Photography

Learning to Fly: Paragliding in Fang Liao Taiwan

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learning to paraglideRecently I’ve been working on a series of articles about paragliding in Taiwan.  I’ve been learning how to paraglide, and about the evolution of paragliding in Taiwan, from Malcom Vargas who is, as far as I know, the only certified foreign paragliding instructor in the country.  These are some photos from one of my first outings with Malcom taken while he taught two other students: Tim Hillebran and Paul Wesson.

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Wang Yeh Burning Boat Festival Taiwan

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The Wang Yeh boat burning festival occurs once every three years.  Disease spreading ghosts, or Wang Yeh, are lead onto the boats by priests and mediums.  The boat, sitting atop a mountain of ghost money (money burned by locals for the benefit of their dead ancestors) is then burned, sending the spirits back to their world, hopefully taking their plagues with them.  This year, I believe, there was a special focus on H1N1 (the Swine Flu).

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Crocodile King Exotic Mutant Animal Farm

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A photo essay I shot on a trip to the Madou Crocodile King farm, a small private zoo in Tainan County, Taiwan, that features various exotic and mutated animals and one gigantic crocodile.  The crocodile, stuck in a tiny pen for several years, has become extremely fat.  Seriously.  The largest crocodile ever recorded was 8.6 m long and weighed 1,350 kg.  This croc, according to the sign, was 5.2 m long and 1250 kg, which puts it in the running for the fattest croc in the world.  It’s so fat and slow that you can walk up behind it and sit on it.  We did.  Check it out.

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The Kenting Aquarium

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A short photo essay that I shot on a trip to the the world renowned National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium in Pingtung County, Southern Taiwan.  Unfortunately, the light in the aquarium is very low, and flash photography is prohibited, so was a tough shoot, but I got some good pretty good pictures including some manta rays, penguins, and a massive whale shark.

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