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05-DEC-2004 Helen Betts

5th Place
The Cistern
by Helen Betts

Istanbul, Turkey

This is Yerebatan Sarnici, or underground cistern, built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 532 as a water storage facility to support Constantinople during times of siege. It was featured in the movie "From Russia with Love." Handheld (and was it ever dark in there :-). For another view of this amazing place, go to http://www.pbase.com/helenpb/image/37907409


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Helen Betts22-Dec-2004 07:23
Thank you, everyone! Irish -- it is pretty amazing, isn't it? And I'm sure they had no idea that their water storage facility would one day turn into a tourist attraction and movie set, complete with music echoing all round and soft lights (even an art installation of balloons -- which I hated -- when I was there this last time).

I'm quite happy with my D70, and using VR lenses like this one enables great low-light images. I was trying to steady myself against a railing and was kneeling down (blocking tourists :-)), but still, without the VR it wouldn't have been possible. Also image was taken in RAW at very high ISO with NR applied, but all in all, considering how incredibly dark the place was, I was pleased with the results. D70 does tend to underexpose and produces more noise than the Canons, but I had both this and a 300D and the D70 to me was far superior. The 20D may be something else, don't know. Anyway, considering your impressive photographic skill, I'm sure you would do wonders with whatever DSLR you choose!
Helen
Guest 21-Dec-2004 14:35
Beautiful perspective on this ancient and eerie place, I am marvelling at the architecture that was built [at the time] for no-one to see being a water storage!..just WoW..p.s. am looking at the d70,seems awesome for low light ..irish
Guest 11-Dec-2004 08:35
Beautiful Helen....Penelope
Helen Betts09-Dec-2004 22:55
Thank you, Hassan. I guess I'm fortunate enough to get to visit interesting places! Helen
Guest 09-Dec-2004 20:42
Your photos are simply amazing. Hassan