📷 Nature's Wonder, and How People Can Ruin It

29mm, f/8, ISO 200, 1/80 seconds exposure 

Last weekend I went to photograph the elephant rock at ShenAo (google map), in north eastern Taiwan. The photo above is a view of the mountains seen from ShenAo.

This is a place I visit quite often to photograph landscapes and the uniquely-formed natural rock cliffs that resemble an elephant, but this time I was shocked to see the amount of people here!

This place wasn't very well known until a while ago thanks to the news and social media. Now look at this place! There are people everywhere! The worst part is that the amount of garbage that people have brought with them. It's okay to come here but at least have the decency to respect the environment and take your trash along with you.

When I was here last, at around the same hour of day, there were literally no one here. And I could compose freely. This time I didn't even want to compose my shot before sunset until at least more people have left the area.

When the crowd started to disperse, I managed to set up my tripod in a familiar location and took this shot:

19mm, f/8, ISO 400, 10 seconds exposure with a gelled flash to light the main subject against the setting sky.

I will most likely return again to try different compositions, as I have already shot this one many times. This time there were simply way too many people.

After sunset, I looked back at the mountains earlier and took a shot of the the mountains and the glittering lights of the houses in the far distance.

28mm, f/8, ISO 1600, 30 seconds exposure

Hope you enjoyed the photos, and remember to take your garbage with you when you visit!

---