xmagination Blog - photography » Turkey

Istanbul – Final Impressions

Andreas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:09:48 +0000

Istanbul is a beautiful city which I will definitely visit again! It is only 2.5 hours away from where I live but it is another world you step in. I had many great moments in Istanbul: early morning on the Galata Bridge, late night strolling through the empty streets, the warm sun rays on the Bosporus tour and a visit to an original Hammam (from which I do not post any pictures as the towel bent around my waist was constantly loose). The city is definitely worth a visit!

One word about the Fuji X100: It performed fantastic. Neither did I miss a zoom lens nor did I miss the weight and size of my D300. OK to be honest it could really have a faster autofocus – especially in low light it can drive you crazy!! But what amazed me most was the dynamic range the camera offers, this is something that I had been missing with my D300 so far.

Early morning at the Galata Bridge

Morning at the Galata Bridge

Tünel train

Tünel tram

Blue Mosque

Shop window

At the Topkapi Palace

Me in a mirror

Istanbul Mosque and Bosporus

Andreas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:38:52 +0000

Istanbul has quite a few Mosques where tourists have there own entrance; they are provided with plastic bags for their shoes. However tourists have to stay in the rear part of the Mosque, behind a wooden railing. Muslims wash their feet, arms and face before praying no matter how cold it is…and it was very cold. But obviously they are still ready for a smile.

Praying in Blue Mosque (Sultan-Ahmed Mosque)

Washing before prayer

Blue Mosque

Since weather became better we decided to take a boat ride in the direction of the Black Sea. After the cold and windy days it was a relaxing ride sitting in the sun, enjoying the landscape, drinking hot tea and eating fresh made yoghurt.

On the Boat

Bosporus

Relaxing on the boat

Warming sunrays

Bosporus and Süleymaniye Mosque

Istanbul – Hagia Sophia

Andreas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:01:38 +0000

When I entered Hagia Sophia for the first time I was stunned by the rays of light that filled the huge room above the low hanging chandeliers. Unfortunately there were already a lot of tourists walking around so that I decided to come back the next morning and to be the first inside. Hagia Sophia used to be a Byzantine Church, later a Mosque and today it is a museum.

Hagia Sophia

Early Morning at Hagia Sophia

Light Beam

Hagia Sophia - Low Chandeliers

Rays of Light in Hagia Sophia

Istanbul – sightseeing

Andreas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:25:09 +0000

Istanbul at Sunset with Galata Bridge (from Galata Tower)

At least for me Istanbul does not have a structured cityscape and i could not find THE view when looking into google’s picture search. But maybe this is what characterizes the city. However I was pretty sure that the “blue hour method” would work out well, as it always does. The first day we were on the Galata Tower we were too early and it was quite cloudy. The second day the circumstances were better: I had a tripod with me, it was short to sunset and the sky was clear. It is almost impossible to enjoy the cityscape from the viewing platform as it is very very poky up there so that you will be jostled involuntarily by people who want to pass you. But this did not bother me: I waited as long as I had to wait standing there with my tripod and I finally took the pictures that were later stitched with Hugin. And when looking at the result there seems to be structure: it is the mosques that dominate the cityscape. From left to right: Topkapi palace, Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmed Mosque, Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Yeni Mosque, Beyazit Tower (green) and Süleymaniye Mosque. The Galata Bridge is connecting the Old City and Galata.

Street in Galata

Tea in Bazaar

Preparing Tea and Promegranate Juice

Galata and Bosporus

Grand Bazaar

Yeni Mosque and Galata Bridge

Istanbul – a first impression

Andreas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:14:22 +0000

Living in Nürnberg does also mean living together not only with native “Nürnbergers” but also with people from Greece, Italy, Ukraine and East European states, besides of people that relocated within Germany. But the major part of people from foreign countries come from Turkey, so that turkish language is ubiquitous on the streets of Nürnberg and Fürth. Maybe this is why Turkish Airlines offers direct flights from Nürnberg to Istanbul twice a day for a reasonable rate. And so my sister, her husband and me decided to spend a long weekend in Istanbul, an oriental world that is only separated from Nürnberg by a 2.5 hour flight.

With Turkish Airlines to Istanbul

Arcade near the shopping street

Entrance to a Restaurant

What was obvious was the fact that roughly 13 million people want to be fed. The main shopping street and its side roads are stuffed with kebaps, turkish fast food and fish restaurants, confectionaries and little carts selling roast chestnuts. Most of the meals contain fresh vegetables, goat cheese, white bread and nuts or pistachios.

Saray at shopping street

Saray at Shopping Street

Women preparing food in a window

It was the first time I left my Nikon D300 at home and only took the Fuji X100 with me. It is much lighter, smaller and has a superb image quality. I even dared to use the camera’s internal film simulation modes (Velvia, Astia, Provia and B&W) from time to time and saved some of the images in jpg only.