Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, One Last Look...

What photographer could resist taking one last shot at this contrast of color, celebration of solitude, and dedication to vocation that this lady has on display.  By the time we moved on I felt as though I'd found a friend, though it's doubtful that the feeling would be mutual.  Couldn't help but wonder, though - Who is this lady, out there all by herself?  Where does she live?  Does she have kids?  Does she come here often?  How many fish are in that bucket to her left?

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Yet More of the Fisherwoman

OK, so we're not done with her yet.  Using the awesome zoom of the Bigger Cahoona's vacation walkabout lens, plus the incredible light-grabbing pixels of its full-frame sensor, I was able to capture a closeup of our friend along with her "kit", as they would say in England.

A wider, compositionally superior cropping of the exact same picture below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, More of the Fisherwoman

Had to get some more of this gal, so compositioned her atop the arch featured in yesterday's post.

Just her pole is visible below (probably noticeable only on a larger screen), along with a much wider window shot featuring our friend at bottom:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Focus-Shifted Fisherwoman

Ah...and THIS is what Jon was looking at!  What a find, this woman in her bright colors against the dark gray rocks.  Could not resist a focus-shifted shot per below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Beach Photographer

This is Jon, a photographer of such talent that all I had to do was follow him around to borrow his eye, at times standing in his exact spot to try and capture what he saw in a scene.  Interesting to me was the fact that he was satisfied with his phone camera as the primary tool on our excursions together.  A very well-traveled person, along with his bride Tammy, it was inspiring to see a couple so compatible with regard to retirement goals and lifestyle.

In tomorrow's post you'll see my efforts to emulate Jon from where he's standing below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, More Driftwood and General Beach Shot

Some more examples of driftwood that dotted the shore.  Some people collect these, and it's easy to see why, but here it's against the law...

Here we go with a general shot of the beach.  Not sure whether those protrusions occur naturally, or whether they are eroded cement barriers placed by the government to prevent erosion:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Volcanic Rock Plus Fossils

Aside from the smooth, rounded rocks that made the beach such a neat place, there were many other wonders such as this guy, obviously of volcanic origin.  Standing next to the placid sea with gentle waves lapping the shore, it's easy to forget that this island was formed from strong and frequent earthquakes, where the very ground we were standing on was once the scene of boiling magma rivers and violently moving earth.

And on this trip we got a little taste of what that might have been like, as we were there on April 3rd when a 7.4 quake struck the eastern shore of Taiwan.  By the time it wrapped around to us, however, it was only 4.1 in magnitude.  Interesting nonetheless, as the houses, buildings and ground were noticeably shaking in Chiayi County.

Below are a couple of fossil rocks that reveal the life found here long long ago:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Selfie Taker

Now this is something I found to be a little bit funny.  At first I wondered what she could be doing, but then I saw her posing for a selfie:

Does it strike anyone else as funny that an attractive girl should go by herself to a place, then take selfies?  I thought it odd, but it's not the first time I've seen it.  In Canada a year ago there was another girl doing the same thing, only in a very crowded environment on the shores of Lake Louise.  A very nice looking Asian girl, and quite by herself, posing for pictures with the lake as a backdrop.  Seemed like she was having a very good time.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Beach Rock Background

...and speaking of rocks, thought this might make a good background someday.  Colors were highly saturated.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Rocks Placed on Landscape

Again, not sure of the reasons for this...might be because it's just fun to do.