Sound and Light

Giza, Egypt

Touring Egypt 7: Here’s another thing to do if you are in Cairo at night. Every visitor should take the opportunity to visit Giza to see the famous sound and light show at least once. The booming presentation tells the story of ancient Egypt and the Pyramids in narrative and in lights played on the pyramids and the ruins of funerary temples and the Great Sphinx nearby. The show is given at the same location where you would go to view the Sphinx and tour the nearby temples in daylight, but the site closes for the day well before you would be admitted to the light show. You may want to do the night show on a different day or find a meal at a nearby restaurant before the show. (There are several excellent cafes and restaurants nearby.) The presentation lasts about an hour and there are presentations in different languages at different times each evening, so be sure to check the schedule before you go.

Entering the facility before the sound and light show, the visitor will find two elevated terraces at the back, and then stadium-like seating running down towards the sphinx and pyramids. There is usually a cafe open on the terrace, serving snacks and drinks (including beer, if you are in that mood). Generally, most of the audience is waiting and all are admitted at once just a few minutes before the show will begin, triggering a mad rush for seats.

Having been here before and determined to take pictures, I guided my group onto the terrace and raced for a table on the terrace, at the front and near the end where I could set up my tripod without obstruction. We lucked into a good spot, seated ourselves, and ordered our drinks. Since I was already above the mass of audience seating, I did not have to raise the tripod. I kept it low and directly in front of me, where I could work it without bothering those around me. I was ready before the show began with camera mounted, lenses and memory cards ready, ISO fixed, focus on “manual” (and set to infinity), and remote release cable attached.

(above: The show concludes with a sequence washing all the monuments with multiple colors of light, ending with white floods to light area as the crowd departs. Nikon D200, Nikkor wide-zoom at 14mm, ISO 320, f/4 for 2 seconds, and exposure compensation of -4/3ev in a partially successful attempt to balance the bright lights on the light stone.)

(below: During the show there are numerous opportunities to capture the monuments bathed in light of various colors. The challenge is to time your shot so that you catch the color before it changes. This shot came during the segment when the narration talked about the sphinx. Same camera and lens at 15mm, ISO 400, f/4 for 3.6 seconds, and same exposure compensation.)

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 29th, 2009 at 16:08 PM. It is filed under Land & Air, thePhotoTourist and tagged with Ancient Egypt, destination, Egypt, Giza, Great Pyramids, Great Sphinx, Light Show, lights, night, not_uw, pyramids, Pyramids at Giza, Sound and Light Show, sphinx, Touring Egypt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.