Well I came back from Taiwan!!! Bunch of photos to go through and edit, that's why this is later than usual...
We photographers, be it hobbyist or professional or just a simple human being, would certainly love to take beautiful photos when we are traveling. Difference is that one would spend how much time on taking photos. Me being me, had plans to take photos of street, sunrise, sunset, portrait of my family, etc... And it did get into our schedule as we constantly stopped at spots and take minutes of photos. Don't look down on these "minutes" of time, as it adds up to hours and ultimately destroys your plans. At one particular spot, a famous landmark at Nantou where I spent half an hour just to take photo of the temple. One of the shots (below), is probably one of my prized shot of the whole trip, was done in the expense of my family's precious time. Of course I got nagged by my wife (she was hungry...) and my parents-in-law were sitting there doing nothing waiting for me to finish my shots... So here is the question, how important is photography when you are traveling (with family in this case)?
Traveling with others is never easy, especially when you are going to do it with parents. Some places are hard to access due to walking or even climbing, and usually the best scenery requires more of that. There were 3 main spots which I planned for the trip with the intention of spending time on taking photos. First being Gaomei Wetland, which failed miserably due to heavy cloud on horizon (can barely see the sunset...) and very strong wind (my driver was kind enough to send my family to a place nearby where there's shelter while I stayed there for sunset). Then, Sun Moon lake which also failed due to foggy and overcast sky BUT I managed to visit this temple (highly recommended by driver) and nailed couple of satisfying shots. Lastly, Cingjing which I planned for sunrise (this was the easiest as everyone else was sleeping hehe...). Although the sun didn't burn as much as I hoped for, it gave me a different kind of shot in return I have to thank my family for being so patience and understanding, and it made me rethink the way I should behave when I'm traveling with family. Taking beautiful is important, but spending time with family is more important than anything else. Chances of spending time with family will only get lesser as they are not getting any younger, while you still have a live long of time ahead of you, and you can visit the place whenever you want and take your own sweet time to do the things you like. So spend more time with your family, enjoy the scenery together and be happy together.
"Take more photos of you and your family, as you all will grow older and things will change, but the scenery will always be there and it will wait for you as long as it can."
week 42
文武庙 by Lee Wooi Chun, on Flickr
Sony A7ii + Samyang 12mm f2.8 AS NCS Fish-eye