太鲁阁 (Taroko Gorge)

据说，台湾是400万年前，欧亚大陆板块与菲律宾海洋板块相互撞击，剧烈的地壳变动，使地层急剧上升而形成的岛屿。

来到太鲁阁国家公园，目睹了此地独特的地形与岩石，和人工开拓却不失其自然风貌的道路，步道，桥梁，庙宇等，大开眼界之遗，心境也顿时开朗起来，虽然背着不轻的背包，却一点也不觉得累。

太鲁阁国家公园范围极为广大，因为时间关系，我们只参观了长春飞瀑与砂卡礑步道(Shakadang Trail)一带九牛一毛的风景，不能尽兴而归。

相片中红桥（图一）左边有一座阶梯，往下走就到达砂卡礑步道的入口（ 图二）。在步道中行走，沿途可观赏左边幽美的峡谷河床，及右边和头上的岩石壁（图三）。这里的溪水清澈蔚蓝（图四），令人有下去嬉水的冲动。

长春飞瀑是長春祠与飞流而下的山水所构成的景色（图五），位于青山绿水间的长春祠，是为了纪念修筑中横公路的殉难者而建的。从弥陀岩（图六）前往長春祠的台阶中途，有座观音洞（图七），洞内有观音石佛及横贯公路的施工全图。古色古香的長春祠周围，有亭子石阶与山上流下的泉水（图八）。

As a nature lover, Taroko Gorge National Park is one of the places in Taiwan that I appreciate best. Unfortunately due to time constraint, we only managed to visit very few places of the national park. Below is some brief introduction of the photos taken around the place.

At one end of the red bridge (photo 1), there is a staircase that leads us down to the entrance of the Shakadang trail (photo 2). This trail is built along the river cliff so travelers can easily observe both the rock folds and plant ecosystem beside in the river valley (photo 3). The pool with clear blue water here is so enchanting (photo 4) I feel like going down for a swim.

The Eternal Spring Shrine and the waterfall (photo 5) present a scenic view to visitors. Near to the Amithaba Rock (photo 6), there is a Guanyin Cave (photo 7) built to commemorate the 226 personnel (military veterans) who died during the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway. At the surrounding of the Eternal Spring Shrine, there are some nicely built shelters, stairs and natural stream of water (photo 8) that flows down from the mountain.

日月潭 (Sun Moon Lake)

日月潭，是台湾最大的淡水湖，不仅名字优美如诗，景色也像画般山明水秀，是摄影同好们取景的好地方。

到达日月潭，大约九点多左右，这并非摄影的最佳时刻，拍不到日出时的绮丽气势，也捕抓不到日出前那静如止水的气氛。

既然已到来，当然不能空手而回。于是就尝试用不同程度的白平衡 (White Balance) 拍摄了不少的相片。

在此四张不同白平衡程度拍摄出来的相片中，你个人较喜欢哪一张？

Sun Moon Lake is one of the most scenic places of Taiwan. It is a heaven for a photography enthusiast like me.

I experimented with different White Balance setting to obtain different feel. The effect of different temperature setting towards the final image is amazingly vast, as can be seen in the images shown above.

My personal preference is a little colder temperature that gives rise to a bluish scene. However, overusing the white balance also will give rise to an artificial feel that many people dislike and try to avoid. This obviously is down to personal liking.

Do you mind to share which of the photographs above do you like the most?

早晨的月亮 (Morning Moon)

十一月的台湾，清晨来得特别早，夜幕也在六点钟就开始降临。

在台东温泉旅店一觉醒来，发现窗外的风景分外迷人。缠绵了一夜的月亮依依不舍，高挂天边久久不愿离去。

浪漫美丽的一幕，好想让时间就此停留住。我不假思索把相机拿出，一口气拍了好几张月亮与大地离别在即的情景。

没有分离，哪来再见的欢喜？每一个结束，都是为新的开始做准备；每一个开始，又何尝不是为必然会到来的结束作准备呢。。。

活在当下，也许是最佳的生活方式把。

The breathtaking view from the balcony of our hotel in Taitung in the early morning inspired me to start taking photos even before I washed up.

Since trying up shooting in RAW (instead of JPEG) format recently, I have been craving for more and the view in front of me presented with just such a golden opportunity.

The beauty of the morning moon overlooking the scenic environment prompted me to wish that I could be here forever.

With the full control over the white balance for RAW format, I am able to bring out the rich blue tone of the sky and the mountain that I prefer (over warmer color), hence freezing the moment and the scenic view forever electronically….