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.

Blizzard conditions landing back in Istanbul

The inside of the church in the cave

Beehive houses in Harran

Steph and the Euphrates river

Steph and I riding a motorcycle with a sidecar in Sanliurfa

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

Pegasus Airlines

Driving at night back to Antakya

The Mosque in Kilis

Medusa Head in the Cistern

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

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

Sunday night dinner at Kirk’s House

The cave restaurant in Sanliurfa

More dolmush rides

Early morning walk to go to the Istanbul airport.

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

Driving through the mountains near the Med

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

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

Arriving to rain in Antakya

Sunset in Samandagi

Doerta cooking up a delicious German dinner.

Inside the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Taking the dolmush from Adana to Antakya

Olive vendors on the corner in Gaziantep

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Sunset in Samandagi

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

Catholic church courtyard in Antakya

Getting a concensus on directions

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

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

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.

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

An orange vendor in Harran

Hassan, a local resident

Hiking the ridge above St. Peters in Antakya

Sketching and sailing up the Euphrates river

Fishermen in Istanbul

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

Dinner boat on the Bosphorus

Looking into the cut from the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Finding our hotel room

A backhoe coming down Kirk’s street in Istanbul

Our dusk tour of the Hittite rock garden in Yesemek

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

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

Me, Steph and Kirk about to split up in Istanbul

Arriving in Sanliurfa

The archway and observation tower in Harran

Us with our Turkish friends in Yesemek

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

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

Local kids in Vaikifle

The ruins of St. Simeon

Street food in Istanbul

Local schoolkids clamoring to say hello to us in Kilis

Green spices at the market in Antakya

Goats in Harran

Turkish Delight

Looking off into the mountains from Antakya

Climbing the ridge above St. Peters

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

Steph standing on the beach

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

Kirk with the windfarm in the background

Having tea on the banks of the Euphrates with locals

Freighter ships on the Bosphorus

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

Street feeling in Kilis

Buying clementines in Antakya

Kirk and Steph checking the guidebooks in Adana

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

Sundown in Yesemek, Turkey

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

Driving west, then north out of Antakya

The Cisterns in Istanbul

Broken Turkish Pottery

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

Evening in Sanliurfa

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Roof of the Aya Sophia

Fruitstand in Istanbul

The Hittite rock musieum in Yesemek

Dilapidated houses in Adana

Kirk negotiation for homegrown tobacco in Sanliurfa

Street food in Adana

Ataturk in Adana

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

Dried Eggplant shells in Antakya

Looking out to the horizon from the mountains in Vaikifle

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

Steph in the doorway of the Armenian Church

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

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

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Israel Photos Slide Show on Flickr