What’s The Context?

While I love pretty much all Markets I visit, one of my favorites is in Taipei. This is Shilin Night Market. Easily one Southeast Asia’s largest and most popular night markets. Talk about sensory overload. Neon lights, pulsing music, tightly packed crowds, and food. Ohhhhhh the food. As an American and frequent European market visitor, I’m used to being able to identify pretty much everything. Well that goes out the window here. I couldn’t tell you what half the stuff here was. And that’s part of the fun. Shooting cities for the first time always gets me excited.

What Was I Trying to Capture?

This was my firt visit to Taipei. When first exploring a city I try to capture to tourist and local essence of a place. Which tends to be two entirely different things. Where each group eats, shops, and congregate tend to be different. Taipei is a bit different. The night markets here aren’t only popular tourist destinations, but their an integral part of local life. With locals often leaving work and heading over to these markets all around the city.

Vendors like this woman have helped sustain markets like Shilin since 1913. Shilin moved to it’s current location, Jihe Road, in 2011. It’s estimated to have nearly 600 different stalls selling everything from blowtorch cooked steak to the famous Stinky Tofu. This shot has been a mystery to me for years. I’ve asked friends living in Taipei as well as Taiwanese friends. None can identity what she’s preparing. And she had a line of dozens waiting for whatever this is.

My Settings:

Hand Held or Stabilized: Hand Held
Exposure: 1/80 sec at F/5.6
Focal Length: 63MM
ISO: 1000
Lighting: Florescent light. Night Market Lighting
Body: Sony A7S
Lens: Sony FE 28-70

Taipei Travel Tips and Guide: If I’m being perfectly honest, I didn’t find Taipei particularly exciting. The city itself didn’t have much to offer me outside of food. Now don’t get me wrong, the food is amazing and affordable. But overall the city itself doesn’t have much to offer beyond a few days. With that said, I would recommend a visit for the food culture alone and definitely some day trips.

Taipei has a wide range of excellent accommodation offerings. Meander Taipei is where I suggest any backpacker stay. Comfortable beds and a really good vibe. While Taipei hotels aren’t as affordable as places in say Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok, they are a pretty good value. There’s no reason to spend more than $200 a night on the high end and you can find some great deals around $50. On the higher end, The Gaia Hotel. I’ve heard it’s getting a bit expensive but I absolutely adore this hotel. On the lower and I highly recommend Swiio Hotel.