Family

As We Leave 2018 Behind

January 1, 2019 by A. Cemal Ekin

As I write this post, some of the readers might have already entered the new year, welcoming 2019. Happy New Year to you all as I share a photographic summary of 2018, the faces and places we have seen, the experiences we have had, and the people we have lost.

The photographs are in chronological order and show the moments from each month. Some months have more photographs than others based on what we might be doing.

We would like to dedicate this post to all family and friends we have lost in 2018. Kristine Williams and David Williams, Jan’s cousins. Linda and Steve Mecca, George Vacca, Alan French, Gunes Ariktal, our good friends. And, Binnaz Melin, our sister.

The photographs have their titles that correspond to their dates with no further description or explanation. Many have appeared in previous posts in the past year.

Have a great new year.
May 2019 bring
joy and happiness to you all.

[Show slideshow]

Binnaz Melin: 1941 – 2018

December 3, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

It is with great sadness I share with you the passing of my sister Binnaz Melin. As I grieve for my loss I celebrate a life well-lived. She was the person I had known all my life, besides being my sister, Binnaz was a friend from my earliest memories. We played together, talked together, walked to school together, and returned home together. And, that was before neither one of us was even ten years old!

Looking back, she leaves a trail of success and achievements, but most of all a long trail of people whose lives she touched in many ways. Her desire to help others found support in her husband, my friend Ergun who talked the talk and walked the walk with Binnaz. We are proud to have known you, Binnaz, to have lived with you, shared joy and sadness with you, shared your achievements and met many of the people whose lives you have touched.

Farewell dear sister, as hard as it is for me to say that. Jan, Elif, Mina, and I will miss you, miss you a lot; remember you, feel you with us with joy for the rest of our lives.

Yours has been a wonderful and wondrous, even a miraculous life! Thank you for being you for all of us.

Addendum

To all who wrote, called, Skyped, or otherwise shared our grief and joy we thank from the bottom of our heart. The following appeared in the Turkish papers as her obituary. A rough translation follows and the image is clickable for a larger view.

Passage

The daughter of the late Nesip Ekin and late Nevber Ekin,
sister of A. Cemal Ekin and Zerrin Ekin,
the aunt of Elif Ekin, Ekin Kucuk, and Yunus Ertas,
sister in law of the late Nevin and Mehmet Bilginer,
late Ahmet Melin, and Janice Ekin

Teacher, administrator, and educator at
Site High School, Moran High School, Istanbul University
School of Foreign Languages, Ortadogu High School,
FMV Ayazaga Isik High School, FM Foundation Educational Institutions,
Turkish Educational Foundation Inanc Turkes High School
to contribute to the education and personal growth of thousands of students,
ASKEV Bilginer-Melin Ayvalik Arts Culture Education Foundation
board of trustees member and Vice-president of the Board of Directors,

Continuing her deep love of gardening for her entire life
after getting the love of nature and animals from her summers at the Gulek Plateau

Dearest life companion of Ergun Melin

BINNAZ MELIN

Passed away on December 3, 2018

Her funeral will commence following the noontime prayer
at the Karacaahmet Sakirin Mosque
for her burial in the Karacaahmet Cemetary

Ekin and Melin Families

Mt. Nebo and Fall Colors in Utah

November 10, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

Yellow is unique in the color spectrum. It is naturally luminous, almost up there with white. Most colors have lighter and darker tints and shades, but not yellow. The dark yellow sounds odd since it becomes brownish! The fall color in Utah, at least in the parts I have seen, is yellow unlike in New England where colors are a mix of reds, oranges, yellows all mixed in. Fall in Utah is an intense, vibrant, almost light emitting yellow. Yes, there are other colors but all are dominated by the intense yellow. This was even more pronounced on Mt. Nebo near Nephi aided by the gorgeous weather. The Mt. Nebo Scenic Trail is a recommended attraction, especially in the fall.

The Wasatch Range & Mt. Nebo

I prefer mountain views to ocean views. There is a far more visible variation in the mountains whereas the exciting part of the ocean lies beneath the surface. The Wasatch Range stretches about 160 miles and dominates the settled areas of the state of Utah. Apparently, about 85% of Utah’s population lives within a short distance from the range on the western side. And, Mt. Nebo is the tallest one in the range on the southern edge of it. Named after the Biblical Mount Nebo overlooking Israel, it is the centerpiece of the Uinta National Forest. Its peaks are a hair under 12,000 feet and they seem to be covered with snow probably much of the time. (Thanks to Wikipedia for much of this information.)

The Mt. Nebo Scenic Byway

I enclosed a small segment of the map from the Lightroom Map module. It shows the spots where I took photographs. Elif drove us to the north edge of the trail so that we could drive over Mt. Nebo to reach the south edge and stop at the Devil’s Kitchen. We drove on the trail for a while, stopping to take a few photographs until we came to the closed gate. The two orange rectangles on the top right mark that spot. The trail was closed due to forest fires from that point forward. So, we spent some time at that location, took photographs of the golden yellow foliage all around, on the trees, on the ground, even on the stream running with the water.

Elif decided that we could try the south end of the trail to reach the Devil’s Kitchen and we started the drive back on the freeway. A little while later we were climbing on the trail from the south end. The climb was steep and I could feel the thinning air. The marker on the road showed 11,000 feet! The orange rectangles going down on the left to make a hook show our path to and from the Devil’s Kitchen.

The Devil’s Kitchen

The park at the Devil’s Kitchen was accessible from a short walk on a path. At the end of the path was an overlook to enjoy the rock formations along the hillside. We enjoyed the view, took quite a few photographs and headed back to the car stopping here and there for more photographs of Mt. Nebo with its snowy tops. During this trip, we saw Mt. Nebo from both sides!

After a few more photographs, it was time to head back since the rest of the trail was closed. But even this much was quite a treat for the eyes. The bright yellow created a great experience for us and allowed us to capture its luminous qualities. Even the photographs I took from the car on the way back show the everpresent yellow on the fading grass near the road. We returned to Salt Lake City in mid-afternoon and stopped to have a late lunch/early supper at a nice burger joint. A nice way to end a good day on the hills of Mt. Nebo.

Now, put on your sunglasses and enjoy a trip to Mt. Nebo!

[Show slideshow]

The Marina and The Golden Spike

November 8, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

This post is dedicated to the memory of our good friend Alan French who passed away yesterday. He loved trains, I wish he could have seen some of the photographs. Rest in peace Alan.

The delayed trip to the Great Salt Lake Marina happened one afternoon with great weather still prevailing. It was an easy drive and we passed by the Saltair and proceeded to the marina. The gates were open this time. The Great Salt Lake Marina is located on the south shore of the lake and has 340 slips according to their Web site.

The Great Salt Lake Marina

Although there were some visitors, the marina was generally quiet. A few people went to the observation deck but I managed to find an empty period to photograph it against the vast lake. There was a lone sailboat moving quietly across the calm waters. Elif, Jan, and Mina went down to the beach but the path was a bit too challenging for me and I stayed at the parking level.

Utah has the bluest skies I have seen anywhere. It may have something to do with its generally dry weather and the high altitudes around the Salt Lake area. That rich blue reflected on the water giving both of them an amazing color quality. The girls, including Josephine the dog, enjoyed walking up and down the beach, dipping their feet in the waters of the Great Salt Lake and eventually returned to the parking level.

The following day, on Sunday we spent some time at home. Elif completed carving a pumpkin for Mina to display for the Holloween at the doorsteps. After the Jack-O-Lantern was ready to shine at night we got in the car and Elif drove us to the Golden Spike National Historic Site. It was a little past Ogden and the road was not too crowded.

The Golden Spike National Historic Site

On May 10, 1869, the two railroad companies, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific connected their respective tracks that tied the continent coast to coast. That happened at the Promontory Summit where the current historic site has its guest facilities are located. We arrived there a little before their closing time, and I showed my senior pass to all the national parks and we quickly went to the storage where the replicas of the two locomotives were on display.

The replicas were quite convincing and were built around the 1970’s. During the summer months, they have daily runs, demonstrations, and reenactments of driving the last spike that created the first transcontinental railway in America. Jupiter was the more colorful with the Union Pacific 119 displaying a painting of Johnny Appleseed on one of its stacks. The park ranger offered some narrative and answered questions. It was almost their closing time and we got back in the car.

There are two auto tours, the East Auto Tour and the West Auto Tour. We decided to take the East Auto Tour because we were told it was more like driving on the old tracks, and they were right! As Elif drove, the vista was one from a western movie, a vast expanse of land with a few scattered clusters of buildings. We approached a cut on a small hill for the train to go through although it was turned into a road for the cars. I could almost visualize bandits perched on the small hills ready to pounce on the passing train. When you see the photographs these words will make more sense! For a detailed pace of laying the rail track with interesting historic photographs visit the Union Pacific special page. The Promontory Summit is towards the end, and as you scroll down you will see the steps leading to the connection. There are photographs pretty much at all the stops.

Zucca Italian Restaurant and The Speakeasy

After the tour was complete, Elif drove to Ogden where she had made reservations for dinner at Zucca Italian Restaurant. Its lower level was converted to simulate an old-fashioned speakeasy with padded doors and walls decorated with period imagery. As we parked the car outside Zucca, we saw a lot of people in Holloween costumes, and I don’t mean just children. In Utah, adults seem to be more into the Holloween at least as much as the kids, maybe even more. On the streets, we saw some children in costumes but the adults stole the show.

We went downstairs a little before the reservation time but the place was empty anyway. The food was good but Mina’s pasta bolognese was not to her liking, a little too much pork in the sauce. But we enjoyed the meal as a whole. When we got out, both sides of the street was getting filled with people apparently waiting for a parade. Before it started, we got in the car and returned home. Another enjoyable day.

[Show slideshow]

An Outing in Salt Lake City

November 1, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

It was good to see Elif at the airport waiting for us. The weather was very nice and it would remain so for the rest of our stay. We arrived at Elif’s house and settled in our bedroom Elif fixed for our arrival. Mina had gone on a trip with her father and was to return home after her dance practice. We were very pleased to see her arrive and decided to go out to eat at one of the local restaurants.

Our next major outing would be to pick up Mina from her school, Salt Lake Arts Academy, and go to a local period costume store called Decades. After that, a trip to the Salt Lake Marina would allow us to see the sunset from a nice vantage point. The used clothing store was quite interesting, well organized, and filled with clothing from to 50’s and maybe even earlier. Unfortunately, their policies did not allow picture taking in the store. There will be a few windows I photographed from outside as well as their Art Deco style logo hanging over the entry door. Mina was able to find the poodle skirt from the 50’s; after purchasing it we got back in the car. Elif said since we have time before the sunset, we could stop over at the Salt Lake City Public Library with an interesting architecture.

The library was indeed quite interesting with a slanting curved glass facade and the leaning support legs of the walkway descending from the roof garden. I stayed out a little, took some photographs of the building and walked into the lobby which is called the Urban Room. There were some small shops, tables, and chairs for enjoying a cup of coffee and relax. The main lighting of the library is the over 176,000 square feet of glass on one side and the ceiling. The Urban Room roamed upwards for five stories and glass enclosed elevators carried people up and down. Elif suggested that we tried going to the roof and asked for directions. Elif and I took the elevator to the fifth floor and found the door to the roof garden. The view was quite impressive and with a little extra effort, I was able to walk up the ramp to the topmost level with an even better view!

After taking quite a few photographs from the roof, I suggested to Elif to call Jan so that she could enjoy the vista and take some photographs. In a few minutes, Jan and Mina were upstairs enjoying the scenery, mountains on one side and the sprawling city on the other. Elif and Mina walked down the stairway perched on top of the slanted supports. A few minutes later she called and told us that I could easily do it. So, Jan and I started heading down. At the end of the stepped walkway were stairs that took us to the plaza where we started.

We found the car in the parking garage and headed to the marina. As we approached the replica of an old salt bath, Saltair, Elif noticed that the gate to go to the marina was closed. Apparently, in the fall and winter months, they close it at 5 pm. Oh, well, we still stayed there. The girls, including Josephine the dog, ventured out to the salt flat but I stayed behind taking photographs of the impending sunset and changing colors. Of course, I made sure I captured the girls on the salt flat as well.

After we saw the sunset, we got back to the car and headed home. The marina would wait for another day.

We are returning home to Rhode Island tomorrow. I will resume posting after a few days.

[Show slideshow]

Flight To Salt Lake City – 2018

October 31, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

A week ago on Monday, Jan and I flew to Salt Lake City to see Elif and Mina. The first leg of the flight, Providence to Baltimore was about an hour. By a sheer coincidence, the exit gate for us was next to the connecting flight gate to Salt Lake City.

The wait was short and we boarded first along with other passengers who needed special aid. This time I chose to sit in the window seat so that I could take photographs. I have done this quite a few times using infrared cameras and I wanted to try recording the earth once more, this time in color. The clear weather was on my side making both the flight smooth and my photographing easier.

Aerial photography, especially at 30,000′ is very different from shooting landscapes. First of all, there are two layers of airplane window glass of dubious optical quality and cleanliness. Add to this the speed at which the plane is flying, the weather conditions, and unexpected bumps the engagement with the subject becomes a very different experience altogether.

Upon take off, the city and highways provide ample material to photograph. There is not much time to think and compose, one has to rely on one’s instincts. At these lower altitudes, things go by much faster requiring faster shutter speeds and reaction. As the altitude increases the clouds may enter the scene sometimes adding quality elements to the photographs and at others become a pure obstruction. But, be on the alert, a partially revealed scene below may offer interesting photographs.

The camera angle, the exposure settings, lens zoom all need to be carefully controlled. With quick changing light, it is best to use some kind of automation. Either aperture or shutter-speed priority would work so long as the shutter speed does not fall below, say 1/250 seconds. I used aperture priority, auto ISO, and shutter speed not to go below 1/250 seconds. Of course, depending on the changing conditions some amount of exposure compensation is unavoidable. (Also, see the comment by Haluk below.)

The tricky part is the white balance with changing light conditions, clouds coming in and out of the view, ground color shifting. I relied on auto white balance and then tweaked it based on my mental images. The color may not be exactly accurate but “they looked right to me!” You may also notice the wide crop ratio of 1:2 rather than the camera image having 3:2. The wide crop in this case and in the previous instances allowed me to retain the feeling of looking at a wide vista while eliminating the parts that could not be left out when photographing.

You may have noticed in some of the photographs the appearance of looking directly down. A few of them were lucky moments when the plane banked and gave me a very good view of what is down below. In the other frames, I used Lightroom to yield a corrected view. That gave the land a better presentation of its features. Yet, others remained mostly the way I took them except for some cropping to get the window frame out or to remove the extreme rotation of the camera angle. (Thank you Bill for noticing this and commenting on it. Truth be told, this paragraph was in the post. But, thanks to my hosting company’s poor service my site crashed as I tried to save the post causing me to lose a good deal of content.)

These are not meant to be highly accurate reconnaissance photographs but photographs I want to share with you. The detail may be lacking, the colors may not be exactly correct (although I believe darn close to it!) but remember the two layers of dirty airplane window glass, all the clouds that are going in and out. I prefer that you enjoy the colors, shapes, texture, lines, mood, and the feeling encoded in the images. Come to think of it, that is the way to look at and read photographs.

I hope you enjoy traveling with me from Baltimore to Salt Lake City. Let’s fly!

[Show slideshow]

Karma Is A Champion!

July 17, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

Although we have always thought so, it is now official. Karma has attained the title of “Champion.” We are grateful for the hard work and efforts of our breeder friend George and his helpful team of friends for transporting, grooming, training, showing and bringing Karma home with ribbons. On July 4, 2018, Karma beat the other dogs and got the title: AKC Champion. The opening image is from last year, but it is there to thank George and Karma first and foremost. The championship photograph is below.

We are pleased that he made it through, all due to the efforts of George. He told us that at the last show, a junior handler Kathleen did a superb job showing Karma, dressing the part to complement his colors. You see her in her red dress in the championship photograph. Jan and I thank Kathleen for her efforts to bring the title to Karma. And the judge looks remarkably similar to a close family friend, but she is not. Those who know will recognize the person I mean.

In the following gallery, I wanted to show Karma’s growth from the time we picked him from the littler to the point of him being a champion. You will see the fuzzy-haired puppy growing up, getting into shape and hairs stripped, in the shows last year and finally his official portraits from his last year win and this year’s championship.

Karma is now officially retired from the show circuit. We wish a very successful season and shows to his brother Beanie who is coming right behind Karma. Go Beanie! Then will come one of Karma’s daughters!

Thank you, George, thank you, Karma! He will now stay home and make more puppies!!!

Cirque du Soleil – LUZIA

July 1, 2018 by A. Cemal Ekin

We have been fans of Cirque du Soleil for many years. I first stumbled on one of their shows back in the 80s by accident while channel surfing on the TV. Its mesmerizing music, colorful costumes, choreography, and of course, the acrobatics take you in for the duration of the show and then let you out of the TV when it ends! Since then, I have purchased about 6-7 DVDs of their shows and never got disappointed. We watched all of them multiple times.

Just before Elif told us their arrival date in Rhode Island, Jan had found out that Cirque du Soleil would be coming to Boston with a show called LUZIA. After we found out that they would be arriving in the last week in June, I got tickets for all of us to go to Boston and enjoy the live performance. I chose a mid-afternoon show so that we would not be too late to return home, it started at 4:30 PM. Just to have comfortable travel I decided that we should leave around 1:00 PM and be there probably around 2:30 PM or so. Then, we would kill time looking around, shopping at the gift shop, and slowly go to our seats. Well! Suffolk Downs where Cirque du Soleil set up its tent is about 62 miles from our house and would normally take about 75 minutes or so. The first hour passed as planned, we traveled about 54 miles in that time and entered the tunnel to connect to Rt 90. The last 7 miles took us 2 hours and 15 minutes and we barely made the show!

After I bought the tickets, I called Cirque du Soleil to ask if there was a nearby handicapped parking and whether I could take photographs. The answer was yes to both, there was ample handicapped parking right next to the tent, even complimentary valet parking, and I could take photographs and should bring my camera. Not having a sense of how far we would be sitting from the stage, I put on my 70-200 mm lens on my Canon 5D, charged the battery and got a spare one, then formatted the memory card for fresh storage.

As we waited in traffic, I gave the tickets to Jan to find out how long the show was. She found out that it was altogether about 2 hours and 30 minutes with an intermission. She also read that taking photographs or video was not permitted during the show! Bummer! As we eventually arrived at Suffolk Downs horse race tracks, I asked where the handicapped parking was. The young man directing the traffic pointed at the VIP parking entrance and told me that it would be $20! I told him that the information given on the phone did not match the actual practice regarding parking and taking photographs. He put the parking ticket in my windshield and looked at the credit card I was giving him. After checking with his coworker and finding out that their credit card reader was elsewhere, he said: “the parking is on the house” and pointed toward the parking near the tents. I parked the car, we had about 15 minutes for the show to start! Elif suggested that I left the camera in the car but I was not about to leave a high-value item even in the trunk. Although I would not be able to take photographs, I wanted to keep the camera close to me to keep it safe.

Luckily, there were no stairs to climb and we settled in our seats. We were not too far from the stage and they started making announcements including “picture and video taking were perfectly fine so long as no flash was used!” Another pleasant surprise after the parking situation! The lights dimmed, colorful costumes started to appear on stage, the music started and LUZIA got rolling. Unlike their usual practice of singing in their own, made up language, this one featured all the songs in Spanish!. The main theme was also an actual place, Mexico. According to the Cirque du Soleil website, the title LUZIA blends light and rain “where light (‘Luz’ in Spanish) quenches the spirit and rain (‘Lluvia.’”) soothes the soul.” For the next hour, we enjoyed one acrobatic act after another.

The lens I chose proved to be a bit too long, I shot most of the time at the low-end, 70mm focal length. I would have been better off with my 24-70 mm lens instead. Keep that in mind. Also, our seats were on the side and the giant disc hanging behind the stage did not show up as a background in my photographs. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is good because I do not have the distracting background behind the performers. It is not a good thing because the iconic element did not show up in my photographs. A matter of a point of view! (Pun intended!)

During the intermission, Elif and Mina went out and came back with a pretzel and a bottle of water for me and Jan. I stayed put as I did not want to get into the crowd. Towards the end of the intermission, people started returning to their seats. A little girl came back with a flower tiara that was lit from the inside and she was wearing the wings of a butterfly as one of the characters wore on stage. She looked so charming, I snapped a few photographs of her as her mother was trying to do the same. As they sat down, I walked down a couple of rows and gave her my business card and told her she can have the photographs when I put them on the site. We’ll see if she would like larger copies of the files.

Soon after, the second half started with more acts, more costumes, more music, more rain on stage. We watched them with amazement, like everyone else and soon it was the parting party, another hour had passed! Some people started to leave before the show came to an end probably to beat the traffic. Mina and I stopped at the souvenir shop where she picked up a keychain. We waited in line to pay for it as Jan and Elif went to the car to roll down the windows.

We drove to Charlestown to have dinner at Warren Tavern which came recommended by our friend Karen. The map warned that parking may be difficult at that location but we decided to give it a try. As we drove, I told my crew that we would find a parking spot right in front of the restaurant. It was on a narrow one-way street, and the entire right side was filled with parked cars. EXCEPT, the very first spot in front of its door! We got in and put our name on the waiting list and in about 20 minutes the hostess seated us. We enjoyed a beer and very good hamburgers and around 9 PM we hit the road to return home. Instead of the usual 75 minutes, due to road construction on Rt 95, the trip took us two hours and some meandering to find a gas station and a better route. Thanks to Jan’s terrific sense of direction, we managed that and came home after a long but very enjoyable day.

Although not as polished as the shows we have watched on DVD, LUZIA certainly delighted the audience including me and my crew. Below are a collection of photographs that I picked to give you a sense of the circus. There are too many photographs, I know, but I thought it would be easier for the visitor to choose which ones to view based on a hint of the image on the thumbnails.

Come, enjoy Cirque du Soleil LUZIA! Watch the short trailer and then view the photographs I took during the performance.

As We Leave 2018 Behind

Have a great new year.
May 2019 bring
joy and happiness to you all.

Binnaz Melin: 1941 – 2018

Passage

BINNAZ MELIN

Mt. Nebo and Fall Colors in Utah

The Wasatch Range & Mt. Nebo

The Mt. Nebo Scenic Byway

The Devil’s Kitchen

The Marina and The Golden Spike

The Great Salt Lake Marina

The Golden Spike National Historic Site

Zucca Italian Restaurant and The Speakeasy

An Outing in Salt Lake City

Flight To Salt Lake City – 2018

Karma Is A Champion!

Cirque du Soleil – LUZIA

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Family

Have a great new year. May 2019 bring joy and happiness to you all.

Passage

BINNAZ MELIN

The Wasatch Range & Mt. Nebo

The Mt. Nebo Scenic Byway

The Devil’s Kitchen

The Great Salt Lake Marina

The Golden Spike National Historic Site

Zucca Italian Restaurant and The Speakeasy

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Search This Site

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Copyright Information

Have a great new year.
May 2019 bring
joy and happiness to you all.