a8ctravel – Page 4 – In Photos dot Org

A visit to the Acropolis of Athens

If you visit the Acropolis in Athens, be prepared to join the crowds of other tourists visiting at the same time. There’s an insatiable interest in the area, of course, because it’s so well known.

First you walk up the side of the Acropolis hill, and enjoy nice views of the city, including the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, and the modern buildings surrounding it, and then the crowd bunches up as you enter the ruins, with tour guides holding flags up and lots of chatter from everyone.

Black and white photo of tourists walking through the Propylaea gateway at the Acropolis, with its massive stone columns and architrave framing the path

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I got up there. The smooth cement ground pictured above continued through the middle of what turned out to be a massive construction site, with scaffolding around a few of the buildings. Those paths made the site more accessible for everyone, which is to be commended.

Black and white photo showing train or tram tracks leading to a construction site trailer, with the Parthenon's massive Doric columns looming above

Walk to the side, and you were on rougher ground, on gravel and bare rock, with construction materials and tools seemingly left unattended, within roped off areas.

Black and white wide angle view of the Parthenon with tourists gathered on the rocky Acropolis plateau, showing the temple's Doric colonnade and partial scaffolding against a cloudy sky

If you’re hoping to get photos of the site without other tourists, you’ll probably have to go early in the morning, with a tripod to take multiple photos of the same photo and remove people digitally.

Black and white architectural photo of the Parthenon temple at the Acropolis showing its iconic Doric columns and entablature, with scaffolding visible for ongoing restoration work

This is a long exposure shot of the Parthenon temple. There were loads of people around. A huge group was congregating to the far left of this photo, and another group was heading over from the far right.

Black and white photo of the Erechtheion temple at the Acropolis showing the famous Caryatid porch with female figure columns on the left, stone walls, and tourists in the background

On the way out, when I wanted to take a photo of the Erechtheion, a smaller temple apart from the Parthenon, someone else wanted to pose. Our bus was waiting for us below, so there was no time to waste. Afterwards, I liked seeing the human element in this photo.

If you’re visiting Athens, a trip to see the Acropolis has to be high on your list of things to do. I only had an hour or so there, but I’d love to return and spend more time there taking photos.

As an aside, I find it funny that the Unesco ID for the Acropolis site is 404. No chance this place will go missing.

This is the last post of the year 2024 here. The Acropolis has been around for thousands of years. What will human civilization look like in another two thousand, five hundred years? What will happen to all our digital records? Who or what will be remembered of us in that era? Not much survives over those time periods.

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	24mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/1000s

Edinburgh’s Feathered Monuments

There’s something magical about Edinburgh during the golden hour, when the sun begins its descent and bathes the city in warm amber hues. I was walking along Princes Street with my colleagues after a long day of meetings when this scene stopped me in my tracks.

At first glance, it might seem like just another urban sunset, but nature has a way of adding its own whimsical touches to our carefully constructed world. A pigeon had chosen one of Edinburgh’s grand statues, the statue of King George IV, as its evening perch, creating an unintentionally perfect silhouette against the burning sky. As I framed the shot, I noticed its companion – another bird adorning a statue atop one of the buildings to the right (The Royal Society of Edinburgh, if Google Maps is right), as if they were having a silent conversation across the street.

The Georgian architecture of Hanover Street creates perfect leading lines, drawing your eye down to where the street meets the sky. The passing cars, their tail lights glowing in the dimming light, add a modern contrast to the historical grandeur of the buildings. There’s something deeply satisfying about capturing these moments where the past and present, nature and architecture, all converge in perfect harmony.

I shot this handheld with my camera set to underexpose the scene slightly, letting the buildings fall into shadow while preserving the rich orange tones of the sunset.

I love that there were pigeons sitting on those statues, even if they’re barely visible in the web-sized version here. They’re a reminder that nature finds a way, no matter what we do to tame it!

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	70mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/15s

The Yeni Camii overlooks the mall

A long exposure photo of the Yeni Camii in Istanbul, with the entrance to a small shopping mall in the foreground. Steps lead down, under a busy road, and vendors have set up shops down there selling all sorts of goods.

The Yeni Camii is also known as the “New Mosque”, even though it was completed between 1660 and 1665. It was originally named the Valide Sultan Mosque.

I wonder if that’s a drone flying overhead, over the mosque? I certainly didn’t see it while I was taking this photo.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	24mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/3s

The Great Suitcase Lineup

A retail display showing colorful hard-shell suitcases in pink, yellow, navy blue, and hot pink arranged in a row, with fur-trimmed winter hats displayed on stands above them. On the left side, there is a glass display case containing jewelry and necklaces, while decorative patterned fabrics or textiles in turquoise, orange, and green hang on the wall in the background.

In a city of tourists, you can’t have enough suitcases, and that’s true of Istanbul. Tourists everywhere in the old city, and numerous places to buy clothes, goods, trinkets and souvenirs. You’ll be needing another suitcase to bring it all home with you!

I don’t share links very often, but here are a few you’ll appreciate if you edit in Adobe Lightroom (Classic or app):

A video about the Learn section of adobe.com, a great resource to learn editing techniques.
How James Popsys edits his photos, mainly using the global tools.
Using masks to reveal the photo. The opposite of the video above.

Aperture	ƒ/2.8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	24mm
ISO	125
Shutter speed	1/500s

Food for the orange cat

An orange cat snacking on some kibble in Istanbul. Some people like to say orange cats aren’t very smart, but if you can make yourself so adorable people will feed you, then who’s the smart one?

Yes, I do have a few more photos of cats in Istanbul. Not many, mind, so enjoy them while they last!

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	150mm
ISO	3200
Shutter speed	1/500s

King of the Hill

A cat on Çamlıca Hill was very affectionate and controlled everything he saw. With a meow, he caught our attention and walked back and forth, granting us permission to rub him until he got bored and wandered away.

Better to have an orange kitty as king than an orange man.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	25mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/80s

A Watchful Tabby

A very alert cat watched me carefully as I walked past in that graveyard in Istanbul where I photographed another cat shown here recently.

Most of the cats look like they’re really well cared for, but they’re probably all fairly young. I can’t imagine life on the street is easy for them.

Aperture	ƒ/3.5
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	24mm
ISO	1250
Shutter speed	1/500s

The Istanbul Skyline

This is part of the Asian side of Istanbul in Turkey. My first time in Asia too, even if I only ventured a few kilometres in!

Our guide said they’re trying to encourage more people to live on this side of the city, but from what I could see, it stretched on almost to distant hills and I wondered how big a city could be.

Cats? I’ve loads of cat photos. I think they’ll need their own “Cats of Istanbul” tag on here!

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	122mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/500s

A view from the tram

People look on and waiting from the tram on a Lisbon street

A few photos of a few seconds as the tram drove past a crowd of people waiting for another tram in Lisbon.

Some people stand still, some are animated.

Aperture	ƒ/2.8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	24mm
ISO	1250
Shutter speed	1/500s

Lisbon sunset

The sun sets over Lisbon.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	160mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/500s

A dog walk in Lisbon

A woman walks her dog in Lisbon. She stopped outside Centro Social Laura Alves.

Laura Alves was a Portuguese actress who was born in Lisbon in 1921. She passed away in 1986. Read more about her on Wikipedia.

Aperture	ƒ/2.8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	24mm
ISO	1000
Shutter speed	1/500s

Doggy had their hair done

It’s lovely to see well cared for dogs. Shih tzus need so much grooming or their fur gets in their eyes, but this one had a nice bow, and happily walked along a street in Madrid.

Aperture	ƒ/4
Camera	Canon EOS 6D
Focal length	24mm
ISO	800
Shutter speed	1/320s