SGTrekker 8D7N Wonders of Egypt Photography Tour (28 Aug-04 Sep 2011)

[limwhow]

No Lingam?

Our good friend Ageless put up on his Facebook this shot of his.
And he titled it 'No lingam'. :bsmilie:
When I saw it I :faint:...

.... Ageless, you any how translate lah... Hahaha..
When translated into English, I think the Arabic words on the plate says:

Haha....
I think the Egyptians know that we all foreigners on our first day in Cairo will be struggling to find inspiration to shoot.
Thus they were very helpful for they put up signs all over the place.
And here, they were giving us a hint.... "No lingam...? Ok, you guys can EXIT from here now..."

ROFLOL...!

 

[limwhow]

T R A V E L O G U E

.
Street Shooting in Cairo

Our handsome guide Lotfy said:
.

"OK guys, now we are going to bring you to a small lane in Cairo where you can have a feel of how the local
street is like. Now please stick close to me and stay together. If you want to take photos, please do it quickly.
Some people may be more aggressive, so be very careful not to anger them."
​

.
Well, I think we certainly respect the fact that as a conservative Islamic society, Egyptians, more so the ladies than the men, would be adverse to being photographed. So all of us did proceed with a healthy dose of caution. A caution that was thrown into the air once we realised that we could just walk and shoot and quite a few of the locals, particularly children, were very warm and friendly.

Being here, immersed totally in a Middle-Eastern world with such a powerful Islamic atmosphere permeating the air, and seeing all around us turbaned men, veiled ladies and the surrounding tall Minarets, has imparted an exotic feel into the whole experience.
And now, thrust directly into an on-coming human traffic of local Egyptians, we were bombarded with an on-the-ground flavour that was the dream of every photographer, particularly street and portraiture photographers.

The ladies
I found photos of the local ladies very interesting.
It was a real challenge to take proper photographs of them for the main reason we didn't want to offend them.
And thus, it is with as much stealth as we could muster, that we went ahead to do our job.

Veiled conversation

"What's up ahead...?"

"Please don't take photos..."

[No offense, Francis... she was referring to me who was taking her photo from my hip level...]

Innocent joy

Not every girl is conservative...

 

[limwhow]

The Facial Expressions

I simply love capturing the smiles on the faces of the local Egyptians, be they children or adults.
It's so genuine and sincere.

"What a big gun there..."

[Yupe. It was Mr Nga-Ka-Sang's gun. LOL...]

Siam ah... Siam ah...!

Wow... Foreigners!

"Hey, look! There is an argument right over there!"

 

[limwhow]

Ok, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Let's take a little breather here on the story as every one would have woken up by now and have shaken off that little bit of jet lag.
And as you are all getting ready with your post-processed photos, please go ahead and post them up here.
I got to catch up with my sleep and my post-processing... LOL...

 

[AlexK]

Just another one from a different angle.

Alamak... someone's finger and hand was in the corner.
Who was the culprit huh?!
Crept up and ambushed me just as I snapped my shutter... Hahahaha...

limwhow, thanks for lovely travelogue for our trip.
By the way, I love this shot from this angle. :thumbsup:

 

[AlexK]

Here is a brief overview of the timeline spanning prehistoric and ancient Egypt, to give our readers an idea of how far back we travelled in time to admire the works of the people of the cradle of civilization (since some experts now date Egypt to even before Mesopotamia but that is debatable) that spans millennium, with specific mention to the places we visited:

[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR]
[TD]25 million BCE
[/TD]
[TD]Black and White Deserts were still under water, underwater volcanoes discharging lava that form the current features of the Black Desert
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7000 - 4950 BCE
[/TD]
[TD]Sahara was a lush savannah, with rock paintings depicting hunters, fishermen and game
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3500 BC
[/TD]
[TD]Sahara turns to desert, Egyptians retreat to the Nile
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3100 - 2800 BC
[/TD]
[TD]Early dynastic Period
Menes (may also be called Narmer) unifies both Upper (Southern) and Lower (Northern) Egypt
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2686 - 2125 BC
[/TD]
[TD]Old Kingdom
Pyramids built at Saqqara, Dashur and Giza
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2160 - 2025 BC
[/TD]
[TD]First Intermediate Period
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2055 - 1650 BC
[/TD]
[TD]Middle Kingdom
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1650 - 1550 BC
[/TD]
[TD]Second Intermediate Period
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1550 - 1069 BC
[/TD]
[TD]New Kingdom
Temple of Hatshepsut built c 1458 BC
Abu Simbel built 1244 BC
Luxor Temple built c 1213 BC
Medinat Habu built c 1153 BC
Final stages of Karnak built
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1069 - 475 BC
[/TD]
[TD]Late Period I
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]475 - 354 BC
[/TD]
[TD]Persian Period I
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]354 - 293 BC
[/TD]
[TD]Late Period II
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]293 - 282 BC
[/TD]
[TD]Persian Period II
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]282 BC - 30 AD
[/TD]
[TD]Greek Dynasty
Kom Ombo built 145 BC
Edfu built 57 BC
Pharaonic history ends with Cleopatra's death
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1250 - 1517 AD
[/TD]
[TD]Mamluk rule
Sultan Hassan Mosque built 1363 AD
Khan Al-Khalili started 1384 AD
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1798 - 1922 AD
[/TD]
[TD]Colonial times
Mosque of Mohammad Ali built 1848 AD
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]






To put things in perspective, we are nearer in time to the last pharaonic dynasty than they were to the pyramids. :bigeyes:

acpical, thanks for your history. :thumbsup:

 

[AlexK]

At the Muhammad Ali Mosque, the alabaster mosque interior,the chandelier and ceiling are so beautiful.
Our tourmates lie down trying to get the best angle to shoot...:bigeyes:

Not satisfy, AlexK decided to shoot our tourmates...:bsmilie:

SereneXMM, ha ha ha for this shot. I shall post the shot I taken. :bsmilie:

 

[SereneXMM]

SereneXMM, ha ha ha for this shot. I shall post the shot I taken. :bsmilie:

Hahahaaa...quick, quickly post. Waited until my neck long long liao! :bigeyes:

 

[LowLights]

Limwhow .. got sudden interest in B&W ah ?

 

[acpical]

My contributions:

Doorway of the Mosque of Al-Rifai - situated beside the Mosque of Sultan Hassan. Completed in 1912, it houses the remains of the Egypt's most recent royal family and the last Shah of Iran.

Inside the main door the Mosque of Sultan Hassan. Built in 1363, it was considered one of the finest early Mamluk architecture. Hassan was deposed and reinstated as Sultan three times before he was assassinated.

My interpretation of the front courtyard.

The prayer room.

The singing imam(?) who demonstrated the acoustics of the prayer room.

 

[acpical]

Nonetheless, the mosque was the first stop and we hadn't warmed our engines yet. Add to the fact we are unfamiliar with mosques and were initially overwhelmed.

 

[divinemoment]

Limwhow .. got sudden interest in B&W ah ?

Me also notice that

 

[AlexK]

Firstly, thanks everyone (SgTrekkers and the fun & happy going travelmates) for making this Egypt trip a LOVELY and memorable one for Lai Peng and myself.


#1 : Man inside praying chamber

#2 : Adrian and limwhow trying to find "lingam" ??

#3 : Like some other travelmates, I also got not "lingam".

#4 : Inside Mosque of Sultan Hassan

#5 : Mosque of Al-Rifai

 

[limwhow]

limwhow, thanks for lovely travelogue for our trip.
By the way, I love this shot from this angle. :thumbsup:

Thank you, AlexK 大哥!

Limwhow .. got sudden interest in B&W ah ?

Me also notice that

Haha... LowLights and divinemoment.
Life is like that. After a while one must move on. It's either moving left or moving right.
I think I'm being forced to move B&W. Maybe in preparation for something more plastic in time to come. LOL...!

My contributions:

Doorway of the Mosque of Al-Rifai - situated beside the Mosque of Sultan Hassan. Completed in 1912, it houses the remains of the Egypt's most recent royal family and the last Shah of Iran.


Inside the main door the Mosque of Sultan Hassan. Built in 1363, it was considered one of the finest early Mamluk architecture. Hassan was deposed and reinstated as Sultan three times before he was assassinated.


My interpretation of the front courtyard.


The prayer room.

Wah.. there you are!
Your contribution is more than just your pictures.
It is the description and the snippets of information that you are sharing with all of us about the places that makes it more interesting.
Thank you, Habibi!

The singing imam(?) who demonstrated the acoustics of the prayer room.

Yah! I was looking for the right word to use.
And even the Imam is so hamsome. No wonder everybody wants to go to Egypt!

 

[divinemoment]

Haha... LowLights and divinemoment.
Life is like that. After a while one must move on. It's either moving left or moving right.
I think I'm being forced to move B&W. Maybe in preparation for something more plastic in time to come. LOL...!

Just curious. What or who forced you? More plastic in time to come - means?

Sorry, not tongue in cheek. I really don't know what you say lei.

 

[limwhow]

#1 : Man inside praying chamber

Wah... so this was what you were trying to shoot at 14mm wide lying flat out on the floor!
Wow you make the imam look so tall and slim and your angle zhun zhun from one corner of the photo to the other diagonal corner!
You also say no lingam? Where got no got lingam?! Chay!
This is good!

 

[limwhow]

Just curious. What or who forced you? More plastic in time to come - means?

Sorry, not tongue in cheek. I really don't know what you say lei.

Haha... divinemoment.
No lah... what I meant was, being such a newbie, I have yet to learn how to use the rangefinder properly.
Thus I find that shooting in B&W gave me a little bit more latitude and hid some of my deficiencies.
Thus in a way I was 'forced' to shoot B&W.

Plastic? It just meant filem lor... LOL...!

 

[divinemoment]

Haha... divinemoment.
No lah... what I meant was, being such a newbie, I have yet to learn how to use the rangefinder properly.
Thus I find that shooting in B&W gave me a little bit more latitude and hid some of my deficiencies.
Thus in a way I was 'forced' to shoot B&W.

Plastic? It just meant filem lor... LOL...!

Wow, some tedious and elaborate preparation in the making.

 

[LowLights]

Wow, some tedious and elaborate preparation in the making.

Agree with you

Ah Film .. then there will be latitude .. sadly in digital it is very limited

Looking forward to you and the plastic

 

[acpical]

Mosque of Mohammad Ali

Looking up at the ceiling

Amazed fan

The corridor outside