PETALING JAYA, Aug 8 — Travelling creates new experiences and memories.

More so if you have a camera in hand and just happen to be a photographer by profession.

A recent trip to Turkey saw me visiting various spots including Istanbul and certain places in the south-east of the country.

The six-day sojourn was made possible when nine Malaysians were invited by the Embassy of Turkey for the trip sponsored by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Turkish Embassy in Malaysia and Turkish Airlines. Turkey is known as a country that is rich with culture and history.

Sunlight beaming into the stained windows of the Aya Sofya in Istanbul, Turkey. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

In Istanbul, I had the opportunity to visit historical and attraction places like Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Taksim square and Tokapi palace.

During our trip to the south-east of Turkey, among the places we visited were the Gobekli Tepe (the oldest temple in the world, Unesco World Heritage Site), Mount Nemrut and Halfeti.

Without a doubt, I fell in love with these places in the south-east.

I found the adventure I was looking for.

We flew to Diyarbakir from Istanbul on our second day.

Then it was a road trip through mountainous landscape.

It was indeed an experience to see Gobekli Tepe during our visit as it is acclaimed to be the world’s oldest temple.

In fact, the Turkish government has announced 2019 to be the "Year of Gobekli Tepe.”

Consequently, this spot was overwhelmed with local and foreign tourists during our visit.

Statues of animals and Greek gods seen at the peak of Mount Nemrut, known as Mountain of God, where King Antiochus built his tomb sanctuary in 62 BC. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

Another memorable experience was seeing the sun set over the 7000-foot of Mt Nemrut, where King Antiochus built his tomb sanctuary in 62 BC.

It is surrounded with statues of animals and Greek gods.

All in all, one of my favourite things that I did in Turkey was of course to take photographs.

Additionally, as a photographer, I was excited because the trip also provided me a chance to snap shots of people, landscape and streets which are my favourite topics.

I managed to do all that during my short trip to Turkey.

If you are a photographer heading out of Malaysia for the first time, here are some simple tips I used to maximise my time:

Make a list of interesting and rarely-visited places

This will ensure that you don't miss them. As an example, on our first day, another photographer and I together with our tour guide went in search of interesting locations just to catch Istanbul at sunset.

Beautiful panoramic view of Istanbul cityscape can be seen from one of the rooftops in Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

And one spot I found was at the rooftop of a shop lot near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

The view was stunning and I took as many shots as I could to store as a keepsake of my trip to Turkey.

We spent an hour taking in the sights including passing seagulls while sipping on Turkish coffee.

The two of us loved it so much we returned a second time on our last day.

The morning panoramic view of a residential area in Sanliufar city. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

Timing is everything

When it came to this, I spent some hours in the early morning and late evening in Sanliufar to try and get photos of people going about their daily lives.

As we were travelling in a group, you need to carve out your own time and space so that you can still do some exploring of your own to take photographs.

I found the Turkish people quite friendly and approachable although there were some who were reluctant to have their photos taken.

Of course communication was difficult and I ended up using Google Translate to introduce myself.

This seemed to make them feel at ease.

Trust your camera equipment

Don't become too obsessed with expensive and sophisticated equipment because it really make not better your photography skills.

What equipment you use doesn't guarantee that it will make you a great photographer.

Instead of buying brand new stuff, you could be better off spending time getting to know all the functions of your camera, including the ones that you never realised it had.

Portrait of a store worker at the Coppersmith bazaar in Gaziantep city. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon