Basilica Cistern

We are spending a few days in Istanbul as tourists (before I get into a street photography workshop). We are staying in the centre of the tourist area, in a hotel with a great view of the Blue Mosque and the Agia Sophia from the rooftop breakfast terrace.

We visited the Agia Sophia (impressive, but crowded), the spice market and the "New Mosque" (next to the Spice Market), but first we visited this impressive underground cistern, built in AD 532 to store water for nearby palaces and buildings. James Bond fans may recognise it from a scene in "From Russia with Love".

It was very dark, and tested the capabilities of my little, bottom of the range, micro four thirds Panasonic. This particular image was taken on my mobile phone, which gives irritatingly good results.  You can see why the compact camera market is dying when phones give results this good (although not good enough for a large print).

 (I shall be using my DSLR on the workshop next week.)

When I get a faster internet connection than this hotel offers I shall probably post more images on Flickr.