This weeks 5 looks at five photographers in this region that have recently been showing some great work. A couple of these are new to me so I’m not familiar with all of their older images. The others are people I’ve been following for a while who have recently been taking their photography to another level. I’m not ranking these in any way – they are simply in the order I discovered them. Read on, after the jump.
The Daily Bubble Tea – Married life must be agreeing with Todd at the Daily Bubble Tea, because he’s been producing some stunning work of late. A really strong sense of composition coupled with the desire to try new things has resulted in beautiful images. His series utilizing reverse macro photography makes a good starting point for anyone not familiar with Todd’s work.
My Several Worlds – I’m not sure if it’s something to do with being a newlywed, but Carrie is another recently married person who’s been producing great work lately. Reinventing her site as a more travel style magazine has been a good move on Carrie’s part, which allows her strong sense of color to shine. Take a look at a graffiti walk in Ximending for starters.
Asian Ramblings – The Stevo is another who’s displaying his work in a web magazine-type format. Regularly updated posts that ranging from single photos to history to travel. Hakka Missile Silo’s is a good example, mixing great photography with bits of history.
Expatriate Games – Michael’s blog is a recent discovery. He exhibits a diverse range of images with some very strong portrait work and excellent use of color. His Top 10 China portraits is a good place to start. Expect some great work in the future from Michael.
Randyland – Randy’s blog is one I discovered a while ago, lost and have only recently rediscovered. Randy’s been mixing it up with color, black and white, HDR and a few experimental shots. His recent trip to Angkor has seen a lot of great pictures posted. I’m looking forward to more.
So there we have it. Five photographers producing great images. Do you have any favorites? Any other photographers that you think I should know about? Drop me a note and link in the comments and I’ll take a look. Please consider sharing this post with your social media networks.
]]>Stage 3 of the Tour de Taiwan was held on March 11th in Changhua county, starting and finishing at Baguashan. Going into the day, John Murphy held the leaders yellow jersey and Merida Europe were the leading team after Wesoly Marek’s win in stage two. Unlike the first two stages, the Baguashan stage was a road stage with riders taking on a 117.4km route through Changhua county.
The race started in front of the big Buddha statue at Baguashan with a formation ride led by VIPs.
The race traveled along county route 19 out to Lugang, then headed down the coast towards Wanggong, before turning inland and moving through the towns of Tianwei and Yuanlin. Chou Po-yuan, magistrate of Changhua county government said
To do the best intention for “Changhua County walk out, the World entered in”, we [the Changhua County Government] cooperated with bicycle companies especially Merida for this [Tour de Taiwan] race to promote the best landscape in Changhua including Bagua Buddha, historic spot of Lukang, Wang-Gong Footbridge, and Tienwei Highway Garden to improve the tourism industry in Changhua County.
After two hours in the saddle, the riders returned to Baguashan for a final 21km lap.
A 6 rider breakaway formed in front of the peloton, but a crash reduced the distance. In a final climb to the finish, young Australian rider Peter McDonald of the Drapac Porsche Development Team clinched a narrow victory from Erik Hoffmann of the Giant Asia Team, in a time of 2:45:48 with an average speed of 48.45km/hr.
1 Peter Mcdonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche Development Program Team        2.45.48 (48,45 km/h)
2 Erik Hoffmann (Nam) Giant Asia Racing Team
3 Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1
4 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDR
5 Thijs Braber (Ned) Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam                       0.03
6 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team
7 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis
8 Alex Coutts (GBr) Giant Asia Racing Team
9 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Team Skil-Shimano                                  0.06
10 Mroz Mateusz (Pol) Merida Europe Team
McDonald’s win saw him climb from 24th to 2nd in the overall standings, behind John Murphy of Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis who retained the yellow jersey.
1 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis   7.04.24
2 Peter Mcdonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche Development Program Team           0.05
3 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.06
4 Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1
5 Erik Hoffmann (Nam) Giant Asia Racing Team                             0.08
6 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team                                0.09
7 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul City Cycling Team                           0.15
8 Thijs Braber (Ned) Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam                       0.18
9 Alex Coutts (GBr) Giant Asia Racing Team
10 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                          0.19
The green jersey points classification was also won by Murphy.
1 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis        39 pts
2 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 32
3 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team                                  26
4 Wesoly Marek (Pol) Merida Europe Team                                    19
5 Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 7
6 Erik Hoffmann (Nam) Giant Asia Racing Team                               15
7 Emile Abraham (Tri) Team Type 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 15
8 Peter Mcdonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche Development Program Team             14
9 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                             14
10 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul City Cycling Team                            12
In the blue jersey classification for top Asian rider, Japan’s Takashi Miyazawa of Team Meitan-Hompo GDR finished ahead of countryman Taiji Nishitani.
1 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 7.04.30
2 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team                                0.03
3 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul City Cycling Team                           0.09
4 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                           0.13
5 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Team Skil-Shimano                                  0.15
6 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team
7 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Team Skil-Shimano
8 Hayato Yoshida (Jpn) Japan National Team
9 Hari Fitrianto (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice Racing Team                    0.20
10 Wang Yip Tang (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                        0.21
The contest for best local rider saw Kuan Hua Lai of Giant Asia Racing Team take the honors.
 1 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team                           7.04.45
2 Shu Ming Liu (Tpe) e-MA Cycling Team                                   0.20
3 Wei Chieh Liu (Tpe) Kinan CCD Team                                     3.19
4 Wei Cheng Lee (Tpe) Taichung County Team
5 Li Yao Chiang (Tpe) MAO Asia Team
6 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Kinan CCD Team
7 Kao An Li (Tpe) Taichung County Team                                   3.28
8 Yu-Wei Huang (Tpe) e-MA Cycling Team                                   3.39
9 Po Hung Wu (Tpe) Kinan CCD Team                                        3.57
10 Shuai Chun Chiang (Tpe) Taichung County Team                          4.08
Finally the teams classification saw Giant Asia on top.
 1 Giant Asia Racing Team                                             21.14.06
2 Team Skil-Shimano                                                      0.15
3 Japan National Team                                                    0.31
4 Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam                                          0.34
5 Merida Europe Team                                                     0.41
6 Hong Kong Cycling Team                                                 0.47
7 Seoul City Cycling Team                                                0.56
8 The Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis                    0.58
9 Team Type1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1.07
10 AISAN Racing Team                                                     1.09
11 Polygon Sweet Nice Racing Team                                        3.05
12 Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4.35
13 Drapac Porsche Development Program Team                               5.39
14 Malaysian National Team                                               6.33
15 KFS Special Vehicles                                                  6.55
16 a-MA Cycling Team                                                     7.42
17 Kinan CCD Team                                                       10.18
18 Taichung County Team                                                 11.04
19 MAO Asia Team                                                        11.25
20 Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team                                         12.34
The full gallery of photos from stage three can be seen on my portfolio site here. A report on stage 1 is here. I’ll be covering stages 7 and 8, so don’t forget to check back in a few days.
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