Trip to Petra (Jordan)

[shay_ohayon]

Hi All,

 

I am planning a short photography trip to Petra in jordan. I thought

it would be wise to ask you guys for advices/tips - what to bring

(lenses, film). Is morning / sunset better for photography there ?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Shay

[yoni_perlmutter]

Anything from 15mm to 300mm will work.

Bring nearly anything you have.

 

Petra sits on an enormous area of land so any perspective/framing/zooming

issues you may have are not really problematical.

 

Zooms and primes in this setting can be used with equal ease.

 

Out of doors (this is a sort of city, afterall), the light is quite harsh

and the difference between sun and shade will go way beyond

 

the capacity of any positive film and probably beyond

most negative films as well.

 

The colours are warm earth colours and the reds & browns

can be quite dramatic.

 

Try a Kodak or Agfa or Fuji portrait/wedding film -

something with lower contrast. If you want to try slides, this would be

a good venue for "plain vanilla", inexpensive Kodak Ektachrome 100.

 

You might think of bringing an ND or polariser filter, a cooling filter

for the PM infrared (turns colours wild!) a decent tripod, lens shades,

a flash(for the many caves & niches).

 

Photography in the early AM is preferable as the heat is

beastly after about 10:00.

 

Petra is a wonderfully dramatic and exciting place. A total photo op

and one of those places worth a revisit. Have fun.

[._kaa]

One of the amazing things about Petra is the walk down the slot canyon (to use the Southwestern US term) which leads you to the city. For that you will need short-to-normal lenses and film with as much dynamic range as you can get. So if you are still using film, go for some lower-contrast negative film.

[JosvanEekelen]

I preferred the late afternoon, approximately 16.00 h till sunset. I was there during the summer of 1990, we arrived in our hotel somewhere during the afternoon and went to Petra asap. The light was amazing, warm yellow/orange/red colours. The other day, this magic was gone, just flat earthlike colours. Not half as impressive as the day before. I found focal lenghts between 28 and 135 mm adequate (on 35 mm slide film).

[frank_miles1]

I visited Petra in 1986. I nearly fell off my feet when I saw the first big stone carving.

 

I would recommend lenses from wide to telephoto. Sometimes you are up close, but some images are captured from from a distance.

 

Before I left, I was cautioned by friends to not rent a horse to get me in there. From their experience, there was a tendency to spend too much time looking down at your horse instead of around. I found that along the walk in (via the slot canyon mentioned above) I spent a lot of time watching my footing and the ruts in the stone from the old chariots instead of looking up and around me.

 

I have no regrets about taking lots of pictures there.

[patrick_p]

You need to plan your days carefully because it is such an enormous place. I recommend packing a lunch and water. Get up for sunrise and get all the photos you can before the light is too harsh and heat too intense. Then find a quiet place in the shade to have lunch and a nap wait for later afternoon and sunset. I made the mistake of going back to my hostel for lunch and nap. The problem with this is that it takes so long to get in and out of the site it just isn't worth it. I averaged 9 hours of straight walking a day! It took me 3 days to cover the entire place, so bring some sturdy shoes. I'd also recommend bringing a flashlight. After you are done shooting sunset it may take you 1-2 hours to get back from the more remote places.

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Unfortunately for me I wasn't too into photography when I was there in 2000 and sadly only had a small APS camera. I'd love to go back and shoot it properly.

<p>

Cheers,<br>

Patrick - <a href="http://www.patrickperon.com">www.patrickperon.com</a>