Travel Theme: Benches

by in Travel, Travel Theme, Travel Turkey, Weekly Photo Challenge and tagged , , ,

Over at Where’s my Backpack, the weekly travel theme is benches.

I like photographing empty benches. Benches are so inviting, especially when you are physically or mentally tired.  This picture taken in the gardens of  Dolmabache Palace in Istanbul is my favorite photo.CIMG0499B

We started our day visiting the Dolmabache Palace  on the bank of the Bosphorus strait. While we certainly admired the architecture and other things we saw in the palace; we were particularly impressed by the serenity of the gardens outside the palace. What a joy it was, sitting on the benches in the garden, looking through the tall white ornamental fence by the Bosphorus strait; watching ships passing by under a beautiful sky!

Below is another picture which is taken at a slightly different angle in the same location. This is how it looks in color.CIMG0500A

122 thoughts on “Travel Theme: Benches”

    • Hi, the first image was captured in Black & White with a relatively inexpensive camera (US$350). It was converted to Sepia using the free download program “Faststone” and the shadows were sharpened using the same program. Glad that you like the photo and thank you for the kind comment 🙂

    • The black and white photo of the benches looks soooooo much better than the colored version. Nice shot.

  3. I love empty benches also. In fact (although mine don’t have that enticing exotic edge) just yesterday I was at O’Hare in Chicago and they have a whole hallway of art between the security point and the B-E-F gates…part of which are these fantastical painted benches. I love to photograph them! I love your blog.

    Reply

    • Hi, the first image was captured in Black & White with a relatively inexpensive camera (US$350). It was converted to Sepia using the free download program “Faststone” and the shadows were sharpened using the same program. Glad that you like the photo and thank you for the kind comment 🙂

  8. What an amazingly peaceful and beautiful spot. It reminds me of a place in London that I love. At the end of Greenwich Market, by the Cutty Sark, you come to the Thames. There is a tunnel that you can cross under the Thames there. To the right, a wrought iron fence runs along the river and there are benches to sit, a path to walk and behind, there is a long row of neoclassical buildings. Perhaps not as regal as the Dolmabache Palace but lovely and serene nonetheless. Thanks for the post – I love how you open our eyes to new places in the world!

    Reply

    • Hi Diane, I have been around that place (Greenwich / Cutty Sark / narrow tunnel under Thames), I think I know the location you talked about. I like that view too. Thanks for the kind words 🙂

    • Hi, the shots were taken on the same day, almost the same place while wandering in the garden.The first image was captured in Black & White with a relatively inexpensive camera (US$350). It was converted to Sepia using the free download program “Faststone” and the shadows were sharpened using the same program. Glad that you like the photo and thank you for the kind comment 🙂

    • Hi, the first image was captured in Black & White with a relatively inexpensive camera (US$350). It was converted to Sepia using the free download program “Faststone” and the shadows were sharpened using the same program. Glad that you like the photo and thank you for the kind comment 🙂

  13. Hi Michael, Sadly when we visited the Dolmabache Palace we were very time constrained and didn’t have time to enjoy the gardens before we had to rush and join our ship for a Mediterranean cruise. It was the last place we had to visit before we left Istanbul and just managed to fit it in. We only managed glimpses f the gardens through the palace windows. Chris G

    Reply

    • Hi, there were quite a lot to see in the gardens – a fountain, some sculptures (some white lions), flowers and these benches. Actually, they were quite interesting. Thank you for the perusal 🙂

    • Hi, the first image was captured in Black & White with a relatively inexpensive camera (US$350). It was converted to Sepia using the free download program “Faststone” and the shadows were sharpened using the same program. Glad that you like the photo and thank you for the kind comment 🙂

    • It is very interesting how the highlights picked up so much of the color tone. Thank you for sharing the process.

  22. Love that first picture — is that sepia tone? Or what do you call that technique? Whatever it is, you captured the scene with the curves, shadows, and lonely benches waiting to be sat upon perfectly!

    Reply

    • Hi, the first image was captured in Black & White with a relatively inexpensive camera (US$350). It was converted to Sepia using the free download program “Faststone” and the shadows were sharpened using the same program. Glad that you like the photo and thank you for the kind comment 🙂

  25. Changing the color changes the context of the photo. At first, I thought the photo was from a long time ago, but then you said you’d been there. Great one-point perspective of the path.

    Reply

    • Hi naomimgruer, the pictures were all taken on the same day, approximately at the same location, but as you said, the colors give a different feel. Many thanks for the perusal and kind comment 🙂

    • Hi, the first image was captured in Black & White with a relatively inexpensive camera (US$350). It was converted to Sepia using the free download program “Faststone” and the shadows were sharpened using the same program. Glad that you like the photo and thank you for the kind comment 🙂

    • Hi, we were only there for several hours. The stretch by the Bosphorus strait was a long stretch, with repetitive pattern of ornamental fence on the sea side and many benches. The photos were not taken exactly at the same spot, hence you can see the palace buildings and palm trees on one photo but not the other as I moved along the pavement. If you compare the pattern of the clouds, you will find that the clouds on both photo are the same. Regards, Michael

  27. Pingback: Travel Theme: Benches | Something for Pok

  38. Beautiful! Benches is a good theme. The image is architecturally perfect and oddly absent of any people. It seems empty but inviting at the same time. 🙂

    Reply

  44. You take some very beautiful and interesting pictures. These two photos intrigue me and I hope you won’t mind me asking a question. These pictures appear so similar in the foreground and on the left hand side (apart from the presence of the small white hut in the sepia tone, missing in the colour photo). Yet they are so different on the right hand side, where the trees and bushes are totally different and cannot be the same location on the same day. Are the photos of two very similar looking parts of the same water front walk, one coming before the other, many yards apart?

    Reply

    • Hi, the benches, the ornamental fence were in a repetitive over a long length, I took several pictures at different points along this long length of seaside walk, all some distance apart. While the left side stayed more or less the same, the right side differed in details. Regards, Michael

    • Thank you for your clear and quick reply – most helpful to my understanding. I don’t know the location, but now I can imagine the layout more accurately. 🙂

    • Several years ago, I took several photos there which I thought were good. Problem I have an inexpensive camera which can do processing ( into painting, sepia etc) and I took them as such. The photos cannot be converted back – the painting photo which has the best color / composition turned out the worst. The painting texture was much too coarse and not artistic. Only after retirement, I have started learning using software but will never take any pictures again which are processed by the camera at the same time. Regards, Michael

  45. Sepia and BW are my faves and the one you posted is absolutely stunning! Like the others have said, it’s like travelling back in time and then back to the future again. Wonderful shots!

    Reply

  46. Agree with your last comment regarding pictures being processed by the camera. That may work well if you own an expensive Canon or Nikon DSLR (UK £1,500 or more!). But good results, even artistic results can be achieved with inexpensive cameras and post-processing with free or shareware software. I like the majority of your photos that have had little or no processing – more honest and natural photography, but nice to see a few sepia and other effects occasionally.

    Personally, I have had success with both Irfanview and Photoscape. Both are freeware and available online, my preference now is for Photoscape. I began using them to clean up old scanned photos taken many years ago on 35mm film. I have also experimented with Adobe Photoshop, but found it large and complex and much more than I needed. My current camera is only a Fuji S5700 (UK £120), a compact camera, but like a DSLR in appearance and some features. I plan to begin sharing my photography later in the year.

    Reply

    • Hi, almost 100% of my photos are not cropped; I don’t change colors but sometimes increase the contrast and/ or the saturation. Thanks for introducing the two software, I will have a look at them. Have a great weekend 🙂

  48. I, too, like the first photo, Michael – really nice tonality on that one. I’ve always been impressed by the colors of your images – always striking! I appreciate so much that you liked my posts “You Don’t Have to be Tall to Play Ball” (particularly because you dug that out of some way past images!), “Two Coastal Trees”, “Lily Pads in Blue” and “Quick Glimpse-NYC”.

    Reply

  49. Hello, Michael. I am back after a while. I am glad you still like “In search of unusual destinations”.

    Istanbul is a remarkable city, the Palace a delightful oasis among all the noise and hyper-activity not far away. I do understand your interest in benches. I must confess: they feature in many of my photos, too. Happy travels. Phil.

    Reply

    • Hi Phil, you have described it very well. The palace is like an oasis and in fact is really good for watching the Bosphorous from the benches. Thanks for stopping by and the kind comments 🙂

  52. One of the oddities of this peaceful place is that the addition of people would destroy the symmetry of the view entirely. Ironic that benches are there at all perhaps, but it is a feature I’m well used to seeing all too often – man made, but not made for man! Nice images by the way and thanks for dropping by my site – appreciated.

    Reply

  53. Michael, when I first looked at the top (b/w) photo, I thought it was an artist’s rendering, almost an architectural drawing . . . very awesome to put the two together!!! And thanks for visiting my site.

    Reply

    • Unfortunately, I do not have the identical photo in sepia and also in color for direct comparison. I took the top sepia with my camera and then a colored photo not quite at the same position. It could have been more stunning if I were to use the same photo. Thank you for the comment 🙂

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