Media interview for Pazza

First Exhibition Media Day!

Click to see the links below

Making picture frames

Making your own picture frames adds that little extra touch to presenting your work. Not only can you custom make them to size, you can also make unique shapes and sizes to suit your photos as well as stain.

Taichung night views, the light installations at the new National Taichung Theater

A new opera house has opened in Taichung, National Taichung Theater. These light installations were set up for two months outside the theatre, a total of 4 by Subkarma.

For more photos and information visit http://www.pazzastudio.com/pazza-studio-news

Pasta'Ay festival 2014

The Pasta'Ay festival 2014 in Chuchuan Hsinchu 巴斯達隘; 矮靈祭. 

This festival is held every 2 years by the Saisiyat Aboriginal tribe, 賽夏族, where they dance and chant from 6pm to 6am. The ritual starts by lighting 4 fire on the outside of the dancing area, in a square. The tribal people then link up by holding hands for the long ceremony, with a selected number of people carrying the "chairs" in which the spirits sit in. To ward off bad spirits, spectators get a strand of grass tied to their arm and on their camera gear before entering the ritual zone.

For more click "read more below"

Pazza Studio is now officially on Google maps! Great news and I hope it is useful to anyone wanting to find me.

I will be posting more "behind the scenes" photography tips on some of my projects.

My new studio is finally opened and functional. After a rest for over a year from a neck injury, I'm back at work and photographing. I hope to be posting on a regular basis again. Here are a few photos of my studio.

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Orchid Island

Here is a quick preview of Orchid Island, also known as Lan Yu, my favourite of all the small islands surrounding Taiwan. I visited the island last year on a scuba diving trip and found it to be one of the most unspoilt and traditional places in Taiwan. A beautiful island with native people still living a traditional life style. I will post a full article on the island soon with places of interest and more about the local culture.

To view more click "read more below"

Sakura bloom in Nantou central Taiwan

Sakura is the Japanese name for the Japanese Cherry (Prunus serrulata)  tree. At this time of year they bloom in various places throughout Taiwan. Although not as spectacular as the Sakura blossom in Japan, they still attract a number of visitors each year.

 

To view more click below

Recently, I have been so busy making a new commercial website that I have been unable to post a lot on my personal blog. Nor have I had the time to go out and photograph events and hikes and take new wildlife shots. Hopefully I will be back on track soon and posting interesting articles on my recent adventures, hikes and what I call my "personal photography".

Re-Inauguration of President Ma Ying Jeou

The official re-inauguration of Taiwan's President Ma Ying Jeou for his second term was held on May 20th, much to the controversy of opposition parties. The DPP and other opposition parties joined together to hold massive anti-government protests throughout Taipei, expressing their hate and dissatisfaction with the government. The protests lasted two days at different locations in Taipei, including marches from 3 locations on Sunday to a central meeting point. Outside Taipei Main Train Station protesters blocked off the street and protested non stop for two days, going on through the night on Saturday. The national flag was taken down and the TAIUNA - The Taiwan United Nations Alliance flag was raised flapping in the wind. As well as protesting against Ma Ying Jeou, the opposition parties were campaigning for the release of the former president Chen Shui Bian who is currently serving a 19 year sentence for bribery and embezzlement of government funds.

To read more click below

The Lantern Festival in Taiwan, the full story

The famous Lantern Festival in Taiwan

        The Lantern Festival, also known as the Yuanxiao Festival is a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar calendar, the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration. It is commonly regarded as one of the most important and romantic festivals in Taiwan. The festival is celebrated with lantern making and displays of lanterns along with big firework displays. The main event, hosted in a different town or city every year, was hosted in Lukang, a small town in Changhua county, Taiwan. Many other events were held all over Taiwan such as the Sky Lantern Festival in PingXi, It was estimated that over 5 million people from all over the country attended the festival in lukang which lasted a week. On the opening day, performers from Japan held a parade through the streets of Lukang along with a number of other festivities. The President Ma Ying Jeou camt to welcome the opening of the festival, light the huge dragon lantern and start the opening fireworks display.

The main Dragon Lantern

To read the full article, click on "read more below"

Make the most of your studio

Your studio is a really valuable space whether you photograph products, portraits, fashion, animals or any other subjects. If like me you only have a small studio, about 5m by 5m, you really need to maximise its potential and exploit every corner and bit of space. Because of this I decided to paint the walls different colours and I built sets which can be moved around and put together in different combinations. My friend Evan who is an artist painted one of the walls for me with lots of blended colours. This has a nice effect as depending on which colour I light it up with, it looks different. Hope you enjoy the sample pictures......

I will be posting portrait photos taken in my studio at a later date.



To see more click on "read more" below

A quick preview of the Lantern Festival in Taiwan: the year of the dragon

Recently I have been so busy I haven't had time to post much on my blog or website. Though I have attended a few events including the lantern festival which is held every year, in a different city in Taiwan.

This year is the year of the dragon in the Chinese zodiac. A quick preview of some of the sights, I will put a full post later this week.

It was so crowded, I ended up climbing up the side of a building to the roofless top to get some reasonable photos! I was asked to come down at one point by the police who were desperately trying to clear the street so the parade could get through. I played the dumb foreigner card and asked them to smile for the camera.

Perched on this wall 3 stories up, I finally manged to get some good shots.

To see more click below

City views

Taichung City at night.

Sunset over Angkor Wat

Images from Cambodia.......

Unfortunately my trip to Cambodia was a bit unprepared. I travelled with minimum gear (camera only), a small backpack with two sets of clothes that I hand washed every day and a sunhat. At the sunset, trying to keep as steady as I could, I sat there with my cheap travel lense on the camera and captured this image. Guess I'll just have to go back!



City views

Rainbow over Taichung, Taiwan after the storm.

Chinese New Year 2012

Chinese New Year 2012 - Year of the Dragon

Gong Xi Fa Ca! The traditional Chinese New Year greeting which means "wishing you prosperity" in Mandarin.

The New Year is the longest and most important of the Chinese holidays, celebrated by millions of ethnic Chinese people all over the world. For many it is the biggest family reunion for which people endure hours of cramped travel on public transportation to get home. The festival, which last 15 days, begins on the first day of the month with the Chinese calendar known as "Zhen yue" and culminates on the date of the full moon with the lantern festival. Each of the 15 days has a particular role, often the first day is set aside for people to honour the elders within their family. Ceremonies are held to pay homage to deities and ancestors in which people pray for good harvest and good fortune. It is also known as Spring Festival as it is the start of spring in the Chinese calendar and marks the end of the winter season .

At Songbolin Temple, one of the most popular around Changhua County, situated at the bottom of the Ba Gua Shan mountain range, thousands of people gather on New Year's Day to receive blessings, worship and pray for their ancestors and prosperity. Below is a full article on the festival along with a series of photographs.

To read the full article click "read more" below

City views

Early morning sunrise in Taichung City. Cloudy skies but no haize gave an amazing light and view of the mountains around the city.

Indian Cabbage White Butterfly

Indian Cabbage Butterflies (Pieris Canidia) reproducing, spot the intruder! I was taking a break from photographing products in my studio, went outside and sat in the wild flowers to photograph these butterflies.

For bigger view click on the picture

To see more click "read more" below

Dogbane Leaf Beetle