Great expectations Day 62

I had big plans for this sunset. All day long it looked as if it's going to be a great one. I was thinking wonderful sihuettes, something playful with great colours... It was not to be. Still I pulled one decent shot out of it and that's fine by me (or it has to be LOL).

too weak this sunset, for what I had in mind

I prefer mono since the colours were disappointing:

I'm blond Day 61

Self portrait No. 1  Arrrrrgh, hate being in front of the lens... but this project is supposed to push me into things  I don't do, right?!

Since this is shot with a lot of light streaming in through the window my eyes appear lighter than they are. A random fact about me is that I rarely wear make up during the day because I rather sleep a tiny bit longer than get up early to apply it ;-P When cold I tend to wrap myself into a blanket or/and put a hoodie on. Even so I despise cultures forcing women to cover (hair or more) for modesty without applying the same rule for men. However I do understand covered women - brainwashing is a powerful thing, coercion even worse. I get angry when they start about personal choices... yeah right - who on earth wants to choose layers of long sleeves, long skirt or trousers, long coat over the whole thing and a scarf on a humid day with 35 degrees???? You don't agree? Nope, don't want to hear about it. This is my opinion. Period.

Oh, yes, I'm also blond. Less and less each year but it's still a convenient excuse every time I make a mistake. Like not making sure that the background is clean. Took me forever on PS to get it a as it is and I'm still not convinced it's any good. Should teach me to pay more attention next time ;-D

So here you go, a boring selfie, should try something more conceptual next time, I think.

What a piece of work is a man.. Day 60

Wordless this time :-D

OK, OK, I'll say at least this - the title is derived from Hamlet's speech (yeah, yeah - Shakespeare):

...What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals; and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?...

The sky might fall on our heads tomorrow ;-) Day 59

Somehow this reminds me of Vitalstatistix (Asterix cartoon) constantly exclaiming that the sky might may fall on his head tomorrow... ;-P

Galata tower, Istanbul. Looking up with wide angle cos I liked the clouds :-D

The other side

Komondo stairs (for me they resemble a star ;-))

I'm not finished with the touristy shots yet - Selimiye Mosque, Edirne Day 58

Mimar (architect) Sinan is the most famous architect in this part of the world. In his 90+ years he was quite prolific but that's not the why, the true reason is the unbelievable beauty of his mosques. Selimiye in Edirne is one of them. Much grander and internally much more impressive than the famed Blue mosque of Istanbul, our whole family agreed. Edirne, the ex-capital of Ottoman world is well worth a visit. We shall be back to explore some more, soon.

The least empty moment (and I was in there for an hour if my hubby is to be believed, I loose track of time fairly quickly when holding my camera ;-P)

I kept the original WB because it makes it look warm (no, actually it was freezing in there), corrected should look like this

the dome (I like the colours here)

and the fountain in the middle of the mosque

ah yes, they stepped into my photo during a long exposure :-)

Note the typical garb of mid aged city dwelling covered women

Unobstructed view Day 57

The scaffolding in Hagia Sophia / Aya Sofya has finally been moved aside, allowing for unobstructed view of the interior front of the building. For me, this place is amazing. Not only I always find something interesting there but the light changes constantly therefore I'm compelled to come back and photograph the changes, the light, the details... of this overwhelming architectural masterpiece. The scaffolding gone, I only wish I had lens wider than 17mm to take it all in. Well I'll be back ;-)

This way I finally recognize the church aspect of the building...

fells like being in during a crowded mass, with all the tourist gathered in front of the mihrab niche (marking the direction of Mecca) in the area of long gone altar

 

The dome floats as if suspended 54m from the floor. My 17mm were not enought for it all but this gives a general impression

Detail of the golden mosaic above the altar:

Colours of the history

I do have another million images ;-P but to avoid boredom this has to be enough for today :-)

I think of Istanbul in BW Day 56

I'm delayed. We have holidays and are sightseeing Turkey a bit (trying to find a dry spot, it keeps raining here). So expect touristy snapshots for the next few days ;-P

I'm unhappy about the shot of the day and figuring it out why I feel it's crap should help me get better. I"ll write a PhD on it but to spare you a long drone of faults with this photo, I won't post it here :-)

So I turned it into a statement. I've realized I think of Istanbul in BW. Mostly, I thought, it was due to general colourlessness - seriously, most of the time, colours of this city are terribly dull. But then I get a vibrant colour image and promptly convert it into BW. Weird! But it's how I feel. I prefer it BW, spells the ambiance of this city - for me.

So here you go, the only sunny day in the whole month and I'm presenting it in monochrome :-D

I'm assuming you'd want to see the colours?

You know the sea is blue.

The sky is blue.

The hills are deep green.

:-D

OK, here you go:

It really was a beautiful sunny day

Now this is weird - the colours look right on my freshly calibrated screen. Then they look wrong on this page (a bit greenish) and right again if you click on the image to see it bigger. Wish I understood why!!

I did try to change it but even adjusting colours did not help. Baffled. Then again maybe this is only my problem. Ach, technology ;-P