Year of the Ram Chinese New Year Lantern Festival (2003) (enlarge photo)

The Chinese New Year holiday season brings many certainties to Taipei, with large crowds, bright lights and endless noise being among the most dominant. The year of the Ram (Sheep or Goat too, depending on the translation) began with a few million bangs in early February 2003. On the first full moon of the Lunar New Year begins, the Lantern Festival begins. In recent years, Taipei has held their mammoth Lantern Festival celebration on the grounds of the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Literally thousands of lanterns are eagerly viewed by hundreds of thousands, if not millions of visitors over the course of the week-long celebration.

Having attending this spectacle in previous years, I had a good idea of what to expect as far as lighting, crowds and the physical setup of the area. This experience helped, as I was able to work my way through the crowd, setup and then leave the area before the relentless crowd ruined my enjoyment of the event!

My vision for the photo was simple enough - a straight shot of the major lantern with the memorial in the background. I wanted to include the ever-present crowd, as the people are what truly make this event memorable. I had hoped to include the rising full moon beyond the memorial, but the clouds were unwilling to cooperate this year. Length of exposure was important - too short and not enough laser flashes would have been recorded. Too long and the people in the crowd wouldn't have recorded as desired.