Iran - Mashhad- Imam Reza Holy Shrine at Dusk - Blue hour - Twilight - Night

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Mashhad (Persian: مشهد, literally the place of martyrdom) is one of the largest cities in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia world. It is located 850 kilometres (530 mi) east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Now Mashhad is notably known as the resting place of the Imam Reza. A shrine was later built there to commemorate the Imam, which in turn gave rise to increasing demographic development.

Imām Rezā shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا) in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imām Ridhā, the eighth Imām of Twelver Shi'ites. Also contained within the complex include: the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries, a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings. This complex is the center of tourism in Iran, visited by 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year. The shrine itself covers an area of 267,079m2 while the seven courtyards which surround it cover an area of 331,578m2 - totaling 598,657 m2 (6,443,890 sq ft)

No special effect or filter used to create those beautiful stars. Just long exposure taken by zoom lens and strong lights on the top of the minarets. Capturing photo/view like this might not be as straight forward as it might seem. First you have to find the right elevated position with the right view, then you need to get permission to actually get there and at last not least, you need to be there at the right time. Journey to get this photo was more complicated than I have initially anticipated, Iran might not always be the most open place to let you go to any roof to take photos (particularly around such a Holy shrine) and we have been refused from several hotels where we tried to get permission, however if you try enough times on several different places you might get what you wanted at the end. This shot was captured from one of the hotel roofs where we made agreement a day before that we will come there for morning blue hour to capture this place under these amazing colors. So yet again, another 4am wake up call to get result like this.

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM, Photo Focal length: 187.00 mm, Aperture: 25, Exposure time: 10.0 s, ISO: 100

All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova www.luciedebelkova.com

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.

Taken in: Iran / North Khorasan / Mashhad (show map)

Taken on: November 21, 2009

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