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Blue Mosque
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Blue Mosque



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The Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Mosque is a historic Mosque in Istanbul and along with the Hagia Sophia is a must to visit. The mosque is popularly kno...
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The Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Mosque is a historic Mosque in Istanbul and along with the Hagia Sophia is a must to visit. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the unbelievable art work in blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.
It was built from 1609 to 1616, on top of the Byzantine Place that once stood at the location, during the rule of Ahment the First as he wanted to reshow the power of the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan Ahmet Mosque is still used as a mosque.
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upload_dateJun, 2015

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3 Comments |
MurrayAberdein
 
MurrayAberdein June 03, 2015
Love the symmetry, really feel like those "eyes" are frowning down upon me.
PeterEvans23 Ultimate
 
PeterEvans23 September 28, 2015
Sorry guys I put this, and others in the wrong folder this is the Blue Mosque NOT Hagia Sophia. Its all this awesome architecture and tradie work :-)
mirissagrant
 
mirissagrant December 22, 2019
am i the only one who sees an owl? love this shot!

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Tags

#blue mosque #building #ceiling #mosque #olympus #turkey
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Behind The Lens

Location

This image was taken in the Sultan Ahmed Mosque known popularly as the Blue Mosque. The Mosque was built during the period 1609 - 1619 and was commissioned bu the Sultan Ahmet the First to assert Ottoman power. It was built on the site of the Christian Byzantium Palace.

Time

It was taken about 1522hr local on a grey, cold and wet day. In fact it snowed a little whilst we were inside.

Lighting

I wanted to capture some of the architecture and the art within this very impressive building. I didn't have a tripod and the lighting was very dark in places and very light in others. I had my flash unit with me but was unsure whether I could use it besides I wanted to capture the atmosphere. It was difficult to say the least.

Equipment

Olympus OM 30 body, Zuiko 14 - 54mm (28 - 108mm) zoom. No tripod, no flash and hand held.

Inspiration

Istanbul is an amazing place for history, quite frankly I was overwhelmed by it all. I mean when you consider who has passed through they place both East and West you can't but not get involved with it all. For this particular shot I wanted to get and example of the architecure and the art that has gone in to consctructing this amazing building, I also wanted to capture the emotiona nd the atmosphere of it all. I saw the face of a wise owl and said gotcha. Of course I took many more but this is the one that stood out for me.

Editing

Shot in Raw uploading to DNG. A bit of dodging and burning and some saturation to make the art pop.

In my camera bag

Olympus OM 30 body, Zuiko 50 - 200mm (100 - 400) f2.8 zoom, Zuiko 14 - 54mm (28 - 108mm) zoom, Olympus FL-50R, a remote, varies cables, a variety of cards, micro clothes, polarizer filter, an assortment of other filters, spare batteries for everything, a head torch, small first aid kit, mosquito and fly repellent, camera amd lens raincoats, notebook and pens, compass, spare cash just in case, condoms lol they are good lens protectors, equipment manuals, and a heap of other stuff I could probably do with out ;-)

Feedback

The whole city is alive with potential shots. Take a tripod and be patient as there are lots of people at these places but you will get a window of opportunity. Try and get in at opening time. But Turks unlike the French are about and about early. Do a recce first at differnt times while your shooting other subjects, even ask the tour operators etc about timings as queues can get very long. Don't forget the call to prayer. Check out tuts on shooting museums, churches etc. If you want to get the whole history thing then get a local guide BUT that can limit your time at the scene. Maybe do the site seeing visit first then go back to shoot but of course take your camera on both occasions.

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