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: