Shooting into the light

The massive columns in many of the Egyptian temples continue to impress me. Carving them out of rock, moving them by boat, and then setting them upright -- 3200 years ago -- is simply mind-blowing to consider. This is Karnak Temple in Luxor during the sound and light show. For half of the program, you walk through the temple as various sections are illuminated. It's challenging photography to say the least because you definitely don't want to include the other tourists. In addition, the lights change quickly, the exposure is tough, contrast is extreme, the psychedelic colors used at times are contrived, and focus in low light may not be accurate. I still managed to get quite a few shots I like including this one in which I shot right into one of the powerful spotlights used to illuminate the columns. I used the imagery on the LCD monitor to guide my settings, and with the exposure compensation feature I'd tweak the exposure until I liked what I saw on the back of the camera. My settings were 4 seconds, f/3.5, 1600 ISO, and I used a 16-35mm Canon wide angle set to 16mm.