Sunday 22 August 2010

The Basilica Cistern

Eldest son and his girlfriend have descended on us for a holiday - our first visitors in Istanbul. They arrived yesterday and today we took them out to do the tourist bit. Eldest son wanted to see the Basilica Cistern.

I will be honest and say that I didn't know about this but was keen to see it when I heard about it (interestingly I can't find any reference to it in the Rough Guide to Istanbul; might be wrong but I haven't found it and it isn't mentioned in the index).

Anyway, regular readers of this blog will know of my fondness for available light photography and the basilica proved to be an ideal place to practice. Here are some of the results


The Basilica Cistern



The Basilica Cistern



The Basilica Cistern


The place is fantastic and well worth a visit next time you are in Istanbul.

Whilst I was in the area with my wide angle lens and in the mood for available light photography I went back to the New Mosque at Eminonu to take these:


The roof of the Eminonu New Mosque

I think the roof of this mosque is absolutely spectacular. And I love the way the lights have all starred in the photograph below - I promise you I didn't use a starburst filter for that effect either.

Inside the Eminonu New Mosque

2 comments:

Grumpy Goat said...

The cistern is definitely the place for a mini tripod. I had some photo fun in there, messing with long exposures, with and without flash.

Did you notice the fish?

And did you know that the place was used as a location in From Russia With Love?

Jayne said...

All the photos you've taken so far have been stunning & I'm jealous, especially about the wide angle lens! I took quite a few pics with my little Olympus camera whilst in Istanbul & the majority came out OK, but now that I have a rather lovely Nikon, I reckon I need to come back & take a heap more photos!
Trouble is, these bleddy Harley tours keep getting in the way LOL