// SEFA YAMAK · V.2026CANLI
SEFA YAMAK

Photography & Fine Art

Writing from the work itself: how a portrait gets made, what happens when you ask a stranger to stand still, where to photograph in Istanbul and Cappadocia, what black and white takes away, and what a fine art print actually is.

17 articles

Why Black and White Photography Is Still So Powerful
Featured
7 min read

Why Black and White Photography Is Still So Powerful

Why black and white photography still feels so strong, when to shoot in it, and what makes a good black and white frame — notes from a photographer who keeps reaching for it.

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How to Start Film Photography
7 min read

How to Start Film Photography

A photographer's beginner guide to film: what an analogue camera is, how to choose your first one, which film to start with, and how to survive your first roll.

How to Shoot Better Portraits on Your Phone
7 min read

How to Shoot Better Portraits on Your Phone

How to shoot a genuinely good portrait on a phone: using light, keeping the right distance, when to use portrait mode, and the most common mistakes.

Is Street Photography Legal? Permission, Ethics and Practice
7 min read

Is Street Photography Legal? Permission, Ethics and Practice

Is street photography legal? A photographer's honest, non-legal take on shooting people in public, when permission is needed, and how to shoot with respect.

How to Shoot a Portrait: What a 20-Year Photographer Actually Watches
7 min read

How to Shoot a Portrait: What a 20-Year Photographer Actually Watches

How to shoot a portrait: which lens, which light, how to relax your subject, and the most common mistakes — practical notes from a photographer who has shot portraits on set for twenty years.

Balat photography guide: where to shoot Istanbul's most colourful neighbourhood
6 min read

Balat photography guide: where to shoot Istanbul's most colourful neighbourhood

A photographer's guide to shooting Balat, Istanbul's most colourful neighbourhood: the best light, where to point the camera beyond the famous houses, and how to photograph a living quarter with respect.

Cappadocia Photography Guide: Balloons, Light and the Right Hours
7 min read

Cappadocia Photography Guide: Balloons, Light and the Right Hours

A working photographer's guide to Cappadocia: where to stand at sunrise, the best viewpoints in Göreme and Uçhisar, and why dusk beats the balloon cliché.

Street photography in Istanbul: how to start, and how to stop being scared of it
7 min read

Street photography in Istanbul: how to start, and how to stop being scared of it

Istanbul photographer Sefa Yamak on how to actually start shooting on the street — one lens, where to stand, and how to photograph strangers without taking from them.

The best places to photograph in Istanbul: a photographer's real guide
7 min read

The best places to photograph in Istanbul: a photographer's real guide

Istanbul photographer Sefa Yamak shares the spots he actually shoots, when the light is good, and how to photograph people without turning them into props.

How to pose for photos so you don't look stiff: a photographer's guide
6 min read

How to pose for photos so you don't look stiff: a photographer's guide

A working portrait photographer's honest guide to natural posing. What to do with your hands, weight, chin and eyes so you stop looking stiff and start looking like yourself.

Photographing Varanasi: A Travel Portrait Field Guide
6 min read

Photographing Varanasi: A Travel Portrait Field Guide

Real, on-the-ground advice for photographing Varanasi and the people on its ghats. Best light, how to ask for a portrait, what to shoot beyond the clichés, and why I never pay for a face.

How to Buy Fine Art Photography Prints: A Beginner's Guide
6 min read

How to Buy Fine Art Photography Prints: A Beginner's Guide

A working photographer's plain guide to buying fine art prints: open vs limited editions, why editions hold value, signing and numbering, certificates, archival paper and pigment, sizing, framing, and how to buy directly from the artist.

Golden hour: the light that does half the work for you
6 min read

Golden hour: the light that does half the work for you

Why the hour after sunrise and before sunset flatters almost everything, and how to actually use it instead of just standing in it.

The print is the photograph
7 min read

The print is the photograph

A file is a promise. The print is the thing kept. Why I do not consider a photograph finished until it exists on paper.

What black and white takes away
6 min read

What black and white takes away

Color is information. A portrait is usually about one thing, and most of the time the color is telling you about something else.

How to ask a stranger if you may take their portrait
8 min read

How to ask a stranger if you may take their portrait

The picture is decided in the thirty seconds before the camera comes up. Most of those seconds have nothing to do with photography.

On light, and how little of it you need
7 min read

On light, and how little of it you need

Twenty years in and I am still only photographing one thing. Not faces. Light, and what it does to a face when no one is arranging it.