Holy Exposures

These were shot on a hiking trail about 5km south of Bet Shemesh. I went out for a hike just before daybreak.

The ground was wet, it had rained slightly overnight. I wanted to capture the luminescence of these plants. I tried a bunch of shots with a tripod with low shutter speeds – then just for a change, i pulled out my SB-28 and gave them a fill flash. Here’s the results. They seem to pop out of the image – like three dimensional.

Technical Info: Both were shot with Nikon F100, 28mm-105m with Macro, 1/125.
Both had fill flash from a SB-28.

Wadi Joz is northeast of the Old City and is generally considered part of East Jerusalem.

Notice the streets are sometimes paved, sometimes not. There are beautiful villas on the top of the image across of huts and ramshackles, and piles of dirt in the middle.

Beit Jimel is a Franciscan order monastery on the foothills to the Judean Hills – near Bet Shemesh.

The church is said to own the land adjacent to the monastery which includes breathtaking views of the Judean Hills to the East, the city of Bet Shemesh to the North, and prime hiking trails to the South and West. The monastery also has grapevines, a winery, and olive tree orchards.

This photo was shot in the afternoon. I especially like the angle, the lighting, and the grace of the trees. They have a somewhat majestic swagger. The warmth of the Velvia film really works nicely here.

Technical Info: Nikon F100, Fuji Velvia, 24mm, 1/250, E-6 Home Processed, Minolta Dual-Scan.

Dormition Abbey is on Mount Zion about 50 meters just outside the Zion Gate and walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is a massive and impressive structure that resembles a mighty fortress.

Technical Details: Shot with a Nikon FE, 24mm f.2.8, 1/250.  I nudged up pretty close to the northeast corner of the building and shot with a very wide angle lens that somewhat distorted the edges.

2003 – Israeli Solider praying at the Western Wall (Kotel).

It was the night of a terrorist attack in Jerusalem.

I shot this image in 2003 the night of a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. A suicide bomber had exploded himself in the center of town. The entire city was a police fortress. The border patrol units were hunting for possible collaborators. I went down to the Kotel (Old City – Western Wall) and saw there were soldiers there, many of them were new recruits, who were praying at the wall for peace.

Technical details - Nikon F100, Fuji Astra, 1/60, ISO 100. Leaned on a table and shot with self-timer. The unique yellow lighting to this image comes from the halogen floodlights that light up wall at nighttime.