Chinese New Year shopping, Dihua St, Taipei

Every culture and country has its own series of traditional festivals and holidays. For the photographer, these can provide some great opportunities to shoot a diverse range of subjects.

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As the holiday approaches, people are often busy with preparations and there is an air of excitement and anticipation. Depending on what is being celebrated, you may find these preparations involve buying special holiday food and gifts, cleaning and decorating homes and offices or setting up special public activities. A trip to the local market can yield a wealth of imagery. Here in Asia, the lunar new year is less than a week away. This is the most important holiday of the year so people are busy buying food, candy and the like.

A holiday is often a good time for families to reunite and gather together. Family members are often more tolerant of repeated attempts at photography so this is a good chance to practice your portrait photography skills. You could even start (or continue) a tradition of a yearly family portrait.

The days following are often relaxed, particularly if no one needs to go to work or school. Public events often take place, people are relaxed and usually open to having their pictures taken. Take advantage of this and get out there with your camera.

Traditional holidays to keep in mind include but are not limited to Christmas, Easter, Chinese New Year, Tet, Diwali, Holi, Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha, Hannukah, various national or independence days and so forth.

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