A Call to Prayer, by David Smith
The timing couldn’t be better. As the Oceania Cruise Lines Marina cruise ship swung about to slip by the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, an intense vivid red sunset was punctuated by a Muslim call to prayer echoing among the minarets. On deck, some tears were shed, cameras clicked furiously and it was all over in a few minutes as dusk faded into night and the ship moved southwards down the Bosphorus. As a professional travel photographer and guest travel and adventure photographer lecturer on cruise ships worldwide I knew I was about to experience something special. I photographed about 200 images panning across the old Istanbul city skyline in a 10 minute period since this was a lifetime photo moment for me. Individual images as horizontal and vertical shots plus panorama sequences kept me busy while tears streamed down my face as the colors got more vivid and I heard the Muslim call to prayer echoing along the Istanbul harbor. As I snapped away furiously, I also swapped lens on my Canon 7D frequently from my Canon 17-85mm IS to my Canon 70-200 IS L lens for different perspective. When it was over I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I am not very religious but God was in Istanbul that evening.
Canon EOS 7D | Exposure 1/500s @ f/6.3 | ISO 400 | Focal Length: 144mm | Bias -1 1/3EV
A Call to Prayer, by David Smith
Award Winner: Photo of the Day | March 07
Award Score: 68 (Value 12, Clarity 12, Composition 18, Style 13, Skill 13)
Photo of the Day Award Category: Spiritual Photography
Photograph Location: Istanbul | Turkey
Photographer: David Smith (Vancouver, BC, Canada) Registered
David Smith is a professional photographer, travel writer and keynote speaker based in West Vancouver, BC.He has traveled to over 90 countries and 6 continents and considers himself a “dream traveler capturing the world one smiling face at a time”. His travel images have been published worldwide with over 10,000 images of world travel, ethnic life and cruise ship adventures in his Interface Images online gallery at http://www.interfaceimages.com.
David frequently lectures on digital and travel photography; travel adventures, world culture and port destination topics. As a frequent guest lecturer with Holland America, Oceania Cruise Lines, Regent Seven Seas and Seabourn Cruise Lines in the last 8 years he looks forward to explore the amazing photogenic world in future. He also tutors and teaches digital photography classes and camera workshops for photographers at all levels at home between trips. He is represented internationally by stock photo agencies and his images and travel writings have been published internationally in magazines, books, websites, and newspapers (recently in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today Travel, Geo Saison Magazine and Frommer’s Travel Guides). He is a professional member of the Editorial Photographers Association and past President of the North Shore Photographic Society in West Vancouver, B.C. His presentations are known to inform, entertain and inspire his audiences. A 1969 B.Sc. (Hon. Chemistry) graduate of the University of British Columbia, he spent a 35-year career in executive management, entrepreneurship, corporate finance and business crisis management. Ironically, as soon as “they took chemistry out of photography” he followed his true passions and pursued digital photography and world travel as a full time career over 12 years ago. His wife Anna is also a published travel photographer, travel writer and cruise ship guest lecturer and workshop leader on exotic fabrics and world textile arts. He has recently published a series of popular Travel Photography online courses with live recorded video, audience Q&As, comprehensive handouts all viewable online 24/7 and downloadable to all tablets and smart phones.
Website: http://www.imagebyinterface.com
Gallery: http://www.interfaceimages.com
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/imagebyinterface/
Print Collection: 5-david-smith.artistwebsites.com/
Blog: http://interfaceimages.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/interfaceimages
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/interfaceimages
Skype: david.anna.smith
YouTube: www.youtube.com/interfaceimages
The skyline is perfect. I love the mosque minaret in among the vibrant orange. Well done
Very bucolic image and sensible as to the culture this icon of architecture represents in world culture. There are so many pictures of Hagia Sophia but yours is a careful and exquisite study of light and composition. I was born in Romania, a country influenced by the Ottoman Empire but I always enjoy looking at images that bring back the romance of the cultures I have visited or geographically close while growing up, and feeling their influence upon me. Now, you need to listen to Kemal Rashid and his Ottomans (very hard to find), music that would remind you of these places when you’re home as you sip on a perfectly flavorful cup of turkish coffee.