Phil Hawley Photography

Travel Photography – Egypt – Valley of the Kings

Having chosen to go on a Nile Cruise from Luxor to Aswan and back it seemed a good opportunity to put the Canon 5D MKII through its paces.

After the delayed flight and late arrival and the first night on the MS Da Vinci we went on a tour of the Valley of the Kings with a very early start to avoid some of the worse crowds.

The Valley of the Kings is on the West bank of the Nile near to Luxor (Thebes). It was intended to be a secret burial ground to deter graverobbers, however this was largely unsuccessful, however inside the tombs themselves the colours are bright and clear and look like a photographers dream. However, if you were hoping to get photos/film inside the tombs then think again as eagle-eyed security are watching to make sure you don’t. If they suspect you of doing so they will check your camera and confiscate or make not too subtle requests for a bribe as, as they will tell you it is strictly forbidden to take photos inside the tombs.

Outside the tombs it is another matter, you can freely take photos, however video is still forbidden. The landscape is mainly stark limestone, and the tombs themselves are located underground. I found a few things to take some decent shots of, including some panoramic shots that look amazing. The level of detail the 5D MKII picks up is amazing, I wouldn’t expect anything else with the full-frame 21MP sensor, take a look below and see what you think.

Click through to see the full photos.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 8:46 pm. It is filed under Photography, Travel and tagged with Egypt, Landscape, Luxor, Nile, River Nile, Travel, Valley of the Kings, Wadi Biban el-Muluk, West Bank. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.