My photo tour group visited the pyramids and the Sphinx today, and then in the evening we photographed the Sound and Light Show. The show itself is theatrical and designed for the average tourist, which means that I wouldn't have gone except that the night time lighting on the pyramids is stunning. That's why I took the group here. The seating area, though, leaves a lot to be desired because the three pyramids are spread too far apart from each other, and if you use a wide angle lens to include all of them, they appear too far away. The place where I really wanted to shoot from was off-limits, so I knew the only way to create a strong image was to take component images and then composite the pieces together for maximum visual impact. This image is a combination of four photographs -- the three pyramids and the Milky Way. From behind the structures in the desert, you can photograph this kind of picture where the three pyramids seem stacked together by telephoto compression. But from the Sound and Light Show seating, this isn't possible. Hence, the composite. My exposure times for most of the shots were 1/2 second using a tripod and 2-second self-timer, 640 ISO, and f/4.5. I used aperture priority and auto white balance. It took quite a bit of time selecting each pyramid and making the composite (especially on a laptop using a trackpad instead of a Wacom tablet), but I have to say I like very much how this turned out.
17 Comments
Sep 28, 2024, 1:24:29 PM
Jim - Hi Anil, Since I'm not living in Egypt, I can't help you at the pyramids. But you can find online how to shoot the Milky Way if you don't know. It's pretty easy: use a tripod, 20 second exposure, the widest lens you have, and the largest lens aperture. ISO should be 3200, depending on your aperture.
Sep 28, 2024, 11:27:46 AM
Anil Lall - I am interested in taking pictures of Milky Way above the Pyramids of Giza. I will be Cairo from October 18th to October 20th, 2024. Do you provide this service? Please let me know. Thank you, Anil
Apr 12, 2023, 2:04:17 PM
Jim - Hi Vicki, Thanks for your note. I still do photo tours, but I don't have Egypt on my agenda at the moment. You can find all my tours on my website, jimzuckerman.com.
Apr 11, 2023, 10:15:05 PM
Vicki - I love this! I am visiting Egypt in a few weeks and I am dying to capture the milky way with the pyramids. Do you still do photo tours? If so, how do I sign up?
Mar 16, 2022, 3:10:02 PM
Jim Zuckerman - Jerry,
I apologize for my tardy response. I just discovered this morning that all of the emails sent to me via my website have been going to Spam for several months. I just fixed that, but I'm playing catch up now.
Do you still want the picture?
Jim
Dec 23, 2021, 4:10:48 PM
Jerry Barycki - Very nice picture, can you send me a better quality, I want to use for Copernicus display, this is pro bono project not for profit, thanks
Jul 21, 2021, 8:09:40 AM
Gustavo - Can you tell the focal length you used to make this image?
Apr 24, 2019, 10:45:50 PM
Jim - John,
Yes, it's possible. Please communicate with me directly here: photos@jimzuckerman.com
Apr 24, 2019, 10:39:28 PM
John L Parham - Hi Jim,
I would like to see if this photo (in a 300 DPI version) would work for my new book cover, The Binding Volume 1. I would of course give you credit.
Would this be possible?
Thanks,
John Parham
Feb 15, 2019, 3:41:42 PM
Stephen bannister - Hi Jim,
I am visiting the pyramids in a few weeks as I love Egyptology, and also have a passion for astronomy - this is therefore a fantastic photo. I would just love a print of this in my lounge, would it be possible to buy off you a file that I could then have printed on acrylic?
Nov 7, 2018, 5:37:13 AM
Vuong - How can the tour guide let you go out from the show ? It is may be dangerous
Oct 10, 2017, 8:51:52 AM
Jim - Thanks very much, Janie.
Oct 9, 2017, 4:05:46 AM
Janie Greene - It's very beautiful!!! Thanks! Janie G.
Oct 8, 2017, 2:20:43 PM
Jim - Hi Rosemary. Thank you for the compliment. I have one DVD for sale now -- it's on my site. I had another one but it sold out. I am going to make a few Photoshop tutorials sometime soon on various techniques, and when they are available I'll announce that in Photo Insights.
Oct 8, 2017, 1:18:15 PM
Rosemary Sheel - What??? you have tutorials on CD's??? Must find out more!
A beautiful shot .BTW. The colors are perfect.
Oct 7, 2017, 10:35:48 PM
Jim - Thanks, Richard. Good idea. Maybe I will.
Oct 7, 2017, 8:32:38 PM
Richard - Great shot Jim,you should do one of your short CD's on how to with this one.