When we neared the rampart roads to Atatürk Bridge, the first I saw and wanted to capture was the other side of Golden Horn, Fener or Phanar, and so I got this one night photo of Kadir Hash University, well lit in the foreground, and of Yavuz Sultan Selim Mosque on the hill in the background (and I hope I'm right about the name of the mosque, as "re-travelling" to Istanbul with the help of Google Earth is all I can do now in order to remember, or even first learn about things).
Then we got closer to the bridge. And although I knew this would not be an easy exposure, and certainly not an all sharp one, I just had to take this pic of the nighttime anglers off Atatürk Bridge! They weren't aware of me (I was hundreds of metres away from them, in the dark, zooming in on them with the 300mm lens). So, of course, they moved about and walked from rod to rod, hence their ghost-like appearance in this 30 second exposure.
And what adds to the fact that his had to become blurred in part is that the bridge really shook hard with the amount of cars going over its quite rough surface (see how the car lights also seem to jump in all directions...).
It was DH who alerted me to the fact that over there that was the illuminated aquaduct, the remains of which are still to be found in Old Stanbul, too, else I would have overlooked that sight completely. Thank you, DH :D.
Now in order to ascertain which mosque stood in the same viewing direction as Topkapi Serail was, I once again have to consult Google Earth (my indispensable helper these days!) and hope I get it right...
... when I say it must be the New Mosque, or Pigeon Mosque, or Yeni Camii. Only from the bridge it could be thus seen in line with Topkapi.
But although the bridge was kind of elevated and offered really good views, it was absolutely no good trying to take any long exposures from there, it shook way too much with the cars crossing, so my "scout" DH went exploring for a better place for me to set up camera and tripod, and found one underneath the bridge, on the very banks of that stretch of Golden Horn between Atatürk Bridge and Galata Bridge.
From there we could see the imposing structure of Süleyman Mosque (and the less impressive scaffolding around its minaretts)...
... and also quite close by, right on the far bank, once again "New Mosque" or "Pigeon Mosque", or Yeni Camii.
Another mosque with its minaretts wrapped into scaffolding suggests that that is Nuruosmaniye Mosque, the one close to the Grand Bazaar where we had been on the day before.
Another mosque with its minaretts wrapped into scaffolding suggests that that is Nuruosmaniye Mosque, the one close to the Grand Bazaar where we had been on the day before.
I suppose that the men who were the night watchmen for the area into which we were allowed in order to take these photos (after some clear instruction of where I was allowed to point my camera and where I wasn't, like their little fleet of boats was taboo!), were quite relieved when they realised that we were leaving the premises again so soon.
But once back up above Atatürk Bridge, I just had to turn around again and take this one of the bridge and part of (also illuminated) Azap Kapi Mosque (i to be imagined without dot again) - only didn't I know what mosque it was back then, I've only learned all this through my "New Travels To Istanbul With Google Earth" =D .
The very last photo I did was up this light-ornamented street straight onto Galata-Tower at night, and I thought it might be an attractive motif, what with the lights and the illuminated tower, but I'm afraid I don't like this photo at all and am only putting it up so things are complete.
The very last photo I did was up this light-ornamented street straight onto Galata-Tower at night, and I thought it might be an attractive motif, what with the lights and the illuminated tower, but I'm afraid I don't like this photo at all and am only putting it up so things are complete.
