i'm no professional, nor an amazing photographer. would like to be better. if you find any pic odd or think i can do better or improve, then please let me know.

so i just came back from a 3 week trip to Saudi and Turkey. it'll take me some time to upload over 3000 pictures and 40 videos onto the computer (obviously i wont upload em all here...). and it will take me longer still to type up my thoughts on them...but bare with me. i'll also do a thread for saudi soon

and for future purposes, anyone who travels ANYWHERE, please report back. we have a compulsory 'pics for new guitar day', or 'cat day' or 'car day' etc...so why not travel? report back...

anyways, just doing this quick:


Whirling Dervish:

for the longest time i wondered what part of the world has people doing this? bollywood movies and a few other random videos often depict 'muslims' as people wearing white and just revolving constantly. well, turkey answered that question for me.

Whirling Dervish, a practice that derived from sufi islam that was heavily influenced by Rumi and his work.

they first start off by wearing long black robes that represent their worldly belongings, and their state when they are buried.

they remove their black robes to reveal their white attire. the white represents their state in heaven, and also represents purity.

as they start spinning, they raise both their arms, with the right facing the heavens and the left palm facing the ground.

from here, two different stories are told. story one) they spin, while gathering all cosmic and worldly energy with their right hand, and redistribute it to mother earth from their left hand.

story two) with their right hand, they praise Allah, and gather his blessings. with their left hand, they use it as a weapon against Lucifer.

they spin in perfect harmony to other Dervish, never bumping into one another. and often time they have their eyes closed. stand up on one foot, close your eyes and see how long you last. this is difficult. you see figure skaters constantly keep turning their head so they dont lose balance. Dervish on the other hand dont. it takes them a minimum of one year to be able to spin without losing control and balance.

Dervish can be anyone. they are fathers, brothers, sons, family men, business men etc.

if you ever get a chance, view their ceremony. its really interesting








Didim: Apollos Temple



*DO NOT try to copy this picture if you ever go here! super dangerous as you have you balance on a few marble slabs that are sitting in a weird way and are wobbling under your weight. i got yelled at by a few people there for it too. i suppose i could have created a domino effect behind me.

Cistern Basilica




i was watching a documentary about this a few years ago. they said that this was built as a temple for medusa. however, after the rise of christianity, the christians were destroying anything pagan related. the pagan believers wanted to remain faithful to medusa, so they salvaged two heads of her from greece, brought it here, and made this in her honor. and they kept the head side/upside down and all the way in the back so if anyone DOES come to check up on them, they would say that its nothing, just we are reusing old material just like the christians were using greek/roman temples marble to put in their churches.

again, it was just a documentary from a few years ago, and it may be biased, so dont know how reliable it was





















there are TONS of pics and info and stuff regarding my trip on this link. go through em if you like. the pics above are just at random. and i'm only 1/6th done with the places i've seen and photographed, so it will take me some time to go through em all:

Travelog: my trip to Turkey [not 56k or phone friendly]



also, what happens if your lens gets dust in it? i checked the sensor, and cleaned the lens on both sides, and yet some of my pics still come out with random black spots that only come out in certain exposures. does that mean i need to get a new lens? i'm just getting used to this one though

[usn ret]

Great series Hadi and thanks for sharing. One note, watch your horizons and try to keep them level as some folks find tilt annoying or distracting to an otherwise good/great photo....Cliff

[slowpez]

Really enjoyed looking at photos of this part of the world. Interesting stories to go with them also. As for the dust spots, they are most likely on your sensor and not your lens. Lots of info on how to clean the sensor on the forum. I just use a rocket blower to blow out the bits.

[hadi]

Really enjoyed looking at photos of this part of the world. Interesting stories to go with them also. As for the dust spots, they are most likely on your sensor and not your lens. Lots of info on how to clean the sensor on the forum. I just use a rocket blower to blow out the bits.

no the dust is definetly in my lens. if you dismount the lens from the camera, and look at it through bright light, you can see tiny lil particles inside the lens.

and i used the 'dust shaker' and dust checker feature in my K-x only to come out clean.

just for an example, this is what i mean. for the next two pictures, notice the tiny lil dots in the center left hand side:




the dots are slight gray. but if you change the exposure, they become more prominent like in this picture (upper middle)

[slowpez]

Hopefully someone else can help you hadi. Those dots look like what I had when my sensor collected lint. If it isn't that maybe it could be fungus.

[wisjohl]

Hadi, I am planning an extended tripd to Turkey and Jordan and saw your pics. What lenses did you take with you for those shots? I have an 18-55, and 55- 200 pentax kit lenses but also have been thinking about getting the tamron 18-200 to cut down on lens changes with my kx.

Thoughts anyone?