the shots. Using a tripod inside the temple may not be possible, due to the danger of tripping.
Stop 5: Wanhua @ Night
We’ll find some streetside and elevated locations for street photography, if anyone’s still got the energy! Matt?
Suggestions for finding opportunities for photographs: don’t be afraid to get lost, don’t worry about catching up with the group, you have the route, we’ll probably all end up at Longshan Temple at around 7pm. You don’t have to follow the group, in fact members may disperse by themselves. It’s a photowalk, not a parade.
