3 Petra Jordan At Night

[Dale D]

Tuesday March 27 2023
On our first day of arrival to Petra, Jordan we walked with thousands of people about a mile into the pitch black canyon called the “Siq" for a light show of the Treasury, a structure carved from the soft sandstone mountain. Petra is a World Heritage site and one of the seven Unesco Wonders of the World. The Siq is a slot canyon with steep walls. On other ways back out, I lagged behind the crowds and photographed the canyon in absolute darkness and got some amazing results.

Nikon D750
Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6
Really Right Stuff tripod
shot at f/3.5
shutter (exposure) 10 seconds
ISO 1250. using shutter release
Processed in Photoshop with AI Masking

Obviously no drones allowed
All comments and questions always welcomed.

Dale
Miami

 

[AlanL]

Nice take on the Rose Red City.

I worked in Petra as an archaeology grad student for 3 summers in the late 1970's and got to know it well. Sadly I was a starving grad student and had a limited number of film rolls with me each summer so I couldn't shoot as freely as I can now with digital. Weird seeing the light show and crowds at Al-Khazneh. None of that existed back when I worked there and I photographed that monument on a number of occasions with no one around at all other than a bedouin vendor waiting for the few tourists that came that far.

 

[Chrislaf]

Hi Dale, question re: choice of lens. Why did you shoot with your 28-300 rather than the 12-24 which has a wider FOV and a larger aperture @2.8 which would likely would have been better for the night shots. Also, the 12-24 lens is known to be a very sharp lens. I am assuming you chose the superzoom due to convenience and weight.

Nice captures regardless. In places like that it's often hard to due to the number of people and time you have there.

Chris

 

[Dale D]

Hi Dale, question re: choice of lens. Why did you shoot with your 28-300 rather than the 12-24 which has a wider FOV and a larger aperture @2.8 which would likely would have been better for the night shots. Also, the 12-24 lens is known to be a very sharp lens. I am assuming you chose the superzoom due to convenience and weight.

Nice captures regardless. In places like that it's often hard to due to the number of people and time you have there.

Chris

As you probably know I have the 14-24 mm f2.8 but it is a beast and due to they massive crowds I spent the entire day carrying only the zoom 28-300 lens
I had not planned to shoot stars and in fact was chased out by the clearing crew sweeping the canyon for stragglers

Nice take on the Rose Red City.

I worked in Petra as an archaeology grad student for 3 summers in the late 1970's and got to know it well. Sadly I was a starving grad student and had a limited number of film rolls with me each summer so I couldn't shoot as freely as I can now with digital. Weird seeing the light show and crowds at Al-Khazneh. None of that existed back when I worked there and I photographed that monument on a number of occasions with no one around at all other than a bedouin vendor waiting for the few tourists that came that far.

Alan:
Thanks so much for this reply. Our guide said that once the site was declared a World Heritage Site the attendance went to 100,000 a day. It is a massive crunch of humanity now and not a good thing. It is impossible to get a shot of the canyon empty (I will have a lot of Photoshopping to do). The actual site now is a "ZOO" all day long.

Dale

 

[AlanL]

Alan:
Thanks so much for this reply. Our guide said that once the site was declared a World Heritage Site the attendance went to 100,000 a day. It is a massive crunch of humanity now and not a good thing. It is impossible to get a shot of the canyon empty (I will have a lot of Photoshopping to do). The actual site now is a "ZOO" all day long.

Dale

100K/day??? Whoa. I was working on a temple site with a good view of the main colonnaded street so we could see the tour groups parading past every day. I doubt there were more than 150-200 tourists per day. We were staying in Nazzal's Camp all summer which was the only building inside of the city at the time. I can't even imagine the crowds you are describing.

 

[sikspy]

Tuesday March 27 2023
On our first day of arrival to Petra, Jordan we walked with thousands of people about a mile into the pitch black canyon called the “Siq" for a light show of the Treasury, a structure carved from the soft sandstone mountain. Petra is a World Heritage site and one of the seven Unesco Wonders of the World. The Siq is a slot canyon with steep walls. On other ways back out, I lagged behind the crowds and photographed the canyon in absolute darkness and got some amazing results.

Nikon D750
Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6
Really Right Stuff tripod
shot at f/3.5
shutter (exposure) 10 seconds
ISO 1250. using shutter release
Processed in Photoshop with AI Masking

Obviously no drones allowed
All comments and questions always welcomed.

Dale
Miami

Hey Dale. The name Petra was given from Greeks in about the 4th century BC.
Even in the modern Greek language we use the word Petra which means stone.
In Greek, Petra=Πέτρα.

 

[Dale D]

Hey Dale. The name Petra was given from Greeks in about the 4th century BC.
Even in the modern Greek language we use the word Petra which means stone.
In Greek, Petra=Πέτρα.

THANKS- I KNEW THAT. A self driving rental vacation to Greece forced me to learn to read Greek road signs since I was the driver
Phi
Epsilon
Tau
Rho
Alpha

 

[Reelman67]

As most of us know, this site was used in the Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade.

 

[Dale D]

As most of us know, this site was used in the Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade.

Yes- Indie was searching for the Holy Grail. And in fact, there is now a cafe with a photo of Harrison Ford and the Movie logo next to the visitor's center. Unfortunately,no Mc Donalds in sight.

 

[AlanL]

Yes- Indie was searching for the Holy Grail. And in fact, there is now a cafe with a photo of Harrison Ford and the Movie logo next to the visitor's center. Unfortunately,no Mc Donalds in sight.

Are there actually fast food places in Wadi Musa now? The only place in town that catered to tourists back in the 1970's was the Government Rest House near the mouth of the Siq.

 

[Dale D]

Are there actually fast food places in Wadi Musa now? The only place in town that catered to tourists back in the 1970's was the Government Rest House near the mouth of the Siq.

AlanL:
Our very knowledgeable guide who is Jordanian told us that ONLY local Petra citizens are allowed to open businesses. There are absolutely no franchises allowed. All of the money goes to the indigenous population. Ergo, my wish for a Mc Donald's.

Dale

 

[AlanL]

AlanL:
Our very knowledgeable guide who is Jordanian told us that ONLY local Petra citizens are allowed to open businesses. There are absolutely no franchises allowed. All of the money goes to the indigenous population. Ergo, my wish for a Mc Donald's.

Dale

You will have to forgive me if I am glad to hear there are no fast food joints in Wadi Musa yet. I far and away prefer a falafel sandwich or a kebab with pita bread when I think of that area. That said there were western style fast food places in Amman (KFC was one of them) although I never saw yellow arches.

For the record Petra has no true citizens within the park. There used to be Bedouin from the Bdoul tribe that lived inside of Petra in black goat hair tents (some of them were my workmen) but the government forced them in an area just north of the ancient city in solid housing when they were setting up the national park in the early 1980's. Wadi Musa is the town located near the head of the Siq and Shobak is the nearest town to the north of Petra along the old King's Highway. Most of my workmen came from either Wadi Musa or the indigenous Bdoul Bedouin. A lot of my old slides show the black tent encampments scattered around the Petra basin.

 

[freefaller500]

Tuesday March 27 2023
On our first day of arrival to Petra, Jordan we walked with thousands of people about a mile into the pitch black canyon called the “Siq" for a light show of the Treasury, a structure carved from the soft sandstone mountain. Petra is a World Heritage site and one of the seven Unesco Wonders of the World. The Siq is a slot canyon with steep walls. On other ways back out, I lagged behind the crowds and photographed the canyon in absolute darkness and got some amazing results.

Nikon D750
Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6
Really Right Stuff tripod
shot at f/3.5
shutter (exposure) 10 seconds
ISO 1250. using shutter release
Processed in Photoshop with AI Masking

Obviously no drones allowed
All comments and questions always welcomed.

Dale
Miami

Awesome, I must make a plan to go one day.

 

[Dale D]

Awesome, I must make a plan to go one day.

Totally agree! It is one of the 7 wonders of the world and you will be shocked when you have walked a mile through the Siq canyon and it appears
Check it on on some You tube videos

 

[twickers14]

Breathtaking place. Never been but your pix help to set the scene. A really interesting thread sparked by your work. Nothing changes! Safe travels.

 

[Francoisvdm]

Tuesday March 27 2023
On our first day of arrival to Petra, Jordan we walked with thousands of people about a mile into the pitch black canyon called the “Siq" for a light show of the Treasury, a structure carved from the soft sandstone mountain. Petra is a World Heritage site and one of the seven Unesco Wonders of the World. The Siq is a slot canyon with steep walls. On other ways back out, I lagged behind the crowds and photographed the canyon in absolute darkness and got some amazing results.

Nikon D750
Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6
Really Right Stuff tripod
shot at f/3.5
shutter (exposure) 10 seconds
ISO 1250. using shutter release
Processed in Photoshop with AI Masking

Obviously no drones allowed
All comments and questions always welcomed.

Dale
Miami

If you pop me some of those shots, I can try to remove the noise with Topaz for you. [email protected]

 

[Thai Voyager]

I visited Petra back in 2006, not many people compared to the horror stories I've just read here. The night tour consisted of a group of about 200 people. The rule was no talking allowed during the mile walk through the canyon to the treasury. The entire mile trail was lined with candles, creating a romantic atmosphere that seemed surreal as they lit the way. I had a basic digital camera (by today's standards), and snapped a few long exposure shots, no tripod, so they are a bit blurry.

 

[Dale D]

Not today! My wife and I were first in line at the gate opening followed by a horde of at least thousand if not more
By the time we got there all seats were already taken and I stood for the photography and tripod and my wife was gracious give a stool by a worker
The mad rush out was the reverse
I lagged behind for star photos and the candle cleaning crew tried to rush me out of the canyon
A totally unpleasant expert

 

[Dale D]

Not today! My wife and I were first in line at the gate opening followed by a horde of at least thousand if not more
By the time we got there all seats were already taken and I stood for the photography and tripod and my wife was gracious give a stool by a worker
The mad rush out was the reverse
I lagged behind for star photos and the candle cleaning crew tried to rush me out of the canyon
A totally unpleasant expert

By the way tour pictures really captured the scene