Showing posts with label Bosphorus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bosphorus. Show all posts

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Day 22 in Istanbul-- Istanbul Collage

I've been a terrible blogger lately. I'm not really sure what to write about, and, what's more, the internet connection here is terribly slow, making it a headache to try and post anything.

The city of Istanbul is growing on me. It's true that we spend most days in a van, being shuttled to castings (sometimes for up to 12 hours), but it also affords a view of the city that most tourists never get to see. Istanbul is a hilly city and I am consistently amazed by the ability of our driver to negotiate the narrow streets in our van, and, more impressively, to drive the manual-shift car up steep hills without stalling.

I've created a collage of some of the things I am able to spy from the window of our van (actually some were taken on foot as well). Perhaps this weekend I'll be able to do a little more in-depth exploring.

Istanbul Collage
Starting at top left, clockwise: The Six Minarets on the Blue Mosque, Two Views of the Bosphorus Strait, the Bridge that connects Asia to Europe, an old Roman Aqueduct, the streets in Old Istanbul, a Gate that we pass every day, Turkish Lanterns in the Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, some Palace on the Bosphorus, the View of my Neighborhood, Tarabya

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Falling in love with Tilt-shift Photography

View of the Bosphorus

Have you discovered Tilt-shift photography yet? I'm not really sure about the ins and outs of it, but true Tilt-shift photography uses a special lens that affects the depth of field. The truly amazing TiltShiftMaker will transform your photos so that they look like a set in miniature.

I discovered TiltShiftMaker about a month ago and immediately started playing around with my various photos. Since then, I have started seeing the world in "tilt-shift" i.e., I see scenes that I think would be candidates for the tilt-shift treatment. Such is true of the above photo, taken from the European side of Istanbul, Turkey overlooking the Bosphorus Strait.

TiltShiftMaker enhances the colors a bit as part of the process, but I also tweaked the above picture a bit more in Picnik (which is a wonderful free photo editing site). Here is the original:

IMG_2112

By the way, I'm developing a love affair with the Bosphorus. It is so beautiful and I feel incredibly blessed to gaze upon its shimmering waters every day. I'd post a Bosphorus collage, but I have no patience for the s-l-o-w internet connection here.

Until next time,

XOXO
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