Some of the Taipei Photowalkers
The 2010 Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk has been and gone and I’m now faced with the difficult decision of choosing a winner. At this stage, I haven’t made up my mind as to which image is going to be the Taipei winner and get submitted for the grand prize.
The first photowalk I’ve led was the 2009 edition of the same event. Since then, I’ve held smaller ones on a monthly basis although without any need for people to sign up. These have taken in various parts of Taipei and the surrounding area, so for anyone who wants to join, feel free to come along. I usually announce them via my Facebook page and also the Taiwan Photo Club group on Flickr. The next one will be in mid to late August and more than likely be in the Xindian / Bitan area of Taipei.
After having organized and held a significant number of photowalks now, you’d think I’d be an expert by now, but I learn something new each time. July in Taipei is hot, and last year’s photowalk was in the late afternoon. Even that was still too hot, so this year I decided to make it an evening walk. Temperature-wise, that was much more comfortable, especially as there’d been a rainstorm in the afternoon that cooled things further.
Last year, I’d arranged all 50 people to meet up in a restaurant afterwards, which is Taiwan means making a booking and arranging a set menu. The advantage of that is it provides easy options for after for everyone to meet up. The downside was that not everyone who started the walk finished it, so I ended up about NT$8000 (US$250) poorer for my trouble. It would have been a lot more but everyone who did come kicked in extra. Once bitten twice shy, this year I didn’t arrange a restaurant for later, instead holding the photowalk near Shilin night market, arguably Taiwan’s most famous night market and packed with eating options.
All good in theory, but it also meant we’d be encountering some crowds as Shilin night market is always busy. It was a lot more crowded than I thought it would be, which made for some interesting photos for people but a bit too chaotic and the group soon got separated into different directions. Fortunately, the lanes and alleys in the edge of the market were fairly uncrowded which did make for some good photo opportunities.
Other lessons learned included.
- Don’t expect the local media to get the times right, even if you give them the same information three times in the lead up. Accuracy and attention to detail are not highly prized qualities at the Taipei Times.
- Double check that I everyone has my number. I had sent it out beforehand but I think a couple of people didn’t get it.
- Try and find a way to take more pictures. I always end up spending most of the time organizing people and little time shooting.
I’ll have the winner chosen in a couple of days but in the meantime here is a slideshow with some of the photos submitted. Included here are images from Neil Wade, Ron Albrecht, David Thompson and more.
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