Istanbul

[MartinT]

Blue Mosque
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8445618208_29506b2dbf_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8190/8445617972_44ef07bf1d_b.jpg

I won the school staff photo prize for this one:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8218/8445617694_e8fc96f2eb_b.jpg

Hagia Sophia museum (previously mosque)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8329/8445617456_01ac90fdc5_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8215/8445617150_b4c2eb54eb_b.jpg

Cevahir Shopping Centre (Largest in Europe)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8359/8445616862_dbc9875931_b.jpg

Grand Bazaar
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8091/8444528403_729de2ff6c_b.jpg

Famous Old Coffee Shop in Bazaar
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8499/8445616150_07354c8732_b.jpg

[MartinT]

Basilica Cisterns
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8514/8450593859_7d57625262_b.jpg

Medusa Stone in the Cisterns
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8367/8451682490_521ca22609_b.jpg

Stall at Entrance to Topkapi
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8237/8451682404_0b4203f743_b.jpg

Lovely Pastries
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8374/8451681730_80b18479a6_b.jpg

Spice Bazaar
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8390/8451681512_39e39ac604_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8451681142_b7e6fc8eb0_b.jpg

[MartinT]

Our Hero's Name
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8515/8461566790_b0dede528a_b.jpg

Egyptian Needle 4th Century
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8248/8461566370_89b80482e8_b.jpg

Lamp Shop
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8516/8461569930_79d98bd8bd_b.jpg

Tram - amazing the inclines they could take
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8460469183_93ced763e9_b.jpg

Topkapi
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8373/8461573724_dafc25cccf_b.jpg

Sultan's Personal Guard (for show!)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8516/8460472941_996cb184d8_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8225/8461572722_e64f790525_b.jpg

[MartinT]

Dolmabahçe
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8374/8462243422_cff387e6e8_b.jpg

Süleymaniye Mosque (less known and quite stunning)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8462242630_33cd3410b4_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8234/8462260584_8617b8490f_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8462260166_438f872c20_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8111/8462263874_4404fa3a5d_b.jpg

[Spectral Morn]

Beautiful photos Martin


Regards D S D L

[Rare Bird]

Very nice Martin, the wife just spotted the colourful bags outside the shop, she bag mad :)

[Macca]

That medusa head! Fantastic! I guess that has just been lying down there for a few thousand years?

I'd love to get the carpeting contract for those mosques;)

[John]

Some fantastic photos Martin

[MartinT]

That medusa head! Fantastic! I guess that has just been lying down there for a few thousand years?

Yes, it's quite something that the Romans re-used it but deliberately put one on its side and another upside-down so that she wouldn't cast her powers over them! Here's the other one:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8509/8462283086_51e334352d_b.jpg

[Marco]

Hey, that'd look great in your listening room! :eyebrows:

Awesome pics, Martin - they give you a feeling of almost 'being there' :cool:

Marco.

[Thing Fish]

I spent a few months there. Really took me back.

[MartinT]

I spent a few months there. Really took me back.

Did you work there, Dave? How did you stand that heat every day?

[keiths]

Never been to Istanbul, but your photos make me want to rectify that. Thanks Martin.

[prestonchipfryer]

Some very nice pictures Martin. Turkey - a vibrant country, friendly, full of interest. The Souk is a magic place isn't it? Have always liked the south where the mountains give way to fertile land and then to the Mediterranean. Lovely. :)

[Barry]

Lovely photographs Martin.

I was in Turkey last October (when the temperature is quite bearable) and your shots of the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and of the Souk brought back the happy memories of that trip.

Thanks

Regards

[Alex_UK]

All really good Martin, I bet you're dead chuffed with your camera.

This one just swings it for me as being my favourite:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8451681142_b7e6fc8eb0_b.jpg

Breaks a few composition rules, and is a cracking reportage image - you can almost smell it.

[Barry]

All really good Martin, I bet you're dead chuffed with your camera.

This one just swings it for me as being my favourite:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8451681142_b7e6fc8eb0_b.jpg

Breaks a few composition rules, and is a cracking reportage image - you can almost smell it.

No, not really. Not every photographic composition has to obey the 'rule of thirds'. This one is 1:2, horizontally and 2:3 vertically. Anyway, it has a nice downward diagonal - from the illuminated shop sign at the top left, through the white-shirted shopper and down to the rows of grains at the bottom right.

A cracking image, as you rightly say.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Bugger the photographic technicalities - I've got a hankering to go to Istanbul. I've come close to going several times, but never managed it.
All this comes just days after I booked some flights to Greece!

Great photos, Martin. They do exactly what travel photos should do. Thanks for showing them to us.

...........now where's me diary?

[Thing Fish]

Did you work there, Dave? How did you stand that heat every day?

Never worked there. I was travelling around the world at the time and it took over a month to sort out my Russian visa. Damned Ruskies!

Never noticed the heat myself but then again I did live in Thailand for 4 years so am probably used to it...:)

[MartinT]

All really good Martin, I bet you're dead chuffed with your camera.

This one just swings it for me as being my favourite

Thanks, Alex! I am but a mere beginner but I do try with my compositions and I waited for the right gap when I took that one. The camera's good, but so much more complex than my previous one that it has taken me a while to get to the point where I'm worrying about composition and not what settings to use. The Panasonic manual may as well be written in Turkish!

[goraman]

Awesome pictures Martin!
Hey,I got a T61! I'm giving the Toshiba a much needed rest.

[MartinT]

Nice one Jeff, you can't go wrong with a ThinkPad.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Good show Martin!
All great shots with some real gems!
The one of the 2 ladys to the right of the frame is a beaut!
Darren Bradley on rpf would have a lot of time for these I'd reckon ...
My only comment would be to watch the level of your horizon ... The one of the mall would be spot on if it was slightly more level!
The one alex likes is very good too... As I said, really nice, and most importantly (like Darrens photos) they really capture the culture and give you a sence of what it's like there! I too now want to go!
You get anywhere with lightroom? Not that these seem to need any pp ... In fact I'd go as far to say that unless you have mastered you camera they have had a touch of adjustment??

[MartinT]

Thanks, Hamish. From an experienced photographer like you, that means a lot. The one of the two women guarding the prayer area is my favourite, too. Agreed that the Mall one is slightly off kilter, but I didn't want to straighten it in Photoshop.

Most have received only sharpening and reduction to 1024 size, a couple I played with the contrast slightly. All saved as hi-res JPG until I play with RAW a little more and get Lightroom going.

I'll be ordering Lightroom in a couple of weeks' time, as soon as I start on my new budget.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

I'll tell you what I'd do to the one of the two women ...
Just take a smidge off the bottom to balance the compo slightly better ... I'll show you what I mean if you like?

Don't be scared of moving away from the shot image ... If something would benefit from straightening then don't feel you are cheating ... The "perfect shot out of camera" mentality just come from the times when ametures didn't process thier own films etc ... We now have processing at our fingertips - it should be taken advantage of at every opportunity in my books!
The bit with the camera is half the process, it's nice to get it right straight away, but not essential

I feel like such a patronising tosser sometimes! I really hope it doesn't come across that way! You definitely have an eye Martin, it's quite impressive seeing how fast your getting to grips with it! (patronising again?)

[MartinT]

I'll show you what I mean if you like?

Yes, please!

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Yours

http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww282/hamish_gill/P1000227-3.jpg

Slight crop

http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww282/hamish_gill/P1000227.jpg

Its not a great deal, but to my eye, it sits slightly better ...
purely subjective of course ...

ive been a bit cheeky and had a play in lightroom too ... sorry Martin, i really hope you dont mind! As Hannah just said, not better, just different! hope you like it! (and you dont dislike me ;) )

http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww282/hamish_gill/P1000227-2.jpg

[MartinT]

Ahhh, I see where you're coming from, Hamish. A picture does indeed tell a thousand words. Your crop works very well, but I wouldn't have seen it. I'm just not there yet :o

As for your Lightroom version, it definitely is a different picture but I see how it better draws the eye to the two women. Nice!

Thanks for the lesson :)

[The Vinyl Adventure]

When you get lightroom, and you get a chance to play with the crop tool you will see things like that a lot quicker and easier
It gives you lots options for guides and measures etc that make it much easier ...
Id say you didnt spot it because you didnt look
playing with compo is very easy with pp and dedicated photo editing tools ... the process of just looking at what can be achieved with a bit of a minor crop hones the eye very quickly! the inevitable effect of this is positive on your actual photo taking ...
That said, your compo is probably as good as mine as it is ... most of what i do is corrective in the computer! :)

[Mark Grant]

Spice Bazaar
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8451681142_b7e6fc8eb0_b.jpg

Great Pictures, I particularly like the one above.

Light level looks low which can be difficult yet you have a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the walking people and enough depth of field to have lots in focus, I like it and it's such a contrast to the shopping centre picture. ( I much prefer 'olde worlde' bazaars to bling shopping centres..)

If you dont mind me asking, what Camera did you take, I remember you buying a Panasonic GF something or other with one lens ?

[MartinT]

Thanks, Mark. I was aware of the low light levels and doing my best marksman-holding-his-breath impersonation while taking the shot.

I have a Panasonic Lumix GF1 with the 14-45mm zoom lens and electronic viewfinder (an essential accessory, I think).

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JlhxOYgWL.jpg

I much preferred the Bazaar, too :)

[WOStantonCS100]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8218/8445617694_e8fc96f2eb_b.jpg

Is it wrong to say I wish this way my listening room?

Great work, Martin. I so need a better camera.

[MartinT]

Is it wrong to say I wish this way my listening room?

I'm not sure the clinking of a thousand light fittings 'singing' along with your music would add to the experience :)

[Batty]

I lived in Turkey for a year, your picture really take me back.

[MartinT]

Thank you, everyone. Your positive comments on my photos have really surprised and uplifted me :)

[anthonyTD]

Great picks Martin!
:)
A...

[MartinT]

Hey, I just won the overall best staff photo prize at work for my shot of the inside of the Blue Mosque (post #1, third photo). I'm well chuffed! £50 Amazon voucher and a subscription to Digital Photo for me :)

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Nice one matey!!
You been photoging much lately?
You should get some Istanbul shots on rpf ... I know people would be impressed!

[MartinT]

I haven't done much lately, Hamish, apart from project shots of my Caiman PSU upgrade. My next holiday will be in Houston in Easter and that will give me some more photo-fodder to try my hand at (although Houston is less than 5% as photogenic as Istanbul).

I'll get some more photos on RPF for assessment as soon as I can find some time :)

[The Vinyl Adventure]

It's not just for assesment Martin ... We mostly like just seeing photos! :)

[MartinT]

New Year's promise, I'll get to it!

[MartinT]

The reason why all the photos disappeared is due to my changing photo hosting away from my ISP to Flickr. I am gradually restoring all the images in this thread, so please bear with me :)

[vouk]

Absolutely stunning pictures Martin! Very well done!
I am taking my students on a field trip to Istanbul in early March. Would you mind if I used a few pictures of yours, in the context of a pre-trip class, to acquaint them with the "delights" they are about to encounter?
Goes without saying, proper acknowledgement of source/origin, will obviously be firmly noted.:)
Cheers.

[MartinT]

Hi John, thank you! I haven't finished migrating them all over yet, will do another batch later. I love Istanbul, been there a few times now and seen it change dramatically. A real mixture of old and new, steeped in history and with very friendly people. I can never get enough of it when I am there.

Of course, feel free to use the images. What/where do you teach?

[vouk]

Hi Martin,

Thank you so much for letting me use some of your images. In particular, those of the Egyptian market, the Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque are some of the best I've seen.
I teach Roman and Byzantine history and archaeology for the American School of Classical studies in Athens - through their teaching programme called College Year in Athens - 2nd and 3rd year American undergrads from all over the place who spend a year abroad studying in Greece. Istanbul is one of my favorite cities, by far. Always enjoy my time there.