Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Brown Bird

This brown bird was curious in that it was not spooked at all as we approached.  Sort of like a chicken...when you got within a couple of feet it crept cautiously out of the way.  A good subject because not only are they sort of pretty, they stand very still, listening for the movement of potential food among the leaves and undergrowth.

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Lantern Window Shot

Focus shift of same below:

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Lanterns Against the Sky

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Landscaped Flowers #2

Combination of stump shot along with a few flowers...wider shot below of entire plot:

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Landscaped Flowers #1

Every inch of a temple area that is not being used for active worship is meticulously landscaped; as a photographer I felt more comfortable focusing on this as opposed to the faithful and their implements.

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Dragon Contrast #2

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Dragon Contrast #1

I stepped back outside and settled for some exteriors of the temple, then the landscaping and shots from the immediate surrounding area.  The dwelling you see at top center will be featured again in a window shot captured later as I hiked on up the hill.

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Praying Buddhists

While hanging around the temple I heard a service of some sort starting.  There was a drumbeat and the tinkling of a small bell at intervals.  Upon stepping inside I saw the drummer, an older fellow looking at a sheet that must have contained an order of service or something similar.  He was separated from this group, to the right out of camera range.  As he was chanting and drumbeating I took a chance and, as he had his eye on me anyway, I pointed at my camera and raised my eyebrows in a gesture that asked, Can I use this?  At first he ignored me but I did it again and finally he nodded his assent.  The Bigger Cahoona and I got to work.

Sadly, though, this was the only keeper.  Mindful that the clack of the shutter would be distracting I never got close, trying to zoom in from a safe distance.  And with the middling lens that I was using, that meant shutter speeds that were just too slow to prevent the blurring shake for which the D850 is famous...

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Doorway

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Window #2

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Window #1

When walking around a temple with camera in hand I always approach the inner sanctum very gingerly, even if through a window.  Chose to remove the surrounding wall in the above; wider view below:

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Sideways Censers

Tried this shot on earlier trips, and believe I finally got what I want.  Not much smoke here, but the relatively shallow depth of field achieved the desired effect, with focus shifted at right.

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Large Incense Stick

It would have been a lot better had a trail of smoke been wafting from these ashes, as in this post and especially this one, but counted the above as a keeper anyway...

Taiwan - New Taipei Temple Area, Steps

At the trailhead leading up the mountainside, a few hundred feet ahead of the garden area just concluded in the last series, is a fairly large Buddhist temple.  All the color and pageantry centered around these temples is a boon for photographers, and most don't mind pictures so long as it's not intrusive.  I'm still careful, though, since a lot of what goes on are intensely personal experiences, acts of worship not intended for entertainment or display.

During past visits I've entered the complex from the side where the trail starts, but this time took these stairs from the street below and got this window shot.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, A Man After My Own Heart

Now here's a fellow that came for the right reasons!  Caught these on the way out after our last visit.

This concludes the series of the New Taipei garden area; next will be pictures taken at a nearby temple, then a hike further up the hill.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Praying Mantis

These guys were everywhere, more than I remember in past visits so it must have been the time of year (late May).  Fascinating creatures in both looks and behavior.

And it's these as well as other critters, especially caterpillars, that kept my sister-in-law away from the place.  Never seen anyone so terrified of anything that looks wormy; she ran into a small green caterpillar at my father-in-law's and screamed so bloody loud I thought someone in the neighborhood would call the police.  And, sadly, because she wouldn't come here Chenjean wouldn't either, out of respect for her jie-jie.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Stone Signage

I imagine - because I can't do anything else - that this sign, obscured by the surrounding foliage, says something profound...

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Curved Fence Line

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Leafy Window Shots

A couple of window shots, as I've come to call them.  View below is straight down the bridge, which leads to an unkempt pathway.  We went down that pathway but found ourselves in somebody's back yard, so turned back to the garden proper.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Spinning Ball

This guy really mystified me.  I stared at it a long time and there was nothing that held it in place other than the stream of water, yet it never wavered from its position.

Another view below:

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Snail on a Trunk

Here's a salute to nature's way of hiding precious life.  The Good Book says that Our Creator is in all and through all...apparent even - or perhaps especially - in a place as innocuous as an old decaying tree trunk.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Butterfly

Next to one or two of the flowers, this is my favorite among the pics captured in this series...of the 25-plus butterfly shots this was the only keeper.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Snake Skin Scarecrow

At first I thought a snake crawled up here and shed its skin.  It's apparent, however, that someone found this on the ground and strung it up here to serve as a scarecrow of sorts to keep wildlife away from the landscaping.

Still, it came from a much larger-than-average snake in Taiwan, and fueled our hopes of seeing one during our jaunts around the countryside.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Tire Steps

Clever use of resources...

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Hairy Balls #1

These strange things were full of white, cottony tufts that resembled dandelion seeds, also to be drifted with the wind...

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Lucky Residents

The folks living in this apartment building (seen in the background from the post of two days ago) got pretty lucky, as their back yard sure got a lot nicer in the last couple of years...

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Drainage Ditch

...and this is the continuation of the same drainage ditch where it looks a bit more like a drainage ditch.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Walkway Through Branches

Saw an opportunity here to take a picture of something (my nephew Terry) through something.  What he's looking at is nothing more than a drainage ditch gussied up to look like something other than a drainage ditch, and very successfully I think.

This view is standing about where Terry is, looking the other way:

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flower #15 (last one)

...and the last of the pretty flowers, but certainly not the least!  Plenty of beauty to share...and then some.

So we're going to depart from the flower thing for a while and take in more of what made up this garden area.  Gotta say that this was more than just a new pretty place to visit - it was emblematic of a larger beautification going on in Taiwan, and evident everywhere, not just Taipei.  People seemed to want to keep the place cleaner and showed more respect for their homeland and its visitors.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flower #14

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flower #13

Reminded me of this post upon completing post-capture on this guy.  Original touch-up below:

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flower #12

It's been stated by several review sites and professionals that the D850 is the best camera ever made by Nikon, and I believe it.  Even a beginner like me can coax a pretty good image out of its awesome sensor and technology, manipulating the most basic of features (plus a little Photoshop).  But one thing I've been having trouble agreeing with - and this is to my advantage - is the assertion that you absolutely have to have a tripod to get decent pictures from it.  99.5% of the pics posted here since acquiring the Bigger Cahoona have been hand-held or supported with whatever happened to be around, such as a side wall or horizontal surface such as the top of a post or countertop...

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flower #11 / The End of My TV Career

[continued from yesterday's post]

The summer of '77 ended, and at the age of 19 so did my time in television.  Larry and the gang liked my work and my work ethic, and there was even talk about sending me up to Dallas for more formal training at WFAA, our sister station there.  However, that idea was quietly dropped when it became obvious that my plan was to go to college instead.  Sometimes I wonder where I would have ended up if I'd stayed in the business, but don't regret the decisions I've made.

Many have asked, With the experience you had, why didn't you major in communications when you went to college?  That was for two reasons, one being ego and the other being the nature of the business:  One) I'd heard that at UT Austin, the number one school for mass media-related careers in the US and the one I would have chosen if I'd gone that route, students weren't allowed to even touch any equipment until their junior year.  With the experience I'd gained, following such a course would have been like a demotion;  The other) after having seen my older friends bounce around from one station to the other I saw the business as being inherently unstable, and wanted to pursue a steadier course into adulthood.

So the value we're left with is a little pride in having held my own doing what I did, even for a short time, and a few good stories now and then...

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flower #10 / Camera Duties at KFDM

[continued from yesterday's post]

I worked both with the news team and on the production side as studio cameraman at Channel 6, two part-time jobs.  As a result my name rolled twice from the character generator on air after the 6 and 10 newscasts.  Sometimes that was a source of pride, but on a few days I'd've given anything to have my name removed from the scroll due to my own screw-ups that, due to the nature of the beast, were literally on display to tens of thousands of viewers at once.

But working in both departments was also unique in that I was behind the camera (typically camera three, responsible for bump shots and Gary Powers doing the weather) that broadcast my teammates live for both half-hour casts, with production work for commercials, PSA's, and the like in between.  This is when occasionally something interesting happened.

One observation that stands out was how they did serial programming for daily broadcasts, such as one religious program that was aired every day in the very early morning.  If memory serves, the preacher's name was Pastor Daphney, and he would come in during the weekend to record all five weekday programs at once.  He brought with him five different jackets and ties, and after recording one five-minute program in the studio we'd wait for a few minutes while he changed into the jacket and tie that he'd chosen for Tuesday, and on from there until all five programs were in the can.  This was interesting to me and, as I didn't mind pulling weekend duty, I was often the one behind the camera during these recording sessions.

Another time a religious singing husband-wife duo came in to record a half-hour program of preaching and songs.  This was done during the week between the two newscasts, so we were kept busy with taping that program in addition to our other regular weekday duties.  Even so, I was on camera for their program, and was greatly moved by their singing - I have always been spiritually sensitive, and the sincerity and beauty that came out with those songs resonated deeply even at the tender age of 18.

After their show was taped, this couple seemed interested in how things worked at the station and decided to stick around to watch everyone do their thing.  Each evening at 9:30 we did a live teaser from the newsroom to promote the 10 o'clock newscast, and the three of us cameramen rotated this duty, getting the camera and lighting into position so that Cecile Burandt, or less often Larry Beaulieu, could do the cast.  Well, the religious couple decided to watch this, and were just out of camera range, when, less than a minute before the teaser aired I took off my headphones, peered out at them from behind the camera, and told them how much I enjoyed and appreciated the songs that they sang.  They appeared to be shocked, startled that this young kid behind the camera during their taping really noticed and felt edified by their ministry.  They nervously mumbled a thanks, and were still staring at me when I put the headphones on and began the cue sequence for Cecile.

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flowers #9 / Brush with Greatness at KFDM

[continued from post of two days ago]

I was at Channel 6 for just three months, but in that short time had experiences and met people unique to the industry that most don't encounter.  One of the more interesting of those times was the day that CBS came calling.

Being a CBS affiliate, whenever a news story of national interest happened in the area the network would use the facilities at our station to produce the story.  On one such day (this was the summer of 1977) the Secretary of Energy in Jimmy Carter's cabinet, James Schlesinger, was in Port Arthur on the nation's business.  Since he was our first Secretary of Energy, the press followed him closely as he carved out this new role.  And for CBS Eric Engberg was tapped to do the story.

Naturally there was a heightened buzz at the station as preparations were made for Mr. Engberg.  Upon returning from Port Arthur he and his sparse crew showed up and sequestered a desk.  I didn't really know what to do with these people around - and my role as newsfilm processor certainly wasn't needed, as the networks by then already were using the newfangled videotape - so after a bit I took my place on the stool in front my darkroom and just watched.

The desk that Mr. Engberg was using happened to be directly across from my perch.  He was on the phone when I heard him say, "Let me talk to Walter", and he started talking in earnest with none other than Walter Cronkite as they arranged how his story would fit into the 5:30 evening newscast.  Here I was, an ungainly teenager with no real experience in the business, looking at a man who at the moment was speaking the the most trusted man in America!  Honestly I was a little star-struck.

A bit later, as we were all scurrying around doing our jobs for the day, I passed the film archive room, the door to which was opened a crack, and heard Mr. Engberg doing his voiceover for the story.  Pretty neat, I thought, knowing that those words would later be heard by millions of viewers across the country.  Remember that this was before the internet, or even cable TV to speak of, so everybody turned to one of the three networks (CBS, NBC or ABC) for the news of the day, and it was very highly competitive.

Then, when the time came at 5:30, Mr. Engberg went into the station lobby and watched on a TV that was in the corner always tuned, of course, to Channel 6.  He and his little crew were sitting on a couch with a few of us local guys standing directly behind them as the story aired.  My impression was that they were relaxed enough, but there was also an undercurrent of tension as they silently critiqued their own work.

So those are some of the highlights of my time as newsfilm processor at Channel 6 in Beaumont.  Just like CBS was top of the network heap in terms of ratings and integrity, KBMT was at the top of the heap locally thanks to the leadership of Larry Beaulieu, and I was mighty proud to be a part of that team.  When it was time in the fall to go off to college at SFA in Nacogdoches, I left feeling like a winner.

But that was not near the extent of my duties at the station.  In fact my job with news was only part-time.  After the newsfilm was all processed and my work was done there, I trotted off to my other part-time job in the studio to man the cameras for the live newscasts at 6 and 10, with production work in between...

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flower #8

Don't know what kind of flower we have here, but certainly captures the attention.  Angled perspective of same below:

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flower #7 / Allan Gets a Ticket

[continued from yesterday's post]

While perched on that stool I got to watch the goings-on in the news room and sometimes was asked to help with this or that.  The Gong Show came on at 3:00 or 3:30, which the reporters would watch religiously (and raucously) if they weren't out on a story.  Occasionally a school group would come in and I'd show them the dark room and some film canisters to demonstrate where the stories came from.  The prop master was an old black man, whom they called "Deac" because he was a deacon in his Baptist church, and I'd talk to him or help him out with heavy lifting.  Or sometimes I'd just sit on my stool and zone out, saving energy for the pre-air rush to process the incoming film.

This being a TV newsroom, there was a shelf with all kinds of radios monitoring what was going on in the area, including fire, police, and other services of potential interest.  This shelf with these radios happen to be above the door to my darkroom, and on one of my zone-out days I was listening to the chatter with mild interest when I heard something that made me perk up.  Not sure I was hearing right, I stood up, turned around and tried to focus...which radio would that be coming from, and could it be so?  Yes, there it was again - they were saying MY NAME on the police radio!

There are virtually no other Mahood's on earth, so it definitely had to be me or someone connected with my family.  Sure enough, as the transmissions continued I learned that my brother Allan was in the process of getting a traffic ticket!  HA!  Have I got one over on him this time!

It was anticlimactic, though, because when I got home he just shrugged his shoulders and said that Yes, he got a ticket, no big deal.  If it had only happened a few years earlier...

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flowers #6 / My Channel 6 News Job

[continued from yesterday's post]

So I was on my way to interview with the news director at Channel 6, Larry Beaulieu, but wondered how a teenager like myself might be of value to a news team.

Turns out they recently had a guy that quit, and were in need of what was called a "news film processor".  This was back in the days of 16mm acetate film, before the analog video cassettes had caught on in medium markets like Beaumont.  Larry showed me the darkroom with the big cabinet-sized film processor used to develop the film that the reporters used to capture their stories.  After the orientation he asked, could I do it?  Sure, I said.

During my first few days a reporter named Olin Frazier was the guy that trained me on the processor - a big cabinet-sized contraption that took up most of the space in the tiny dark room with vats full of the chemicals necessary to develop the film.  I was amazed that, after the stories were turned in by the reporters, he turned the lights off and worked totally in the dark, unloading each canister and spooling everyone's undeveloped stories onto a big reel, stapling them together as he reached the end of one and beginning of another.  Then, still in the dark, he loaded the reel full of stories onto the machine and turned on a switch.  A very long leader then served to thread the undeveloped stories through each chemical vat in the right order and for the correct amount of time (the more loops in the vat the more time it spent there).  Once that started we could turn the lights on and monitor progress...it took about a half hour for a full reel to make it through the vats and the dryer section at the end.  Once the day's film was done it was delivered into the newsroom where a sort of cattle call took place and the reporters all scrambled to get their stories, which had to be edited and spliced before air.

This was 1977, when Larry was News Director and principle anchor, Cecile Burandt was co-anchor, a guy named John Pronk covered the human interest side, Carl Pendley did the noon news, Olin Frezier did general reporting, Cy Hurst was on sports, and Gary Powers did the weather with Jim Lago doing the weather on weekends.  There was also a short red-headed girl reporter whose name I've forgotten.  Of course I'd seen them all on TV growing up and it was a kick hanging around watching them bustle around getting their stories ready for air on the 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. newscasts.  And, as their new newsfilm processor, it all funneled through the little darkroom that had become my territory.  A heady experience, but I didn't dwell on the importance of my role, just the mechanics of how to do it right.  And most times I was successful, but on a few sad occasions it didn't turn out so well.

It was a bit tedious but not rocket science, and by the end of the first week I was handling everything on my own.  It became my routine to arrive at about 2:30 in the afternoon, make sure the equipment was tuned and ready for the day's work, and otherwise busy myself before the stories came trickling in as the reporters returned to the station.  If I got things done early and there was a little time, I sat on a stool outside the dark room door and watched whatever was happening in the news room.

It was on that stool when, one day, something caught my ear that caused me to perk up and listen very intently...

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flower #5 / My Channel 6 Interview

My birthday passed not long ago, and lately I've learned to make things easier on the kids by just texting a list of what they should get for me.  This year it was a power cord for the Bigger Cahoona so that we can get serious about time lapse, and a book by David Attenborough called Life on Air.  Only am about ten pages deep, but already am hooked by his sense of adventure and easy style of writing.  And the stories he relates about the earliest days of television and what was done to produce programming had me reminiscing about my own not-quite-so-early days in the medium.

As stated in this post, I was recruited to be on the charter production crew to inaugurate the broadcast of Trinity United Methodist's Sunday service in the spring of 1977, having been recommended by the associate pastor as a result of my experience in radio.  It was exciting to jump from radio to television, and I was eager to learn.  It's obvious by the picture posted on March 23 (2019) that I started on camera, but by the end of the spring I was setting up equipment and had moved up to switching.  The guy from Channel 6 (KFDM) that directed us all was named Ed Smith, who was on their sales team but, like us, did production work when he was young.

Ed and I got along well, and he encouraged me to apply at Channel 6 for a position on the camera crew.  I submitted an application to the programming director, Jeff Pryor, in person so that he would remember who I was, but he informed me that there wasn't anything available at the time.  I said OK, I'd be back later.

And I sure was.  The following week I stopped by again, but still no bite.  A week after that I peeked into his office for a third time, by which time we were getting to know each other...or at least he was getting to know of my tenacity and the fact that I was not going to go away.  Not long after that third visit I got a call to report to the station because they wanted to interview me for a position on the news team.  Wow - finally in!  But what would I do on a news team?

Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flowers #4

Focus shifted to the pink variety below (click to enlarge):