This is the second part of my post about my visit to the Pingxi sky lantern festival. If you haven't already, make sure to read the first part here first!
1/125s; 20mm; f/3.2; ISO 900
Sky lanterns are often criticised for environmental pollution and are banned in many countries - in Brazil, launching a sky lantern is punishable with up to three years of jail! In Pingxi, the environmental pollution is reduced by clean-up crews searching the area all year round for crashed sky lanterns. Another risk of sky lanterns is harder to come by and when a strong wind set in just in the moment of the third launch, some lit up sky lanterns hovered dangerously low over the crowd and then got stuck in nearby trees and set them on fire:
1/250s; 18mm; f/1.8; ISO 6400
1/160s; 18mm; f/1.8; ISO 320
The fire was extinguished quickly, but not long after that, the weather caused trouble again when suddenly rain started pouring down exactly at the moment of launch. The sky lanterns did not make it and went out on the ground leaving behind disappointed visitors:
1/60s; 24mm; f/2.8; ISO 100
Despite the unfavourable weather conditions, during 90 minutes that the festival lasted, multiple rounds of sky lanterns were successfully let into the sky. This left me with enough time to get some good photos as well as enjoy the beautiful sky lanterns without a viewfinder in front of my eye!
1/200s; 22mm; f/3.2; ISO 1600
Even though the festival is very popular, nobody was trying to cash in on tourists - there is no entrance fee for visiting the festival grounds, the street food in the nearby town is priced reasonably and the provided shuttle buses to Taipei and towns east of Pingxi are cheap as well.
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1/125s; 19mm; f/2.5; ISO 1600
I can definitely recommend visiting the Pingxi Sky lantern festival if you are in Taiwan at Chinese New Year or Mid-Autumn Festival. Keep an eye on the official website if you are planning to go!
1/200s; 20mm; f/3.2; ISO 1600
Camera Gear
I captured these photos with my Nikon D5500* and a 18.0-35.0 mm f/1.8 lens.
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