Xiaoyoukeng Volcanic Landscape, Yangmingshan, Taiwan
I did not know what to expect from Xiaoyoukeng before we visited. Yangmingshan National Park was on the itinerary as a day away from the city, somewhere to get some green after several days of temples and concrete. What I found was one of the most visually extraordinary landscapes I have photographed anywhere in the world.
Xiaoyoukeng is a volcanic fumarole area on the northern rim of Yangmingshan, and the first thing you notice when you approach is the smell. Sulphur, sharp and unmistakable, carried on whatever breeze is coming off the hillside. The second thing you notice is the colour. The rock formations around the fumaroles are stained deep rust-red and burnt orange by iron minerals deposited over centuries of volcanic activity, and that colour sits in almost violent contrast to the vivid tropical green of the vegetation clinging to the slopes above.
From a landscape photography perspective this place is remarkable. The colour palette alone is unlike anything I have encountered in the British Isles or in the alpine landscapes of Switzerland. That deep mineral red against the tropical green, with a blue sky and building clouds above it, produces a combination that feels almost artificially saturated in the photographs and yet is entirely faithful to what was actually in front of me.
The terrain is rough and uneven, a series of crusted rock shelves and channels carved by centuries of water running over the mineral deposits. Small waterfalls appear where the water finds a path through, and the flow stains the pale sections of rock orange and rust as it goes. I shot both a wide view to establish the scale of the landscape against the hillside, and a tighter version that focused on the rock texture and the way the small waterfall threads through it.
The best light at Xiaoyoukeng is morning, before the haze builds. We were there in mid-morning and caught some excellent cloud movement over the peak above, which gave depth to what could otherwise be a flat blue sky. The steam from the fumaroles is a useful compositional element if the conditions are right, adding movement and atmosphere to the upper part of the frame.
Yangmingshan is about 40 minutes from central Taipei by bus and the contrast between the city and this landscape could not be more complete. If you are spending time in Taipei and you have any interest in landscape photography, Xiaoyoukeng should be on your list. There is genuinely nothing else quite like it.
