Self portrait at the Cistern Photo

Photographer’s Note

A picture at took this morning at the famous Cistern Basilica, a large Byzantine Cistern in the old town near Hagia Sophia. I was there well before the crowds came in , otherwise, a visitor cannot see this place deserted. So I decided to make a self portrait and after finding an appropriate corner, I put the camera on a tripod and asked someone to release the soft shutter. I liked this place because most pictures taken in the cisterm are either near the "medusa" head or near the entrance. Tripods are unfortunately not allowed in most places, but I had a special pass. Otherwise, the place is quite dark and even boosting the ISO speed to 1000 would not help in most places , let alone the noise. There is plenty of water inside the cistern, and perhaps unbelievable, lots of fish, some measuring 40 cms. But the long exposure makes the water look like ice rather than water.

gildasjan, pauloog, tober, besnard, besnard, antua, ymrk, sandpiper, daddo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gildasjan (24121) 2009-09-25 7:57

Bonjour Izzet
De beaux contrastes de teintes concernant les lumières venant de la droite et de la gauche qui embellissent ces pierres.Bien vu également le personnage au fond.
Bonne journée
Amicalement
gildas

tober (4052) 2009-09-25 8:04

Sizi uzaktan da olsa gördüğüme memnun oldum İzzet Bey. Yerebatan Sarnıcındaydınız demek bu sabah. Ziyaretçilerin henüz hareketlenmediği erken bir saat seçmiş olmanız da isabetli olmuş. Üzerinde bulunduğunuz platformun altında sarnıcın suyu yok muydu yoksa vardı da fotoğrafta mı hissedilmiyor?

Elinize sağlık, saygılar.

Tolga

amazon (10873) 2009-09-25 8:10

hep oradan bu tarafa bakacak degiliz ya...biraz da buradan oralara bakmak lazim)))
ellerinize saglik,
iffet

pauloog (6883) 2009-09-25 8:25

Hello Izzet,
A very fine view without the usual distortions, taken in difficult light circumstances. The play of light creates a magic that you captured very well.
Regards,
Paul

besnard (31064) 2009-09-25 8:44

Bonjour Izzet
Une bonne profondeur d'image, des couleurs multiples et variées, bref un joli cliché.
Merci pour le partage et bonne soirée.
Nicole

salvator (18933) 2009-09-25 8:47

Hello Izzet Bey,
The colors, the clarity and detailsthe wonderful depth look absolutely wonderful.
I wish you an excellent weekend.
Best personal regards. Salvator.

antua (470) 2009-09-25 8:56

Hello Izzet,

fantastic photo with really nice colours, very good clarity and great perspective. The light management is also excellent creating an amazing atmoshpere. Congratulations! TFS!

Regards,
Antonis

pajaran (3847) 2009-09-25 9:05

Pozdrav sa balkana iz Cuprije.
Dobra ideja.
Dobra fotografija, perspektiva, boje i ostrina snimka.
Vazan je glavni motiv, fotograf.
Prijatno vece, Paja.

lestans (15492) 2009-09-25 9:12

Hi Izzet!
I remember this place very well, it is really a special place, there is a moving atmosphera despite the tourists crowd.
Here your shot is a myracle of lights.

regards

Livia

ymrk (9105) 2009-09-25 9:28

Çerçevesiyle birlikte nefis bir ışık kullanımı sayın Ustam...Özellikle sütunların ortaya çıkardığı grafik etki enfes.
Selamlar ve sevgilerle,

Yağmur

coco (28106) 2009-09-25 10:17

Merhaba Izzet.

As usual a great and a great lesson. You're a lucky man and I envy you!!

Regards.

Morac (20843) 2009-09-25 10:53

Bonsoir Izzet,

Un beau résultat grâce à ce long temps de pose.
La lumière est parfaite et le rendu de la profondeur est tout à fait réussi.
Bon Weekend
Marc

ManuMay (11373) 2009-09-25 11:03

Merhaba Izzet!!

Wonderful capture, very well done, good use of exposure and tripod (when I was there...security avoid to use my tripod!!), great defintion and colour tones...Everything perfect!!

Congratulations...

Have a nice week end...

Manuel

Philippe (11787) 2009-09-25 13:26

Bonjour, Izzet. J'aime beaucoup la douceur de la lumière dans cet endroit qui a dû voir passer bien des siècles. La perspective est jolie avec cet alignement de colonnes qui se prolonge jusqu'au fond de la photo. Ta présence donne l'échelle et apporte du contraste par rapport aux tons dominants.
Bon week-end,
Philippe

john1 (2377) 2009-09-25 13:39

Hi Izzet,

Excellent architecture and light, the contrast is really beautiful. the colors are soft, I would say even indirectly reflected.
An excellent composition of the Byzantine city.
Good evening.
John

sandpiper (1635) 2009-09-25 17:08

Hi Izzet

Lucky you. A fascinating place and you have achieved a good result here with the long exposure. Good composition too.

Chris

daddo (11535) 2009-09-27 16:52

Merhaba Izzet Bey. I have a few shot myself from this place but your light and colours are so refined and pleasing to the eye. the water does look like polished marble- a beautiful result. Do keep returning with your visions of Istanbul. Selamlar. Klaudio.

lightsensor (733) 2009-09-28 4:16

hi, Izzet,
good light control on this long exposure photo! good composition as well. nice job!

J-P,

alibasarir (14497) 2009-09-28 4:57

merhaba izzet bey
çok güzel bir çalışma olmuş gerçekten.özellikle uzun pozlama sonucu suyun bulunduğu bölüm ile derinlik son derece mükemmel olmuş.sizinde kare içinde bulunmanız ayrı bir güzellik katmış elinize sağlık.
selamlar
Ali

Albrecht (11213) 2009-10-15 10:19

Beautiful quiet atmosphere; warm colours and a good compo. A very interesting place to visit.

greetings
Albrecht