The Way to Heaven - Yehliou, Taiwan (Craig Ferguson)

Last weekend saw the annual Worldwide Photowalk take place globally. In the case of Taiwan though, it very nearly didn’t take place. This was my third year leading the walk and this year for a change, I decided to get out of the city and lead a walk on Taiwan’s north coast, specifically the Yehliou Geological Park. Fall in Taiwan usually brings the best weather of the year so I figured it was perfect for a trip to the coast. The weeks leading up to Photowalk had seen some beautiful weather here, with some of the best sunsets I’ve seen in a long while. Then, 2-3 days before the scheduled date, the rain started. And didn’t stop. As I write this now a couple of days after the photowalk, the rain still hasn’t stopped.

On Friday when it became evident that it was going to be a wet weekend, I sent a message out to my photowalk group mentioning this and also noting that the central weather bureau had issued an extreme heavy rain warning for northern Taiwan. As leader I still had the responsibility to head out to the site on Sunday and ended up being joined by 4 other photographers. I was actually surprised they came because there was torrential rain in the city. It wasn’t even possible to arrange a change of location because everywhere in Taiwan was wet. We got a bit lucky in that the rain actually held off for a couple of hours at the coast which meant we could at least head into the geological park and see if there were any shots to be had. Below you can see a shot I took with my phone showing the basic conditions.

The weather at Photowalk

As you can see, these were not exactly great conditions for coastal landscape photography. It was basically a flat gray everywhere – certainly not the most inspiring conditions for the average photographer. I elected to shoot long exposures and took a 10 stop neutral density filter with me. It at least allowed me to get a couple of photographs that I was happy with. The image at the top of this post used a 30 second exposure at f6.3 ISO100, and the one below was 60 seconds, f11 ISO100. Both were processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with these 2 photos. I only made 34 frames all day which was sufficient for these and perhaps 1 other that I’m still deciding about. I don’t think anyone stayed out shooting longer than an hour. I’m quite eager to see what the other guys got when they upload their choices to the photowalk site.

Rocky Bay, Taiwan (Craig Ferguson)

Yeliou, Taiwan.

The Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk is always a popular social photography event and this year it’s moved from the height of summer to the cooler temperatures of October. For the third year I’ll be leading a walk and this time we’re heading out of town. Yeliou on Taiwan’s north coast will be the location and it’ll take place on Sunday October 2nd starting from 2pm. We’ll stay out there wandering around until it gets dark which should be around 6pm. Click on the Photowalk banner below to sign up now or read on for more details.

Worldwide Photowalk 2011

We’ll meet in front of the entrance to the Yeliou Geological Park at 2pm and head into the park. Once inside, people are free to wander around in a large group, a number of smaller groups or in ones and twos. It’s not a big area and is impossible to get lost as there’s only one way in and one way out. We’ll meet up again after the sun goes down at the entrance, and head into one of the many seafood places along the harbor for some food and drinks. For those that want some extra photo opportunities, there’s a small fishing harbor near the entrance that is good for a bit of exploration.

What To Bring

• Camera – any type is fine.
• Hat and Sunscreen
• Money – Entrance to the park is NT$50, plus whatever you wish to spend on food / drink.
• Tripod – optional, but if you enjoy seascape photography, a tripod is advisable.

Getting There

• Bus from Taipei – Koukuang buses from Taipei Station (next to Main Station) take about an hour to reach Yeliou. Take the bus bound for Jinshan and get off at the Yeliou stop.
• Bus from Keelung – Keelung Bus Company has buses bound for Jinshan or Danshui that pass Yeliou. It takes about 30 mins.
• Bus from Danshui – Buses from outside Danshui (Tamsui) MRT bound for Keelung go past Yeliou. They take about an hour.

Prizes.

That’s right, there are some prizes on offer. After everyone has submitted their photos at the main photowalk site, I will select a winner. That person will receive a copy of Scott Kelby’s “Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It” book, and will go on to the international contest. From there, 10 finalists will be chosen by the team at Kelby Media and each will receive the following.

Finalists.
• Nik Software Suite
• OnOne Software Suite
• One Year NAPP Membership
• One Year Kelby Training Subscription
• Scott Kelby’s Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It Book
• $100 B&H Photo Gift Card

One of those finalists will take home the grand prize which consists of

• Full Adobe CS5 Suite
• Epson R3000 Printer
• PhotoshopWorld Ticket
• Full Library of Kelby Books
• iPad (32GB)
• $500 B&H Photo Gift Card
• 2 Light Kit w/Box Stands, Clamps & Case from Westcott
• Nik Software Suite
• OnOne Software Suite
• One Year NAPP Membership
• One Year Kelby Training Subscription

It’s a fantastic prize list this year.

All in all, it’s going to be a fun day. The walk is limited to 50 participants so don’t hesitate to sign up today. Here’s the sign up link again.

Worldwide Photowalk 2011

Pedestrian Bridge

It’s been about two years since I first led a photowalk in Taiwan, and until the end of 2010, I’d been arranging approximately one per month. I took a break as I was just too busy to continue organizing them but popular demand saw one take place last Sunday. It may appear that arranging a photowalk is as simple as choosing a time and place and that’s it. Do that and it’s almost guaranteed that some will complain that there’s not enough direction or they don’t know where to go or what to do. The only real solution to avoiding that is either keep everything together in a group, in which case I spend so much time looking out for people that I barely get to take photos myself, or put in a chunk of time beforehand to research and plan routes and post-photowalk meeting places which ultimately costs me time and sometimes money. Over the past six months there have been a few requests for more photowalks. One was postponed due to lack of response and a bad weather forecast, and so when I was asked about another one, it was only because I knew the people who asked didn’t require handholding on the day that I agreed. Keelung was the chosen place, and it was specified that all I was doing was setting a meeting time and place. I specifically said in the invite that people should just go wherever they want and do their own thing, and that’s what ended up happening, which made it a pretty perfect photowalk.

Container Port

Still, I was a little bit apathetic about the whole thing. It was planned to be a long one – we were meeting at noon and goign all afternoon – and a hot one. The temperature was somewhere in the mid-thirties (Celsius) and Keelung is one of the most humid and wet places in Taiwan, so walking around for 6 or 7 hours may not have been the most comfortable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. To that end, I decided to leave all the heavy camera gear at home. I elected to go with just my Android smart phone and use the new photo app Lightbox Photos for in-phone editing. Walking around without needing to carry a bag and a bunch of stuff was just the recipe for a hot summer afternoon.

Come On In

To make things a little more interesting I also decided to live blog all the shots I took to a tumblr account I recently set up at craigfergusonimages.tumblr.com. Every photo I took was processed in the Lightbox Photos app and then sent straight to Tumblr. A few were also cross-posted to Twitter and Facebook.

Where Hip Hop Goes to Die.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with the capabilities of the Lightbox App. It’s one of the newer apps on the market and has some pretty good functionality. The social sharing aspect of it is great and the few filters it has are pretty good although I found myself using the same ones over and over again. I hope they’ll add a few more options in that regard in future updates.

Keelung Does Hollywood

Additionally, being free of a lot of gear when wandering around on what is, for me, basically a social event, was liberating. On one hand, I was able to use it as a location scouting type opportunity and I made mental note of a couple of places that I will return to with my basic kit and photograph properly. When moving around with a group of people, there’s not always the opportunity to really get into the location as a group of photographers are not exactly unobtrusive, but it following others into areas does open up some ideas that I may not have had if I had to gone there alone.

Sleep

I’ll leave you with a few other photos from the photowalk. The full set can be seen at the craigfergusonimages.tumblr.com.

Light

Looking At Keelung

More Alleys

Walk Away

Keelung City

Keelung Port

Blue

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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Worldwide Photowalk

It’s time for the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk. Once again, I’ll be leading the Taipei, Taiwan edition. It will take place on Saturday July 24th in the Shilin district of Taipei. We’ll be escaping the summer heat by making it an evening walk, starting from FirstZoom Studios at 6pm. Sign up now at the Taipei sign up page. If you’re not in Taipei, look for one near you or start your own.

Here is the press release for the day.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scott Kelby Hosts Third Annual Worldwide Photo Walk
Event Hailed as the Largest Global Social Event for Photographers

TAMPA, FL – June 1, 2010 – On Saturday, July 24, 2010, the whole world will be walking again with Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and #1 bestselling computer and technology book author, in the Third Annual Worldwide Photo Walk™.

Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk is the world’s largest global social photography event in the history of photography itself. It takes place on the same day around the world where photographers of all walks of life and skill levels gather together, usually in downtown areas to socialize, learn new tips from each other, and explore their corner of the world through photography.

“In 2008, we had 241 walks,” said Scott Kelby, founder of NAPP, editor-in-chief of Photoshop User magazine, and president of Kelby Media Group. “Last year, we had over 900 walks with over 32,000 photographers participating. We did the math… your average photographer will take upwards of 300 photos during a photo walk. That means that nearly 10 million pictures were taken in that one single day that may never had happened otherwise. I think that’s pretty cool and we all can’t wait to see what happens this year.”

There is no fee to participate but pre-registration is required. Just go to the Worldwide Photo Walk site, find a walk near you, and join in on the fun. If there is no Photo Walk in your area feel free to register to lead a walk of your own.

Anyone can participate too. All you need is a camera. It doesn’t even matter what kind of camera either. People have showed up with disposables in the past, had a blast, and left with a new appreciation for photography.

Kelby credits the success and popularity of the event to the social aspect of photography the world over. “Photography is usually viewed as a solitary activity, but the truth of the matter is that people love to shoot together, compare notes and just have fun with photography,” said Kelby. “The Worldwide Photo Walk is a social phenomenon. I’ve had group leaders contact me to tell me that they’ve turned their walk into a monthly event. Other people tell me that they’ve made friends at the very first Photo Walk that they’ve kept to this day. It’s the joy of shooting with friends, new and old that makes this event so special.”

The social aspect of this event has also transcended into the online world of social networks as well. Participants in the Worldwide Photo Walk post updates to Twitter before, during and after the event under the #WWPW hash tag, they share their pictures on Flickr (view pictures from last year’s Flickr group), and get updates from NAPP via its Facebook page.

In addition to enjoying a day of photography with other like-minded individuals, participants may also be eligible to win prizes from the Worldwide Photo Walk’s sponsors if their photo is chosen as the best photo of the day by their walk leader. Each winning walk photo is then entered into a global competition where Scott Kelby picks the single “best photo” of the event along with 10 runners-up. Full details are available at: http://worldwidephotowalk.com/

Scott Kelby’s Third Annual Worldwide Photo Walk is sponsored by NAPP, Adobe, Adorama, Peachpit, Mpix, Wacom, and Kelby Training.
About NAPP
The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) is a dynamic trade association and the world’s leading resource for Adobe® Photoshop®, Photoshop® Lightroom®, and photography training, news, and education. An award-winning team of Photoshop and photography experts, authors, consultants, and trainers lead the association – keeping its members on the cutting edge of Photoshop, Lightroom, and photography techniques and technology. With more than 71,000 members in 106 countries, NAPP is the largest digital imaging and graphics association worldwide. Visit http://www.photoshopuser.com for more information.

# # #
Media Contact:
Mary Laurinaitis
NAPP/Media Manager
813-433-5006, ext. 162
MaryL@KelbyMediaGroup.com

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Photographers at a Photowalk

One great, social activity that is open to photographers are all ages, skill levels and interests is the photowalk. A photowalk is quite simply walking around with a camera for the purposes of taking photos. It can range from anything to a solo stroll to a large, organized group activity such as the Worldwide Photowalk created by Scott Kelby.

Before we go any further, let me remind you that my eBook Tips, Tricks and Pics is available to purchase for $5.

For me, photowalks are first and foremost social events. Every time I go to one, I meet some new people and catch up with old friends. It’s a relaxed atmosphere, wandering around, chatting, sharing ideas and tips and hopefully getting some good shots. Photowalks offer a good chance for novice photogrpahers to ask questions of their more experienced co-walkers and learn a few new skills. For the more experienced photographer, they offer the opportunity to share vision and see how different others may capture the same subject.

A little preparation goes a long way. Make sure you have freshly charged batteries, memory cards, some water, hat/umbrella/sunblock, good and comfortable shoes and a desire to have fun. You can find a list of photowalks around the world at http://www.photowalklist.com/

Here in Taipei, I’ve been arranging monthly photowalks throughout the city and surrounding areas for the past year. In 2010, these will be bigger and better as they’ll be hosted in partnership with Carrie from Taiwan Photographers. They are open to anyone, and are real multicultural events. We have a couple of small ones coming up on February 20 and 21, shooting a cosplay event at NTU, and then February 28th at Pingxi where we’ll photograph the Sky Lantern festival. Contact me if you’re interested.

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Saturday July 18th 2009 saw the first ever Taipei Photowalk, held as part of the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk. I served as leader for a group of 50 or so photographers wandering through the streets in Xinyi district, Taipei. Our group was truly multicultural – we had members from Taiwan, India, Australia, Vietnam, Scotland, Poland, USA, England, France, South Africa, Guatemala, New Zealand, Canada and probably a couple more countries that I’ve forgotten. All in all, it was a fun few hours of photography, catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, conversation, Tex-Mex food, walking, laughing, ice cream and a little stress. For all photowalkers in the group, don’t forget to upload your 2 photos before next Saturday. I’ll post the winning entry next week which will get sent to the international contest. Finally, a big thanks to Alan and all the crew at Yuma for the great food and use of the big room.

I found myself too busy chatting and trying to keep track of people so barely shot any photos. Here are a few I did manage to get. All were shot on a Canon 5D Mark II with 17-40mm f4L lens and a 580EX II speedlight as a fill flash. As always, click for the larger image.

Only two more days until the first Taipei Photowalk. As part of the Worldwide Photowalk, this years event will be held in Taiwan for the first time, with one walk being hosted by me in Taipei, and another in Taichung hosted by Mark Forman.

Details for the Taipei event are :

Date Saturday July 18th 2009
Meeting Time 15:30
Meeting Location 50 Songqin Rd – near Taipei 101 and WTC.
Walk Starting Time 16:00
Walk Ending Time 18:30-19:00
Ending Location Yuma. No. 21, Alley 11, Lane 216, ZhongXiao E Rd, Sec 4

As mentioned in the email, once at Yuma we’ll have the opportunity to take over their basement, share photos and stories and tuck into a buffet (NT$350) consisting of

Caesar Salad
Coleslaw
Ribs
Chicken Skewers
Calamari
Southwestern Rice
Vegetarian Nachos
Soft Drink

Beers etc are available at normal bar prices.

Once we’ve walked, chatted, eaten and so forth, what happens?

Well the first step will be to choose up to 2 of their favorite shots and upload them to the Photowalk page (link above). This must be done within a week. July 25th is the deadline. Photos must be in JPG format.

Then, I (as leader) will choose one image from all submitted, and that image will be sent off to the international organizers to be included in the grand prize competition. The Grand Prize package is worth almost US$12 000 and the honorable mention packages US$1600 each. Prizes will be announced on August 17th.

A few extra tips to keep in mind.

First and foremost, Photowalk is a social event. It’s a chance to catch up with old friends and meet new friends. Try to at least say hello to everyone especially those you don’t know.

Taipei in July is hot. Very hot. So make sure you drink plenty of water, wear a hat and use sunscreen. We don’t need to rush on the walk, so feel free to ask the group to slow down if you’re feeling uncomfortable in the heat.

Also, there are many interesting alleys and lanes between the start and end, so if something catches your attention, make sure you let the group know and we can take a look.

Scott Kelby, creator of Photowalk has a good series of non-tech type tips here.

If I think of anything else, I’ll add it here. If not, see you on Saturday.