Day 10 8-22-2011

Today we left our hotel and started our long journey through the mountains. Within the first fifteen minutes of leaving out hotel we came across a stone carving of Ataturk made into the mountains. the sculptures was of him smiling looking off into the distance. It looked very good.

we Continued on into the gas station where I took some photos of the farmland and the mountains we were in. Little did I know that these would be the last photos I would take with my camera.

while we were on the bus traveling I tried to take photos as we drove down the mountain. but every time I hit the shutter button I would get an error message. I figured out that it was because the shutter was jammed, beyond repair.

at the lunch table I took tooth pick and tried to jam them into the shutter so that the shutter would remain open the entire time. this did not work and I almost missed my lunch. back on the bus I tried the same thing and it worked for several shots but then it failed again. By now I was getting worried about scratching the sensor. but my fear of no camera was stronger.

We went to the thermal pools and there I took photos with my backup camera as well as video. it was very good. however there were huge amounts of people in bathing suits and a lot of men in thongs (which was too much). We walked along the pools with out our shoes. the dry parts of the thermal spring were smooth but not slippery. I did step into the pools and the rocks at the bottom were sharp and pointy which made it difficult to stand in. then I contiued down the edge of the cliff we were on and went into another pool. Once I was done with the thermal spring I put my shoes back on. It was then that I noticed how soft and relaxed my foot felt. it was as though some one had been massaging my feet the whole time with out me knowing it.

we then went to our hotel and I then started going to work on my camera. the shutter was the problem, and unfixable problem. So my only solutions was to remove the program. I took pliers and removed the shutter from the camera. After holding my breath it started up. I switched to live view and it looked as though it was working (previously live view didn't even work). then I took a shot. it snapped a photo. saved it then told me to restart the camera. I was releaved. yes I would have to restart the camera after every picture but I could still take photographs. So now i'm using the camera as though it were an medium format film camera. every were I go I had to take it attached to a tri-pod. I'm hopping this will only be an improvement to my photography, because it will force me to focus more on composition and positioning. as well as more precise exposer

I went into the hotels thermal pool. and it was extremely hot which was very nice. Then I went into the normal pool. which was warm but still felt cool after the thermal bath. I just laid in the pool looking up at the sky as I floated around. then I went back to my room where I started the impossible task of recharging everyones gear.