During my first trip to Turkey I was absolutely amazed at how beautiful the country was. The mixture of old architecture and friendly people was an experience that I will never forget. The only problem that I had during my first trip was that I was unabe to get a sunrise photo of the beautiful Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. This drove me insane for four years. Then finally after a long time of wishing I had taken that sunrise photo, I had another opportunity. I had taken a trip to Europe with some friends. Luckily on my flight back home I had a layover in Istanbul. I called a friend that lives in Istanbul and had him pick me up from the airport at 3 a.m. I toured Istanbul in the early mornings, while the rest of the city was sleeping I was on the hunt to photograph the amazing Hagia Sophia. Finally after four long years I was able to make it to the Hagia Sophia during sunrise. Standing in front of the beautiful mosque and admiring the sunrise behind it was a dream come true. This was a goal I had set in mind as a photographer. I had always wanted to take this photo and I was actualy able to. Thanks to my amazing friend in Istanbul for picking me up and driving me around the city in the middle of the night haha. This photograph is one of my favorite shots because it reminds me of my passion and drive to photograph the world.