Traveling through Turkey and Israel in December 2008, I managed to take roughly 1500 photos with my brand new Canon G10. The new camera was great, and the wide angle 28mm lens, ND filter, and full manual control were great to have in the field. I started the trip with 8gb and 2gb memory cards, and, shooting on JPEG fine, managed to start filling up the 8gb card way too early in the trip. Although I hate to do it, I actually did edit photos while I was traveling. In the end, I ended up with about 1200 photos. Out of those, I’ve edited them down to the top 100 or so. These photos I feel best represent the trip, and should give a good feel of the varying environments and sites of both Turkey and Israel.

I also took about 45 minutes of video, which I’m in the process of editing down to a presentable reel.

Local kid holding a lamb in Antakya. On this mountainside we met a shepard tending to hish flock. This kid hiked with us for a bit up onto the side of the mountain.

Pegasus Airlines

Dinner boat on the Bosphorus

Medusa Head in the Cistern

Freighter ships on the Bosphorus

Inside the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

St. Peters hidden Catholic church in Antakya – built into a natural cave

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Driving at night back to Antakya

Driving through the mountains near the Med

More dolmush rides

Sketching and sailing up the Euphrates river

Faces carved into the rock above St. Peters church in Antakya

Having tea on the banks of the Euphrates with locals

Dried Eggplant shells in Antakya

The archway and observation tower in Harran

The cave restaurant in Sanliurfa

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

Sunday night dinner at Kirk’s House

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

The ruins of St. Simeon

The Mosque in Kilis

Roof of the Aya Sophia

Street feeling in Kilis

Taking the dolmush from Adana to Antakya

Steph and Kirk with our dinner the first night in Istanbul.

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

Turkish Delight

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

Early morning walk to go to the Istanbul airport.

Blizzard conditions landing back in Istanbul

Looking out to the horizon from the mountains in Vaikifle

Hiking the ridge above St. Peters in Antakya

Local schoolkids clamoring to say hello to us in Kilis

A backhoe coming down Kirk’s street in Istanbul

Steph in the doorway of the Armenian Church

Steph standing on the beach

Beehive houses in Harran

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

Olive vendors on the corner in Gaziantep

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

Driving west, then north out of Antakya

Hassan, a local resident

Street food in Istanbul

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

Dilapidated houses in Adana

Looking into the cut from the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Fruitstand in Istanbul

A local shepard and his flock on the side of the road in Yolbasi

Me, Steph and Kirk standing on ruined pilars at St. Simeon

Climbing the ridge above St. Peters

Researching for our next day’s adventures in our hotel room in Antakya

The Cisterns in Istanbul

Sitting on the ledge watching the sun set on the Euphrates in Kasaba.

Broken Turkish Pottery

Finding our hotel room

Goats in Harran

An orange vendor in Harran

Evening in Sanliurfa

Kirk and Steph checking the guidebooks in Adana

Arriving to rain in Antakya

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Sunset in Samandagi

Our dusk tour of the Hittite rock garden in Yesemek

Sunset in Samandagi

Catholic church courtyard in Antakya

Ataturk in Adana

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

Kirk negotiation for homegrown tobacco in Sanliurfa

Fishermen in Istanbul

Looking off into Syria, on the border between Turkey and Syria

Getting a concensus on directions

Steph and I riding a motorcycle with a sidecar in Sanliurfa

The inside of the church in the cave

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

Kirk with the windfarm in the background

Arriving in Sanliurfa

Walking at night in Antakya. THe street had a movie set like feeling from the yellow, flat streetlights.

Steph and the Euphrates river

Local kids in Vaikifle

Surveying the dramatic scenery as we drive to Bierecheck, in the canyons carved by the Euphrates

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Kirk looking at the surviving arched cieling of the castle ruins at Kasaba

Sundown in Yesemek, Turkey

Us with our Turkish friends in Yesemek

Looking off into the mountains from Antakya

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

Small town on the side of the Euphrates. Their mosque was flooded when the damn was build.

Street food in Adana

The Hittite rock musieum in Yesemek

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

Green spices at the market in Antakya

Buying clementines in Antakya

Doerta cooking up a delicious German dinner.

Me, Steph and Kirk about to split up in Istanbul

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Israel Photos Slide Show on Flickr