Israel - Day 5 - Part II

Day 5 was less a picture day and more an experience day. We hiked very quickly through the city so there wasn't a lot of time to stop and capture images. Here's a brief recap of what we saw (in reverse order because I uploaded the pictures wrong and don't have time to reupload).

The last stop was the garden tomb where we believe Jesus was buried. There are two locations that Christians believe are possibilities but this one is more believable. Regardless, it was an incredible experience. Our guide through the garden is pictured in the second picture below and the actual tomb is directly below.





The following two images are from Basilique Sainte Anne inside the Old City portion of Jerusalem. The church there has amazing acoustics so we had to sing a little (it was pretty awesome) and you can see my Uncle John standing up front speaking. The second picture shows what remains of the Pools of Bethesda. This is one of the few spots from Biblical times in Jerusalem where we are actually positive that we have the right spot.

Below is how we started our day. We are standing on the Mount of Olives and Uncle John and Hannah (our tour guide) are pointing out what we can see and reminding us of the significance. This is where I shot the panorama in the Part I post below.

Joe Shulam talked to the group last night for an hour and a half and then joined us for dinner to close out the evening.

Today we return to the Old City and will view the Wailing Wall and Western Wall and will head from there to the Valley of Elah where David fought Goliath. Should be another exciting day. One of the pictures I want is of the Wailing Wall but it is a tough shot to get because you are not supposed to shoot the people there. Should be a challenge.

Pappy Update - Pappy is still doing well. He was very wise yesterday and elected to return to the hotel instead of hiking through Jerusalem with us. We were sad that he could not join us (especially at the garden tomb) but greatful that he took some time to rest and didn't try to do too much. He is in good spirits and is enjoying himself.

Israel - Day 5 - Part I

Day 5 was spent in Jerusalem or the Jerusalem area. We had major issues getting where we wanted to go because of extreme security for the Pope's visit (and the Pope wasn't even in Jerusalem today - he was in Bethlehem). We started on the Mount of Olives where we were able to look down on Jerusalem. We tried to go from there to the Garden of Gethsemene but it was blocked because of the Pope.

We moved from there to the Kibbutz Ramat Rachel only minutes outside of Jerusalem but in a location where we could look down upon Bethlehem. Because of the current climate in Bethlehem, we were not able to go down and visit. After eating at the Kibbutz we headed back to the Old City in Jerusalem.

Because we couldn't get around where we wanted to, we basically hiked around Jerusalem and hit Basilique Sainte Anne where the pool of Bethesda is and the Garden Tomb. I will post more details and pictures tomorrow morning.

Just for fun, here is a large panorama of the Old City portion of Jerusalem. It is a 106 megapixel image so blow it up to full size and you can see the detail throughout the city. Normally I don't post full size because I plan to sell the image but this one is a nightmare in terms of noise and dust spots, and birds, etc so I'm not too worried about anyone ripping it off :-) Enjoy!

Ok, that didn't work - the blog site must have limited the size. Try here.

Israel - Day 4

Day 4 felt like another highly successful day. We crammed a lot in but walked away feeling like we had accomplished a ton. I started the day by waking up in our Dead Sea hotel and enjoyed watching the sun peek its head over the mountains on the far side of the Dead Sea. You are actually looking at the country of Jordan on the other side of the sea.



Our first stop was Mount Masada, the famous fortress that sits atop a mountain overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada was made famous in the United States through a Hollywood movie and a mini-series. Masada was built by King Herod as his summer palace and he went to great lengths to ensure it was grand. The fortress was later used by zealots who were opposing the Roman Empire (this is the story of the movie and mini-series). The men spent three years besieged in Mount Masada as the Roman armies camped around the mountain trying to find a way to the top.

After a three year period, the Romans managed to build a ramp to the top of Masada using Jewish slaves to perform the labor as they found the zealots would not kill the laborers since they were their own countrymen. In the end, the zealots, numbering around 1,000, chose to end their own lives as opposed to allowing their wives to be abused and their children to taste slavery. The zealot leader, Eleazar Ben-Yair, gave an impassioned speech that is famous in Israel today. When Israeli teens enlist in the army, the are commissioned atop Mount Masada where they draw strength from the zealots' courage and are reminded that they must do their part to ensure that the Israelite people never be faced with such a decision again. It was a very powerful experience being atop that mountain.

No picture from the top of Mount Masada could really show its size but here is one looking out from the top of Masada on the Dead Sea. I can see why King Herod would choose to live here!



From Mount Masada we journeyed to En Gedi. En Gedi is the area where David hid from King Saul. It is in En Gedi that David had the opportunity to kill Saul while in a cave but instead cut a piece of cloth from his robe to show that he could have killed him but spared him because he was anointed by God.

We found En Gedi to be absolutely beautiful with four small waterfalls and wandering ibexes and rock hyrax (both of which we saw). To get to the top waterfall, you climb the side of the mountain and have the opportunity look back on some beautiful views of the Dead Sea. At the top we found David's Waterfall which was quite refreshing. Overall, En Gedi has been one of my favorite stops thus far on the trip.

Here is a mommy and baby ibex found at the bottom of the trail in En Gedi.



David's Waterfall



View of the Dead Sea while climbing in En Gedi

Our final stop of the day was in Qumran, the site where the bedouin shepherd found the Dead Sea Scrolls. We ate lunch here and did the majority of our shopping (this is the place to buy the world famous Dead Sea cosmetics that every one raves about). After shopping we headed out to have our tour guide, Hannah, tell us about the Dead Sea Scrolls. The picture you see below is labeled "Cave #4" and is the cave where the largest selection of scrolls were found. The scrolls were enscribed by Essene scribes who lived in the caves in the mountains above the Dead Sea. They hid their scrolls in jars within the caves and these scrolls were preserved as a result of the area's arid climate.

My Uncle John actually went with another member of our group, George, and climbed one of the surrounding mountains to get a look inside one of the caves. I didn't realize they were going or I would have gone with them! In the end, all they found in the cave was the droppings of the wild goats and birds.

After Qumran, we ventured to our hotel in Jerusalem. This was quite an adventure as the city was absolutely packed. Part of our struggle was a result of the Pope's visit to Jerusalem which has some streets closed. The largest problem though was the massive crowds on the downtown streets. We found out that the reason so many people were out was a local wedding. Jerusalem is divided into Arab neighborhoods and Jewish neighborhoods (among others) and historically the two groups have not tried to live within the other group's area. Recently some Arab families have purchased homes within the Jewish neighborhoods, however, when Jewish families were not welcomed to move into the Arab neighborhoods. The wedding yesterday was of a Jewish couple but was to take place in an Arab area of Jerusalem. As a result, a large number of Jewish families (many of whom probably didn't even know the couple) were coming out in support. This meant packed streets and a real challenge for our bus driver to find a way to our hotel.

When arriving at the hotel we ventured down to find a great spread for dinner. I managed to completely stuff myself only to find out that Rabbi Joseph Shulam, a good friend of my family wanted to take my grandfather, uncle, mother, and I to dinner at a local restaurant. We, of course, couldn't pass up the opportunity to eat with the Rabbi so off to our "2nd dinner" we went. The evening was very enjoyable as we had the opportunity to talk with the Rabbi and his wife (who was one of my mom's best friends growing up).

Now for a fascinating story for those of you who made it to the end of my long-winded narrative. We ate last night at a local restaurant in the Arab side of Jerusalem. While eating we found that a few tables down was the man convicted of selling Israeli nuclear secrets to a British newspaper. He had worked for the government in the nuclear division but had been laid off. He sold the secrets to the newspaper and fled the country. The Israeli Mossad sent an agent to seduce the spy and draw him to Italy. More Massad agents were waiting for the man in Italy and after drugging him, they brought him back to Israel (supposedly stuffed in a suitcase) to stand trial. He was convicted and spent 18 years in prison. He was released in 2004 but is not allowed to leave the country. He cannot venture beyond the Arab areas of Jerusalem for fear of retribution from angry Jews. That certainly made dinner that much more interesting!

Well, I am off for our first day of touring Jerusalem. I believe we are going to be visiting the Mount of Olives today. I'll report later!

P.S. If you would like to comment on the post, feel free to do so. You just need to hit comments below.

Israel - Day 3

Day 3 was spent mostly in the Negev Desert. It is truly amazing how dry it is here and how desolate most of the landscape is. Seems like we drove for an hour without really seeing any signs of human life - not even Bedouin camps. Pretty remarkable to think that this is the wilderness that the Israelites wandered in for 40 years!

When we first left Tel Aviv we did have the opportunity to see some Bedouin tents and learned a lot more about the people. They are Arab and a nomadic people. Their primary form of employment is keeping herds of sheep and goats. Historically they have lived in tents but many have started to build structures out of tin and other metals that are slightly more permanent. We saw many Bedouin women dressed from head to toe in black garb which was unbelievable considering the extreme heat. They are certainly a hearty people!

Our first stop was at Tel Beer Sheva. The Tel is thought to be a 3000 year old military installation. Many of the walls still stand and it was a great example of how the Israelites built structures out of stone and mud bricks. It was very neat to see. Below is a picture of some of the walls. We also had the opportunity to go down into the underground reservoir where the people would have gathered rain water. It was quite a hike down with low ceilings but very cool.



From Tel Beer Sheva, we went to En Avedat National Park. The views were absolutely incredible as we wound our way down into the canyons. The park lies in a ravine on the northern fringes of the Avedat Heights between the central and northern Negev Mountains. It was one of the driest areas I have ever seen. We wound our way back a path to a stream that runs through the mountains. It was amazing to see water and plant life in the middle of the dry desert wilderness. We had only seen rock and sand for miles. Pappy (my grandfather) explained that this is where we believe God brought water from the rock when Moses struck it. My Uncle John did a devotion for the tour group there and then we began the hike out.



On the way out we stumbled upon some Ibexes. An ibex is a wild goat that roams the cliffs and slopes of the Negev. They had very little trouble making their way up and down the steep cliffs. One of the goats walked fairly close to us so I was able to get a close up shot.



From En Avedat we journeyed to the Dead Sea. The drive took us through more of the Negev as we saw a continuation of the extremely dry conditions. Hard to believe that we are only a few weeks into the dry season . After a 2 hour drive we arrived at our hotel on the Dead Sea with a couple of hours before dinner to spend at the water. Our hotel is more like a spa than a hotel. They have a beautiful outdoor pool with normal water and an indoor pool with salt water from the Sea. They offer a ton of massage and mud bath services. We all received a detailed explanation of all they could do for us but I don't think anyone from the group actually took them up on any of the offers.

After getting settled in we headed down to the water to float. The water was such a deep brilliant turquoise color. The Dead Sea water is made up of 33% solid minerals. The result is that you float no matter how hard you try not to. I would jump up and try to submerge myself only to shoot right back up. When you get up on your back and front floating in the water, you have to really fight to get your feet back to the bottom. The water is supposed to be great for the skin and did feel a lot more smooth after spending some time in the water. Below are some pictures of the water but I fear I failed to capture the actual brilliance. It may take some Photoshop work or possibly an HDR image (high dynamic range) to get closer to the true colors. There's a challenge for me.

For those of you concerned for Pappy/Buck, he is doing well. He actually hiked the full 3/4 mile into En Avedat. The hike out was a challenge but he made it through. He is in good spirits although he did have a tear filled moment yesterday when he said he kept finding himself looking around for his Sally. It just isn't quite the same here for him without her. Makes me tear up to see how much he loves her.

Well, it is morning here in Israel and I have to go get around to start my day. Today we hit Mount Masada on our way to Jerusalem. Tonight we dine with Joe and Marsha Shulam which will be quite a treat for me. I have heard about the Shulams my whole life but have never had the opportunity to meet them. They are a really cool Israeli family (well Joe is Israeli, Marsha was actually one of my mom's best friends growing up) that lead a large Messianic ministry in Jerusalem. It will be neat to finally meet them. Hopefully I will have some more pictures and stories for you tonight or tomorrow morning!

Israel - Days 1 & 2

After a 4 hour drive to Pennsylvania followed by a 3 hour drive to Newark followed by an 11 hour flight to Tel-Aviv, we have arrived!!! Not much opportunity for pictures thus far but that should change tomorrow. Here's one of our tour group (I am conveniently hiding in the back):

The bus ride from our meeting point in Pennsylvania to the Newark airport was quite interesting. There were times when I thought the bus was going to fall apart in the middle of the highway. We decided that we now know why this bus company was $1000 cheaper than the other... The flight was very uneventful. Eleven hours is too long to be stuck in a seat but most of us were able to sleep a good chunk of it. Got to see the Swiss Alps from the air - that was cool!

One of the coolest things at the airport was watching my grandfather interact with an Israeli gentleman. You could just see the joy and love in my grandfather's face and it was clear the Israeli gentleman could see it too. My grandfather truly loves this people group and has created an amazing legacy.

The plane ride was my first introduction to the Israeli culture. A very large portion of the passengers were Orthodox Jews (?). The style of dress and some of their religious practices were definitely foreign to me. I expect to learn a lot about their culture on this trip.

After arriving at our hotel in Tel-Aviv we had the opportunity to go down to the Mediterranean Sea. It was already pretty late in the evening and there wasn't much of a sunset but at least we were able to see it! Here's what it looked like (no, not quite iStock worthy - no time to play with RAW files now):

I'd type more but I've got to go try to adjust to the Israeli time zone. That means going to sleep at 3 PM my time!

I hope to have a lot more tomorrow evening!

Josh

It's Finally Here!

Well, I leave for Israel this morning! I am still optimistic that I will have internet access at most of my hotels so the plan is still to blog throughout the trip. Pictures will follow as well. And to my colleagues at N&M, I do promise to be safe and not to forget to come back.

Let the adventure begin!!!

Brittany and Dasha

Had an awesome time shooting Brittany and Dasha this past weekend. They are absolutely beautiful and a blast to work with. I believe I should end up with around 100 new images to add to my stock portfolio. Below are some of my favorites.

My New Niece

My absolutely gorgeous niece has become a new favorite for studio work. At the ripe old age of 7 weeks, she has already experienced the flash of strobe lights more than most people will in a lifetime. I decided to start setting aside an amount equal to the commissions earned on all of her images toward her future college education. Hopefully by the time she is 18, we'll have enough for that Harvard education she is destined for!

Night Shot Technique

I periodically get questions on how I take my night shots. While I am certainly not an expert, I will gladly share my technique.

I start by making sure I arrive at my shooting location at least an hour and a half before sunrise or an hour before sunset. This gives me plenty of time to get set up and to determine the location I think is best suited for night shots. This is important because the window of opportunity to capture the brilliant dark blue sky is quite short. I typically find that I only have about 10 - 15 minutes to shoot the background I love. Because you are using long exposures, this greatly limits the number of shots you can capture. As such, being all set to capture the shot when the sky first hits the right shade is critical.

I consider a perfect location to be a spot where I am looking at a well lit cityscape or a building across water. I like to get as close to water level as possible and shoot from a low perspective. This will stretch the reflections of light. I shoot in manual and use a small or large enough aperture to allow me to get to a 30 second exposure while leaving me 1 stop overexposed. As the sky gets lighter or darker (depending on whether I am shooting dawn or dusk), I adjust the aperture t0 remain at 30 seconds. I like the longer exposure time as it smooths out the water and adds the starburst effect to any street lights. Because I am shooting large expanses of dark sky, it is critical that I shoot in the lowest ISO setting my camera offers. The difference between ISO 100 and 200 on my Nikon D300 is HUGE in terms of the noise levels in the sky.

I aim to get as many shots off as I can within the 10 - 15 minutes of brilliantly blue sky so I tend to find one composition I like and lock down my tripod. This obviously limits my variety of shots but I have found that I am far more likely to get the beautiful shot I have invisioned.

Post production is a key part of my night shots. I only shoot raw so I have the flexibility to adjust exosure and white balance after the fact. I capture versions of each image correctly exposed, overexposed by 1, 2, and 3 stops, and then underexposed by 1, 2, and 3 stops. I use Photomatix Pro to create a High Dynamic Range image using those seven files to bring out the bright colors in the buildings while maintaining the dark sky (limits noise) and not overexposing the street lights (avoids blooming). I try to limit the adjustments I make in Photomatix in order to maintain a "realistic" look to my image and to decrease my chances of adding an unacceptable level of artifacting (a big no-no in stock photography). Once I have my HDR image, I export the file in TIFF format and move to Photoshop for any clean-up work (like the painstaking process of removing the names off buildings in cityscapes). Once the file is cleaned, it is ready to be exported to JPEG and uploaded to my favorite stock site.

Below are some examples of night cityscapes taken using the above process. From top to bottom, they are of Richmond, Richmond, Baltimore, Tampa, and the Capitol Building in Washington DC.

Washington, DC

My latest photo shoot in Washington, DC was a success. I spent November 20th through November 22nd freezing my rear end off (temperatures in the 20s for my morning shoots!) but getting what I hope were some great photos. I was fortunate enough to have enough Marriott rewards points to be able to stay at the Pennsylvania Avenue Marriott. It was really a spectacular hotel! I was able to walk throughout the downtown area and photograph everything from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol. Hopefully this is just the first of many such D.C. trips. Below are some of the better pictures that have since been added to my iStock porfolio. Check out my Washington D.C. lightbox for all of the pictures.