This week’s challenge is the photographic concept – the rule of thirds.

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Istanbul is the Topkapi Palace, which lies in the old town next to the Hagia Sophia Museum & Blue Mosque. The palace was home to the Sultans and their harem of females for three hundred years in the days of the Ottoman Empire, until Sultan Abdülmecid in 1853 decided to move to the nearby Dolmabache Palace.

MB visited Topkapi Palace in early November 2014. The palace lies on the bank of the Bosphorus Sea Straits and the views from the palace grounds are spectacular.

Caught this shot of one of the soldiers on duty, with the Bosphorus blurred in the background:

PS – Ignore the tree!