Your basic black dress

[rpcrowe]

I have been told that the basic black dress is an important part of any girl's wardrobe...
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Or, perhaps this was not exactly what was meant!

[chauncey]

And my parents taught me to respect and cherish woman...not hid them because of insecure egos.

[rpcrowe]

These Turkish ladies in veils seem more liberated than the Arab wmen in Istanbul who walked behind their husbands. I was eating in an outdoor restaurant and two Arab men in white robes walked by, dutifully followed by their obedient wives. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to pick up my camera...

Man, it must be hot in those black blankets. BTW, I asked a young Turk what the black robes and veils were called. He said with a grin, "We call them blankets!"

[djg05478]

I like the images, good street photography.

[rpcrowe]

Not exactly basic black but still pretty stylish...

[MaggieR]

These are all great shots. They are so tack sharp. Can you tell me what camera and lens you used?

[rpcrowe]

Maggie...

I used a Canon 7D camera and either a 70-200mm f/4L IS or a 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens for these shots. Both of these lenses are very sharp (and quite expensive). I processed the images using Photoshop CS6 and NIK software. A lot of my images did not look totally sharp straight out of the camera. Shooting in RAW, and opening the image in Adobe Camera Raw, I first increased the Clarity and Vibrance sliders with the amount of incease depending on the context of the image. I then used the NIK Sharpener Pro Output Sharpener for final sharpening. The amount and type of sharpening applied with the NIK output sharpener is determined by the context of the image. Some shots require more sharpening than others.

I had no problems using previous editions of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements and sharpening the images with the unsharp mask. There is some great information on that type of sharpening contained in the CiC Tutorials.

IMO, all digital images which are not processed in the camera as JPEG files need some amount of sharpening. You have more control over the sharpening done in post processing that when shooting JPEGs. However, post processing sharpening is NOT an excuse for being lazy with focusing or not holding the camera steady when shooting...

IMO, there are quite a few factors which result in an image being sharp or unsharp. Among these (not in order of importance) are. I may have left out a factor or two...

1. Focus accuracy
2. Camera steadiness - including sufficiently fast shutter speed when hand holding and proper camera holding techniques. Note: You can have a sharp image with subject blur due to subject motion at too slow a shutter speed or when you deliberately opt for a blurry image to give the impression of speed.
3. The quality of lens used including cleanliness of that lens
4. The quality and cleanliness of filter (if one is used)
5. The quality and direction of light - a crisp clear day and front-lit subject will produce a sharper image than shooting a back lit subject or shooting on a hazy or smoggy day
6. Another factor which may influence the sharpness of an image is the use of a lens hood which will prevent or reduce flare
7. ISO used and ISO capability of the camera - noisy images do not look sharp
8. The quality and amount of sharpening applied to the image and whether that sharpening is applied in camera as a JPEG or in post processing as a RAW file
9. The f/stop at which you are shooting. Most often the sharpest images result from shooting at about two stops smaller than the maximum aperture. This is especially true with less expensive, consumer grade lenses. Top-line lenses tend to be relatively sharp throughout the aperture range.
Note: A kit lens, when the camera is tripod mounted, shot at about f/8 or f/11 can give marvelously sharp results.

Finally, I hate to admit it but, I occasionally shoot an image that is not as sharp as I like. I tend to cull out these images. That is the advantage of hobby shooting vs. professional shooting. If I happen to shoot an image that is not as sharp as I like, there is no problem in discarding it!

As an example, I missed the focus on this Istanbul "fish bread" vendor.



I let the camera focus on the grill in the background rather than the vendor. Nothing that I could do in post processing could improve this image to a point in which I would be satisfied with it so I would delete it. Luckily, through experience I don't have a lot of shots like this and I can usually point to exactly what caused the error. I didn't really like the shot all that well so it didn't hurt to dump it. What does hurt, is the ocasional shot that I really like that I need to dump. This just makes me more careful in future shooting.

[RustBeltRaw]

I was in Istanbul from June 30th through July 6th, so our trips might have overlapped. Interestingly, divergent takes on the ethics of street photography have shown up again. I was playing it safe and didn't take photos of any women, especially if they wore hijabs or burqas. Granted, Turkey is more liberal than most primarily-Muslim nations, but I wasn't comfortable with shooting anyone so concerned about modesty that they show only their eyes and hands. Just my opinion. The gamut of modesty in Istanbul was pretty bloody wide, as evidenced by my late-night visit to Istiklal Street (Istanbul's Bourbon Street).

[rpcrowe]

I left Istanbul on June 25th and my last day of shooting was June 24th. I stayed in the Kalyon Hotel on Kennedy Blvd. looking over the Bosphorus. Wonderful atmosphere for a great breakfast buffet on the water view terrace. We never had to eat lunch because the buffet was so filling and nutritious.

When I first shot females wearing hijabs or burqas, I did so in surreptitiousus manner with my camera hanging on its strap and pointing in a different direction from where my face was turned. I shot with a 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens at the widest focal length.

I didn't generally like the results, so I fell back on my normal routine of using a long lens and shooting from a distance. I shoot fast enough that no one notices my camera pointed towards them. In fact the two shots of the woman alone were done from the top of an open double decker tour bus.

IMO, since this dress is considered modest, I see no reason for not shooting them. However, I did opt not to shoot an extremely beautiful young Nigerian Muslim woman in the Blue Mosque. In her headscarf, she looked like a Black Madonna. Other Muslims must have noticed the same thing because they were asking her to pose holding childrenhldren. The lighting within the Mosque was not conducive to using my 70-200mm f/4L IS lens and I really did not feel exactly right about shooting her - even though she was posing for pictures. I also opted not to shoot a female in my hotel terrace dining room who needed to slip her food beneath her veil to eat.

What I wanted to shoot was a robed woman passing by a sign that showed an elegant woman in western garb. Unfortunately, my time was limited and I was not able to get this type of shot. I also did not get a shot of a woman in veil alongside a mini-skirted female. The closest I got was this young woman in head scarf with her sister who is young enough not to be required to cover up...



There seems to be several versions of Muslim modesty. The young lady above is an example of probably one of the most relaxed in which long sleeved Western garb is worn with a head scarf. Then there are the females who wear a scarf and a long black buttoned up coat. There are females who wear black robes but with these with a head scarf, not a veil and finally the dress in which only the eyes hands and feet are shown...

Of course, Turkey is a secular country and thus, it is not unlawful for a woman (Muslim or non-Muslim) to dress however she desires as long as she is not within the confines of a mosque...