Spring cleaning

I spent a lot of time last weekend organizing my digital files, they were all over the place (old computer, external hard drive, multiple memory cards, iphoto, Lightroom, etc). I love the develop panel in Lightroom but the library and general interface takes getting used too, especially when you are used to iphoto. I decided to keep my "fun" pictures in iphoto, particularly because iphoto has the Faces tool, which in a creepy way identifies people in your photos after you tag a few. Its a really easy way to find photos if you don't have them organized in albums. I'll use Lightroom for all other photos (i.e., those taken with my DSLR). I'll see how this works - a lot of advice out there says to keep everything in one place but I don't think I'll ever have the need to edit St Patty's day bar crawl pictures in sophisticated photo software. 

I found this old photo when I was going through the process of setting ratings and key words in Lightroom. The composition isn't the best but I love the colors in the water. 

Upgrade

It was time to say goodbye to my kit lens (18-55 f/4.5-5.6). It's not like I was particularly attached to it, I knew I would eventually upgrade. And to be honest, I've rarely been using it. Since I got my 50mm f/1.8 last year I've been spoiled with a fast lens, and its really hard to go back to a maximum aperture of 4.5. So I was on a mission to get an everyday lens (that actually zooms) with a low f-stop. 

In a perfect world I would have gotten the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 but there was no way I was going to drop more money on a lens than my MacBook Pro. I thought about getting the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 which is a "bargain" compared to the Canon. I nearly made the purchase, but ironically enough I was watching Suze Orman at the time and it would have given me a guilty conscience. 

So after reading lots of favorable reviews I went for the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (thanks to my friend Dean for the suggestion). I bought it used and actually sold my kit lens on amazon for a pretty good price so overall, I didn't spend too much. I've yet to receive it so will post about it once I try it out. 

UPDATE: love the lens, the 2.8 makes me happy. The two big cons in my opinion are that it's really heavy (significantly heavier than my kit lens despite the similar focal range) and the auto focus is so, so loud! Here is the first test shot I took with it (please no judgment on the ll bean slippers):

Copley Square historical sights

Did you know Boston Public Library is the oldest library in the country? It's ok, I didn't either. 

BPL

BPL - Courtyard view; B&W

Trinity Church

More food photos

"I want to go to there." - Liz Lemon 

I just realized I have a lot of 30 Rock references here. 

Istanbul traffic shots

On one of my last nights in Istanbul I walked across the street from the hotel and took some slow shutter speed shots. People were wondering what I was doing; one police officer even approached me to make sure I was doing this for a hobby and not anything else. I've said this before but packing a heavy tripod is worth it!  

f/29; 20 seconds

f/29; 25 seconds

f/14; 10 seconds

More Turkey

Talk about fate: The woman I worked closest with while in Turkey and her husband are fellow photography enthusiasts (much more experienced then yours truly). AND they shoot with a Canon. AND, they generously took time out of their busy lives to show me around. It was wonderful. So I spent my second (and last) free day with them on the Asian side of Istanbul.  


The day before I went to the Grand Bazaar and while it was cool to see I was a little disappointed. I expected it to be a huge market where the locals actually shop. It was indeed huge (I got lost a few times), but a lot of it consisted of souvenir shops with similar made-in-China goods you see anywhere else. So it was great to walk around outdoor market areas and see where the locals shop. 

 

Istanbul, Turkey

As I was getting ready to go to Turkey, I researched my sightseeing options to make sure I'd maximize my small window of time to shoot. I looked into photography tours (which were ridiculously expensive) and regular tours (which were moderately expensive), and then just decided to wing it. Winging is was my best bet. I was really pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I was to walk around by myself, even at night with all of my equipment. Not to say I expected Istanbul to be sketchy, I knew it would be a wonderful city. But I've never been alone in a foreign country and as a "young" (ha!) female I had some concerns. 

I spent my first free day seeing a lot of the big touristy spots and walked around the Besiktas area along Bosphorous Strait, right around the hotel I was staying in. The first three photos below are from the Blue Mosque (actually called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque). There was so much natural light coming through the windows that it was pretty easy to get good exposures. The following three were taken at the Hagia Sophia. The lighting was a little more challenging there so a lot of my shots weren't great. I really wanted to go back at night to get some night shots of the exterior but it didn't happen. 

Finally, this wouldn't be photo newb if I didn't post the following. I saw this little guy outside of the mosque. I wanted to bring him home but I quickly realized I would have had two very disappointed household members :-)