Istanbul, Turkey

As I was getting ready to go to Turkey, I researched my sightseeing options to make sure I'd maximize my small window of time to shoot. I looked into photography tours (which were ridiculously expensive) and regular tours (which were moderately expensive), and then just decided to wing it. Winging is was my best bet. I was really pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I was to walk around by myself, even at night with all of my equipment. Not to say I expected Istanbul to be sketchy, I knew it would be a wonderful city. But I've never been alone in a foreign country and as a "young" (ha!) female I had some concerns. 

I spent my first free day seeing a lot of the big touristy spots and walked around the Besiktas area along Bosphorous Strait, right around the hotel I was staying in. The first three photos below are from the Blue Mosque (actually called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque). There was so much natural light coming through the windows that it was pretty easy to get good exposures. The following three were taken at the Hagia Sophia. The lighting was a little more challenging there so a lot of my shots weren't great. I really wanted to go back at night to get some night shots of the exterior but it didn't happen. 

Finally, this wouldn't be photo newb if I didn't post the following. I saw this little guy outside of the mosque. I wanted to bring him home but I quickly realized I would have had two very disappointed household members :-)