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 Travel with our mentors and try out all of the latest equipment from Nikon! Including world class digital SLRs, Nikkor lenses and the Coolpix line of Digital Cameras.
Our final destination at Sharm el Sheikh was great fun. The exotic resort, located on the Red Sea, provided the perfect backdrop for a lesson in light painting from Dave Black. On our final evening in Egypt, we were guests of a Bedouin tribe who served us dinner under the stars deep in the Sinai desert. Through Mentorseries, we discovered Egypt to be a land of history, mystery and magic, and as we captured our images, Egypt captured our hearts. Lori Van Pelt What could be better than ancient and modern Egypt, Nikon professional mentors, and our own Egyptologists! Awesome is the only word I can use to describe the experience! Standing at the base of the great pyramids of Giza and being the first in the world to know of a new theory of how they were constructed (told to us by one of our Egyptologist, Bob Brier), was one of life's great and treasured experiences. This type of experience was repeated time after time throughout the entire 10 day trip. Visiting the ancient temples of Egypt and seeing the unique culture carved in the hieroglyphs, visiting the Valley of the Kings and standing in 4000 year old tombs, being shown graffiti left on the temple walls by the likes of Napoleon and Alexander the Great! This was history at its finest and I was there to experience and photograph as much as I could take in! But there was more - cruising the Nile on a Nile cruise ship, walking the crowded street markets in Cairo and Luxor and taking a sunset sail on the Nile all provided wonderful opportunities to experience and photograph the people, culture, architecture and landscapes of ancient and modern Egypt. All the while our Egyptologist friends were there to give interesting information (the kind the average tourist never gets) and answer our questions about the people and places and history of Egypt. On top of all this our Nikon mentors, Tom and Dave, were working with us constantly to give tips and practical information on how to make better images. I learned a great deal from working with Tom and Dave. Whether attending one of their several workshops, receiving individual or group instruction, or, my personal favorite, live workshops on site, the instruction was excellent and interesting. I left Egypt a better photographer than when I arrived and since returning home have been using the techniques I learned from Tom and Dave to keep making better images. The sites, sounds and smells of Egypt will always be with me, the people and the culture have found a permanent place in my heart, and the help I received from our great mentors, Tom Bol and Dave Black have already made me a better photographer. The trip was worth every penny and one I hope to repeat, along with other mentor series treks, in the near future! Tom Kline A trip to Egypt has always been on my list of must-visit destinations. The opportunity to incorporate my love of photography with a mentor series workshop was the ideal trip. Everything I experienced went beyond my expectations…the ancient sites, the warm people, food and the company of fellow enthusiastic photographers, world-famous Egyptologist and mentors. What follows is a skim of the details of this extaordinary trip… The Pyramids of Giza The first sight of the magnificent pyramids was from the bus on our way to our hotel. From our hotel the pyramids we in clear view, especially from the rooftop were some of us shot the pyramid lightshow performance. The next day we set out to photograph the three great pyramids from a perfect plateau. Camels and drivers were appropriately set up in the foreground so that our pictures had more depth. While we all stood in front of the great pyramid, the largest of the three, Bob Brier the Egyptologist shared the new theory about how the pyramids had been erected. It was thrilling to be walking back in history while following Bob around as he told the details of these ancient graves. At night the pyramids take on a different look altogether, the grandness of these monuments is more apparent in the darkness of the night sky. Some of us signed up for evening lightshow and truly enjoyed the neon display, even capturing some interesting photographs. Cairo No trip to Cairo would be complete without a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. I was astonished and delighted by the number of pieces on exhibit, especially in the King Tut section, where the findings of his tombs where on display. Our visit to the local market at Khan El Khalili Bazaar was a sight to behold. The merchant’s enthusiasm to sell and our instincts to photograph made for a nice match. The view of the mosque was an ideal location to sit and enjoy the hustle and bustle while enjoying a Turkish coffee. The highlight for photography in Cairo was actually away from the city; it was at the camel market. There was so much to focus on at this market from camels hobbling with one leg tied back, to merchants and customers haggling over prices, to Bedouins sitting along side one another enjoying the shisha pipe. The handsome people were happy to be photographed and we all got amazing portraits. Cruise on the Nile; the Temples The Nile cruise beginning in Aswan was a fun way to travel from one location to the next. One of our notable stops was at the island Temple of Philae, the temple dedicated to the Goddess Isis. We had the early morning light to capture this grand Temple, full of hieroglyphic details and vast pillars. Some models were procured for us to further practice our SB-80 flash with portraits. Back on the ship we al set up to capture a magnificent setting sun along the river Nile. Further up the Nile we stopped in Kom Ombo and visited the temples there. We all had shopping opportunities for our costume dress up party that night. We sailed next to Edfu and stopped to visit and photograph the temple and local merchants there. In the evening we had a great Egyptian dress-up costume party with prizes, dancing and games making it too much fun! Our final stop via cruise was in Luxor, and the opportunity to visit and photograph Thebes, Egypt’s old capital. The vast pylons and pillars at the Karnack temple proved challenging to photograph but worth the effort. A horse carriage ride to the Luxor temple allowed for a few drive-by-shootings and the chance to photograph the temple during the day. We returned to capture the temple again at night when it was lit. We crossed the Nile to visit the burial grounds of ancient Egypt, the Valley of the Kings. Among the tombs we visited was King Tut’s, where Bob gave us a detailed briefing prior to entering. Sharm El Sheik-Saint Katherine’s- Mount Sinai Our last chance to just relax and enjoy the Red Sea in Sharm El Sheik would not do. We added the excursions to Saint Katherine’s’, more a spiritual journey than a photography one. The grounds and Library made it a worthwhile visit. The other option to climb mount Sinai in the dark to capture the sunrise from the top, I passed on. Although I heard form fellow trekkers the following day that it was a magnificent sunset but a difficult climb to the top. The Bedouin dinner in the dessert was spectacular. We sat around a fire, while the Bedouins sang and danced for us and even cooked for us; it was a delicious meal enjoyed in the dark star filled sky and a very fitting ending to a fabulous trip. |
On to Aswan, where we boarded the HMS Radamis II for our scenic Nile cruise. Ports of call included the Temples of Philae, and Kom Ombo. Sunset on the Nile was magical from a romantic fellukah ride. In Luxor, we visited Edfu and Luxor temples, and the phenomenal Valley of the Kings. The group really bonded at Egyptian costume night and no one will forget a very tall King Tut or the moon over the Nile. Our final Luxor destination was the incomparable Karnak Temple. Throughout all our stops, Bob Brier and Pat Remler provided history and insights, which brought the Egyptian Dynastic period to life. Tom Bol and Dave Black were generous with their time and their attention, and the photographic results were stunning.