The Sphinx, the oldest monument in Egypt is a limestone statue with the head of a human and the body of a lion and is one of the oldest known and recognizable statues in the world. It is believed it was sculptured during the reign of Kafre and the face of the Sphynx is his. We visited Egypt on a tour led by Dr. Zahi Hawass, former Director of Antiquities for the Egyptian Government, who has given numerous lectures and presentations including ones on the Discovery Channel. The image shows our group descending from an access road to the Sphnix. Direct access to the Sphynx has been restricted for many years to prevent additional damage to the antiquity. Visitors may no longer approach the Sphynx and now view the Sphynx from a boardwalk seen in the upper left as a walk with posts backed by a fence. Because our group was with Dr. Hawass, we were permitted access to stand next to the Sphynx. The individual in the suit whose back is turned towards the camera was an Egyptian Security Agent, armed with a sub-machine gun who accompanied our group for security, although we found no reason to question our safety.
Gear: Olympus E-5, Zuiko 14-45 mm open to 14 mm.
Data: ISO 200, f 9, 1/500 sec
Metering: Pattern
WB: manual (used cloud present)
EV: -.3
Date: February 6, 2018
6 comments posted
Dr. Isaac Vaisman
Alan, indeed a privileged vantage point to see the Sphinx at a closer distance and a better view. Your image is sharp and shows almost the whole structure . I just wonder why you did not point your camera a little more to the left to include the whole structure since you have enough room on the right (my right) to do so without cutting any of the structure. Posted: 05/05/2024 19:56:29
Alan Lichtenstein
Isaac, you're right; the image is not well-centered, and if I had more time, I probably would have done better. But the image was taken hand-held while our group was "on the move," descending towards the Sphinx and that was the best shot I could get that contained the entire antiquity under those circumstances. If I wasn't rushed to keep up with the group I might have thought to stay at the back of the group as we left the Sphinx and walked back up the hill to our bus, but unfortunately, I didn't. Posted: 05/06/2024 05:17:20
Tom Tauber
I agree with Isaac about cutting off the paw, but cutting off the pyramid is also a bit troublesome. One could think of a picture putting the sphinx and the pyramid (at least a large portion of it) together, or leaving the pyramid out altogether. I find the fact that one man is walking around in a business suit uncanny. Would I have waited until he was out of the picture, or is his presence a commentary on mass tourism? Posted: 05/06/2024 14:46:16
Alan Lichtenstein
The problem of cutting off either the paw or pyramid would have been solved if I had the SONY that I now use instead of the Olympus with its 2.0 crop that I used then. The FF SONY would have captured both the paw and the pyramid. The presence of the man in the suit is a commentary on the belief the Egyptian Government held of tourists' perceptions about safety in Egypt and was their way to address that perception. Posted: 05/06/2024 15:49:40
Pamela Liu
Alan, This is a great image, I noticed that you did a great job lowering the EV value to -0.3. Great technique!! I noticed that the level is not straight, however, I will not suggest you level it up by losing more portion of the paws. Excellent image! Posted: 05/08/2024 08:08:39
Alan Lichtenstein
Pamela, I've always had a problem leveling the image with my Olympus because of the handholds they require the camera to be held. They didn't have built-in levelers, so you're not wrong. Also, I usually always compensate by underexposing slightly at -.3EV. I find that doing that enhances the color due to the slight underexposure but doesn't make the image appear to be underexposed. Posted: 05/08/2024 10:25:58
