Cappadocia

Cappadocia is unlike anywhere I've photographed. At sunrise, dozens of hot air balloons rise above the fairy chimneys, and the valley fills with color before the light even touches the ground. I try to be in position early enough to catch both the balloons and the first warm rays raking across the tuff formations, it's a short window and completely worth it.

The wild Yılkı horses are the highlight I keep coming back for. When a herd of over a hundred of them comes thundering through with local cowboys at their side, kicking up a wall of dust backlit by soft morning sun, that's the kind of scene you can't plan for anywhere else. I shoot wide to show scale, then switch to a longer lens to isolate individual horses in the chaos.

Lake Tuz gives me something completely different: calm, minimal, reflective. The salt flats stretch to the horizon, and at golden hour with a horse or two in the foreground, the images feel almost otherworldly. It's the contrast to the drama of the valleys that makes this tour so photographically complete.