Persongalleriet #582: More Istanbul Ramblings

March 10th, 2016.
On my own again yesterday, I rambled, after blogging etcetera for the better part of the morning. After a few minutes in "my" neighborhood, I took the tram west to Yusufpaşa to retrace some steps from last year. Couldn't really find the inspiration. Had two cups of çay in an alley and decided to go ride the ferries instead. Walked to Aksaray tram stop and found this:

Rode the tram to Eminönu to catch a ferry. When I got there I felt a hunger pang already, since I had such a late start to the day. I remembered seeing the fish sandwich seller from last year close to Karaköy and decided to walk across Galata bridge to try some! Saw my own shadow as I was walking down the stairs and waited a little while to get something interesting:

At least interesting to me!  :-)

The fish sandwich guy wasn't there today, but I found a simple little restaurant which made a damn good one! Shooting didn't stop just because I was having lunch:

Here's another shot from 50 meters away:

Beyoğlu is the part of central Istanbul where I have found the most graffiti. Here's a shot where I found a "Blue" theme:

Got on the Kadıköy ferry at Karaköy (finally getting the hang of which is which!!!) Walked around for a while getting som quick shots of the passengers. Sat down with the camera in my lap to enjoy the sea view. Looked down at my tiltscreen and found something to shoot a little bit closer than that:

Getting off at Kadıköy there were some police with uzi-like machine guns. Finger on the trigger and all, so I decided to go straight back with the ferry, now to Eminönu. I don't mind police with holstered pistols, but when carrying guns like this, it seems to me a shot could go off at any moment, by mistake or otherwise.

After resting my legs for a while I took the tour of the ferry. A small band was playing the most beautiful music you can imagine!

I talked to them after. Their name is Ateş Band and HERE is their facebook page. They didn't have any record to sell at the moment, but there are some mobile phone videos on there that will give you an idea, although the super talented girl singing and playing flute is not featured in any of them. I also always love a mandolin played so well as this! I shot a short video and will post it later, but I'll first need to convert it to a format youtube accepts.

Found some more geometry I liked on this ferry:

As I was getting off the ferry I saw the people waiting to get on behind closed doors. Then I saw the reflection.

As I was buying some simit for a simple dinner in my room, these two young women started chatting me up. Of course I asked to get a picture, with simit and all!

This was turning out to be a it of a geometry day and I found one more shot like that before calling it a day:

Be well, everybody!

/Niklas

Persongalleriet #575: Live Blog from Istanbul, Day 2

Today was a nice warm day with some sun, mostly the hazy kind. I spent the morning lightrooming and writing the previous blog post. I didn't get out on the streets until about noon. As I was closing the window before leaving the hotel room, I noticed two men arguing in the street right outside. Walking down the stairs I made my camera ready and shot this as I stepped out of the hotel:

Off to a decent start, I think!  :-)

I didn't really have a plan and walked randomly in some favourite blocks near the hotel. I got some shots of dogs yesterday, but today was more of a cat day.

The Beggar.

I walked downhill through some deserted alleys near the Grand Bazaar, but as I got nearer the Spice Market the streets began to fill up.

Daddy & His Girls.

I followed a street I hadn't walked before and ended up outside Sirkeci train station. I went in to see if "my" cats from last year were still there. Saw this one residing over the old engine outside.

Top Cat.

Of course, there were more cats inside. Here's one:

The Cigarette (II).

Walking down the Quai, I decided on a whim to go to Kadıköy with the ferry. Last year I only went on one return ferry ride and thinking about this trip, I had made up my mind to do it more this time around.

Yellow Love.

Arrived at Kadıköy.

Took a long walk along the waterfront, an aspect of Kadıköy I hadn't realized before. But this was a Sunday and lots of people were enjoying the sea views.

Balloons.

Back at the Ferry Terminal.

Ferry to Eminönu.

Once at Eminönu it is of course impossible not too shoot some more, even though the body aches and the belly is empty.

Galata Selfie.

Dinner was a chicken dürüm wrap and a banana.

Be well, everybody!

/Niklas

Persongalleriet #574: Back in Istanbul, Day 1

Eleven hours of pure street photography fun!

I met up with Canadian street wiz Zia Kareem at nine at his hotel, which was quite close to the Blue Mosque. His daughter also joined us and we had a good chat. A coffee and çay later and Alphan Yilmazmaden also arrived and we could get started with a photo walk of epic proportions!  :-)

Alphan, Fuji, Zia and Sony at the start of the day!

Shooting has begun! Taking pictures, talking, watching the others as they work....so inspiring!  :-)

Dogs on the Tracks.
We started off going west along those tracks towards the Grand Bazaar.

The guys going about their business.

Young Man & Oranges.

Alphan and Bread.
We did a short detour (I'll get back to the reason for that in a later blog post) in the area close to my hotel, situated across the tram tracks from the south entrance to the Grand Bazaar.

After that we decided to go to the roman aqueduct and the butcher's district, where I had such a good time last year. To get there we walked through the University area.

Istanbul dogs are free to roam the streets.

Butcher's District: Zia and the Smiling Sheep Heads.

Street Photography at its best!.......it's got both Alphan AND Zia in it!   :-)  :-)

We walked down the hill towards Eminönu (the epicenter of the world of street photography, if you ask me!). Walked through som crowded, very crowded and completely-packed-until-nobody-could-move-crowded alleys to get there.

Happy on a Blue Bike.
This alley was just crowded.

Here's a shot from the very crowded alley.

This is from when it got REALLY crowded.

Finally at Eminönu, we had some glorious shooting!

Yes! That is Brother Alphan in the background!

Of course, after all this we needed some coffee and çay and a debriefing, looking a little at what we got.

And, of course, there is a LOT more to show and tell about this day. I will do that in future blogs here at fotosidan.se and in journals at deviantart.com.

Just one more picture for the road!

Be well everybody!

/Niklas

Persongalleriet #558: Istanbuls katter

April 2015.
Har haft bilder på Istanbuls katter i bloggen förut. Till exempel här, här, här och här. Men allt eftersom jag jobbar mig igenom alla filerna från resan hittar jag fler. Idag samlar jag ihop de nyfixade till ett särskilt temainlägg.

Det är fler än jag som fotar katterna!

Det var vad jag hade att bjuda på idag. Kanske hittar jag fler kattbilder när jag kommer tillbaks till Istanbul i mars?!

Ha det gott, alla!

/Niklas

Persongalleriet #555: Fotopromenad i snö

Ett ganska ymnigt snöfall tidvis, men hunden måste rastas och husse måste få fota! Med blåst och klibbsnö fastnar det snö lite överallt och det fick bli dagens tema. Det och att jag tog med mitt macroobjektiv ut på turen. Orkade inte bära på stativet också så det blev inga extrema närbilder. Det fick räcka med handhållet när man ska snöpulsa och hålla reda på hunden också.

Ingen snö klibbar fast på läsidan dock.

Hunden slank in i bild!  :-)

Tall i is.

Tänkte kanske döpa denna bild till "Tall med vit skjorta och slips".  :-)

Hunden blev lika insnöad som husse efter ett tag.

Ha det gott, alla!

/Niklas