Trip to petra

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joescrivens

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I'll be getting the opportunity to go to Petra for a day next month after working for 4 days in Amman.

Has anyone been there and have any tips for avoiding big crowds, do I need to take my tripod. Can I walk around the whole site in half a day? Is that advisible?
 
Get there as early as you can - or if with a guided tour do your best with the light that's there.
Watch out for the Jordanian police - they're very photogenic in their red sashes and fougareres, but may expect payment for photos.
Yes it can be done in half a day.
You may need a tripod if you're still there at dawn or dusk.

I haven't been there, but I know a girl who has.
 
thanks,

Do you know if there's a lot of it thats in darkness, with it being built into the rocks I was just wondering if there is a lot of shadow and how much daylight reaches the areas, thats where my tripod question comes from
 
Yes - the interiors are quite dark...so buy a D3s...
 
david1701 said:
7d aint too bad at high iso if you want to go handheld with fast glass instead.......
Click to expand...

I dispute that - NO Canon will ever do the job unless it's in bright sunlight at midday in the desert...:D

Buy Nikon till your balls burst...
 
unfortunately i've spent about £3000 on canon equipment and glass so making that jump is unlikely!!!

ha ha
 
Just use 1.4-1.8 glass, reasonable ISO, and use the red focus beam on your flash (but turn the actual flash off) hey presto :).
 
Ok, but I'm not going to want really shallow DOF am I, since I'll be taking photos of large architectural subjects, so I'll be wanting to use a much smaller aperture like f6-8.
 
Well, the best architectural views are from the outside, looking at the various pictures online, in which case you should have plenty of light to work with! :)

Otherwise, use my trick of sitting on the floor and wedging the camera between your thighs, sit still, and use a remote release of some description. You look a bit stupid, but you'd be surprised at how sharp pictures will come out if taken in the 1 - 1/10 range.
 
Most of the inside stuff isn't that photogenic but the outside areas are. As Arkady says, get there early if you can. Other thoughts:

1. Climb to the top, its worth it!
2. Look not just at the buildings but the rock structures too. Some great natural patterns
3. It gets really busy when the bus loads from Eilat mid morning so make the most of the "big" scenes when there are less people there - ideally travel the afternoon before and stay over in Wadi Musa
4. I'd shoot handheld as tripods may attract attention
5. Don't buy a sucky Nikon

Paul
 
Don't have the option of staying over the night before, but I will get a taxi instead of a tour bus on the day as early as the taxi drivers start work - hopefully around 7am? or do they start later than that?
 
petra is lovely..and you get to ride a horse...

i took some pictures there but not on advanced equipment...the mounted police have been mentioned as picturesque

some of the tombs are dark...i shot most outside looking at the shapes

dont by camel eggs by the way...they are out of date and dont taste good

the_treasury_1.jpg


taken on a minolta x-700 and 28 rokkor
scanned from a corner shop print
 
I've been, more than 10 years ago though.

Agree with stay the night - you want to be in there very early. Especially if you want to see the entrance not full of people (you have to walk through the Siq alleyway into the place - plenty of arabs offering horse rides for a price) We stayed in a small hostel but I understand that there are wall to wall posh hotels now.

The 'buildings' are stunning from the outside but the insides are basically hewn out rough stone - and very dark.

I don't think you could do it in a half day unless you only did the main tourist stuff. My general rule of thumb is that no matter how stunning the place you go the majority of tourists wont do more than 500m from the entrance/bus. We were there all day and didn't dawdle by any means. Get up to the high places - I assume there will be ropes or rails now on some of the more entertaining routes.

Actually, just looked it up on the webby, there are now museums and a visitor centre! What is the world coming to?

If you're in the area Jerash is an interesting site - Lots of good Roman and older stuff across Jordan and Syria as well as the crusader stuff.
 
Ok SO I decided I might be able to wangle going there the night before now and get there at 6am, anyone know what time in the evening the buses stop running from amman to wadi musa?
 
joescrivens said:
Ok, but I'm not going to want really shallow DOF am I, since I'll be taking photos of large architectural subjects, so I'll be wanting to use a much smaller aperture like f6-8.
Click to expand...
a tilt and shift will be good for this then
 
Did you have the right kit and was it up to the job?
Might be helpful for those others asking about "holidays and what to take"...
 
Yeah overall I think I did. There were a few shots that I missed because I didn't take my 70-300 but i would have only used it a couple of times and not having it made my bag a hell of a lot lighter. Also the high iso performance of the 7d made not taking a fast prime ok.

I took:

7d
tamron 17-50 2.8
sigma 10-20
circular polarizer
nd 8 filter
2 16gb cf cards
 
thanks for that.. am going to egypt in june and am dithering whether to hire a sigma 10-20 to take as last time I only had a compact and remember not getting everything in the frame.. have a 35mm 1.8 and 18-200mm these will be coming..

looks an interesting place, the photos are fabulous... dont thing i'll be lucky enough to get no people in my shots somehow! :)
 
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