Over the weekend we went on our second photowalk with our friends Ron and Melody in the Taipei Flower Market. The theme of the photowalk was Macro photography. As per wikipedia: "Macro photography is close-up photography of usually very small objects. The classical definition is that the image projected on the "film plane" (i.e., film or a digital sensor) is close to the same size as the subject"
The Sphere
This Sunday saw us with our friends Ron and Melody going on a photowalk through the Taipei Flower market under the highway on Chienkuo South Road. The theme of the photowalk was Macro photography. As noted above, Macro photography is the art of taking close up pictures of objects where the image and the object are roughly the same size. It was an interesting learning curve to say the least and both our cameras have a Macro function which makes it easier to do. Well, my camera certainly did have some limitations and the images below, as per Ron, are not all Macro pictures but we tried and, most importantly, we all had fun and awesome day. All the pictures below were edited in the "ViewNX 2" suite that came with Queenie's Nikon P7000. I was using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3.
The pictures below are taken by me. Queenie will post her pictures when she has some time.
The laughing Buddha face was a close up of a wooden sculpture. The picture is cropped to show just the eyes, nose and mouth. I liked the definition in the lines on the wood and also the fullness of the face in the frame. I think it could have been cropped better as I don't like the dark patch in the top left hand corner.
Wooden Scultpture of Buddha
The frogs below are ceramic and normally used as decorative items on indoor water features. The were positioned above a small water fountain and seemed to make a nice picture.
Balancing Frogs
The picture below is a close up of the bottom of a water bottle held up agains the light. The picture is cropped and the original wasn't too bad either. I did modify the birghtness, contrast & color on this picture slightly and I think it came out ok.
Bottom of a Plastic Bottle
I liked these cherries, and yes they were plastic. Was trying to get in as close as possible but as you can see, the cherry in the foreground is slightly blurred.
Plastic Cherries
This was just a cute ceramic sculpture. I think the picture says it all. Once again I got as close as possible but not sure it came out the way I wanted it too. Still liked the picture and the way it came out though.
Sunflower Child
The close up of the bird I also liked. I did enhance color and contrast on the picture but once again it came out a bit blurred, which is the challenge of identifying how close I can actually get to an object with my lens and understanding how to use the light.
Bird on a Stand
The trinkets shown in the image below are about the same size as the trinkets themselves (or close to it) so I suppose in that sense it would be a macro picture (although I may be corrected). Once again color, contrast and brightness have all been enhanced in this picture, as well as sharpness.
Trinkets
The "flower organs" picture below is a heavily cropped picture. The actual picture included the entire flower and the some of the background leaves. I cropped all that out just to get a picture of the inside of the flower and also did some additional enhancements.
The Heart of a Flower
More trinkets on sale. These are actually pretty cheap plastic items but I liked the color contrast between the gold extrerior and the red interior.
Trinkets
I just liked the way the stem here is framed by the leaf and also the soft green tinges.
Nature Uncut
This is possibly my favorit picture of the day. Very little modifications were made on this picture. I love the symmetry of the leaves and the rich color of the leaves.
Leaves in a Circle
This picture at first I didn't like. It seems a bit blurred but the lines on the petal are fairly sharpe and the light that comes through the petals of the flower helped make it better in my mind. I did enhance the brightness of the image a bit and I think it makes it look a little better.
Light through a Flower
Just a basic close up of some small fruit growing on a tree. I did enhance the sharpness, the color and the brightness in this one.
Fruit on a Tree
All in all it was a pretty awesome day. Both Queenie and I enjoyed it and we certainly learned a few things. So thanks again Ron for taking the time to show us.
We have moved into a great new apartment at the back of the Taipei Library on Chienkuo South Rd. and we have had the opportunity to share our home with many people. Anyway, before our photowalk yesterday we decided to do a brunch with our friends Ron, Melody, Doug and his son Raymond. It was awesome!
Sunday Morning Brunch
Ok preparing for brunch is always fun! I woke up early to do some shopping and got bacon (five packets!), tomatoes, bread, fruit, milk, onions and mushrooms. Most of the stuff we didn't use. Doug bought some sausages and bagels to the brunch and Ron & Meldoy came with dill and lots of fruit - so we had way too much food. Considering Queenie bought (pineapple & mango) cheese and French bread the day before, we definitely had plenty.
Once the shopping was done it was time to prepare! I first decided to prepare the fruit salad (but nobody wanted it as Ron and Melody bought a lot of fruit with them). The next task was to fry the bacon - easily done under the watchful eye of grand master chef Ron! In the meantime we prepared cucumber and tomatoes, bread and some fresh juice to drink. Once the bacon was done Doug cooked the scrambled eggs (even though he can't eat them). And then it was time to sit down and eat. The brunch was great and the food very delicious!
The Angry (not naked!) Chef
Doug Scrambling the Eggs
I finished cookin the bacon
Once prepared, we all sat around our dining room table and ate food! It was brilliant! We have never hosted a Sunday brunch at home before. Everyone had fun!
Sunday Morning Brunch
Sunday Morning Brunch
Raymond at Brunch
Raymond Still Hungry
Of course, after the brunch we all need to sit down and relax before we went out into the hot sun to take photo's! All in all it was a brilliant day!
Doug Relaxing
Ron texting
We are definitely doing brunch again!
We enjoy taking photos and videos of our travels and our lives in and around Taipei, Taiwan and the world. Most of this blog shows that. Well we decided to try and improve our skills and our friend Ron from Rosh Images has taken us under his wing to teach us photography. Today was our first Photowalk
Green Leaves (by Queenie)
Queenies Pictures
Some of Queenie's pictures were awesome. The one with the tomatoes and melon below is great and also the one with the dry leaves on the ground is a good picture that contrasts depth and color with detail. The squirrel picture is not quite right but it is cute so we just stuck it in there. Anyway, awesome pictures by Queenie
Squirrel Eating
Red Flowers
Leaves in a Line
Yellow Flower
Leaves in the Sky
Grounded Leaves
Flower Bed
Apples
Fruit
Paul's Pictures
Most of my pictures didn't really come out, but some of them looked ok. I had an awesome time taking them and lots of fun doing it. Some of my pictures are below. Hopefully the can improve (the one at the top of this post is one I took too.
Green Trees in Ta An Park
Branches in the Sky
Squirrel Rails (no one likes this one except me)
Tree Knots (bit blurred but the right idea)
Bark Texture
Anyway, we had an awesome time and appreciated the time Ron took out of his day to help us. So thanks Ron and Melody!
Ron and Melody (by Paul)
Let us know what you think of the pictures. We had a blast taking them and learning one or two things about photography. It was fun.
Springbok Supporters
Well the first game of the Springbok's international was on today. A few of us trooped off to the Taipei Brass Monkey to watch the game. We also ran into some old friends and had a thoroughly good time. We also had some dinner there (the chicken pies are always good) and one or two beers.
The game was a good one. Wales went ahead 16-3 in the first 20 minutes. The boks managed to pull it back and get to 31-19 with 12 minutes to play. The Welsh then ran in a try to push the score to 31-24. The boks managed to put over a penalty to push it up to 34-24 and then a bad mistakes by the Boks allowed the Welsh to run in another try to make it 34-31 with three minutes to go. It was a good game. We are glad the Boks won but kudos to the Welsh for keeping the game alive. Anyway, some of the pictures below of those who pitched up.
Doug and Queenie
Hector, Queenie, Andy and Paul
Doug, Queenie, Paul and Thomas
The Crowd
Queenie and Paul
Paul and Mark
Hector and Andy
Hector 
Hector and Queenie
Hector, Queenie, Andy
Mark
We had a great time with everyone. Thanks all for coming out to watch and support the Boks and the Welsh. We had fun. Next week, France! Oh, and by the way, The Brass Monkey is a good place to watch live sports. Two chicken pies and four beers only cost NTD1,038. Not bad for a night out.
Highlights of the game are below. Thanks RugbyDump.
