Egypt

If you had asked me 10 years ago when I first picked up a camera and became enamored with photography that it would someday lead me to work in Egypt I would bet all I had that if would never happen. Fast forward today and I still can't believe I get to write about this incredible life-changing journey. 

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and a trip I’ll never forget. Just imagine waking up and looking outside the window and seeing the nile river. Picture walking towards the great pyramids at night with the stars in the sky shining bright. This was just a small part of my adventure in Egypt. 

Traveling from Lax to New York to Cairo and then to Aswan meant 14  hours in the sky and 20hours of traveling altogether. I would be documenting a pilgrimage consistening of a group of amazing individuals each with their own amazing story and journey to this moment. For the sake of respect and privacy I will not be including any photos of these individuals.

my equipment  

Nikon D750
Nikon 24-70mm
Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR
Sony A7R III
Sony 16-35mm f4
Sony 55mm 1.8
Sony 28mm f2
Zeiss 85mm 1.8
Flashes
Magmods
Think Tank Airport Roller Derby (Best Roller Ever)
Holdfast Moneymaker
Wandrd Travel Backpack (My Favorite All Purpose Camera Backpack Ever) 

Outside the amazing and historic hotel known as the Old Cataract in Aswan overlooking the Nile River

Day 1 

The Old Cataract and Philae Temple

Day 2 - 4

Nile Cruise on the Farah  - Temple of Kom Ombo - 

As a kid, I read all about the Nile River in school, bought papyrus, learned about the start of “modern civilization”. When I arrived at Egypt I could hardly believe I was there. To be in Egypt, you could truly feel the history on the street. Everywhere we went along the nile there were landmarks that were thousands of years old. It really gave you perspective on the timeline of human history and the start of modern civilization. We took carriages to different temples and parts of the city. Some of these places we got early or special access to and being able to take your own private tour is pretty special in a high tourist traffic area. The locals were very friendly and I never felt intimated to walk up to anyone and say hello. Most of my trip was documenting the group I was with so I don’t have many photos that are without them. I won’t post any photos that include them for their privacy.

Day 5 & 6 

Deir el-Medina - Luxor  - Temple of Hatshepsut

One of the highlights of the trip was to be able to see the hieroglyphs in color. We started early in the morning and took a small boat across the nile. As we boarded the bus on the other side it started to rain, the locals there said the couldn’t remember the last time it rained back to back days and said we brought luck and good fortune with us. We visited the artists graves at Deir el-Medina. You had to climb down steep steps and crouch in a small opening to get in. Not too difficult, except if you’re carrying equipment…It’s definitely not a long ways to get to and the journey is worth the reward.

Day 7

Giza - Valley of Kings

Now I’m pretty sure I missed the order of things. The last few days happened very quickly. What’s most important though and what has had an ever lasting effect on me was visiting the Valley of the Kinds and Giza. We arrived around 4am and as we approached the great pyramids you could see nothing but stars in the sky. As we got closer you suddenly see a triangle mass blacken the sky in front of you. I hadn’t realized what I was actually looking for a moment, not until we hit the checkpoints to get in that it was in fact the great pyramids. These massive structures were blocking the stars of the sky and you could feel this massive presence in front of you that was indescribable. You couldn’t even see the pyramids at this point, the area around it was kept dark. All you could see was just a bunch of starts with a triangle black mass that dominated everything else. We were able to get access to the Pyramids before anyone else had arrived. I myself got to go into the second chamber alone. If you’ve been following along, you’ve probably realized I haven’t been too specific on the details of the trip and that’s in on purpose. Most of our activities were spiritual and sacred. Blogging about if wouldn’t do it justice. What I can share is that I got to sit in the main chamber undisturbed for almost 20 minutes in complete darkness. It was truly life changing.

The Valley of the Kings was also one of those magical moments. Being able to see tombs not yet opened to the public and be able to see the hieroglyphs up close and so well preserved that you could see the original colors was breathtaking. I couldn’t recommend a better place to visit if you’re looking for a place of history, spiritual discovery and culture. If you’re curious to learn more about my trip just ask me!