Edom Mountains - Kingdom of Jordan-2
Climb the sheer-cliff lined 600 steps into the Edom Mountains in the Kingdom of Jordan at Petra and you get to see this beauty (the Monastery) carved into the m...
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Climb the sheer-cliff lined 600 steps into the Edom Mountains in the Kingdom of Jordan at Petra and you get to see this beauty (the Monastery) carved into the mountain. Be sure to take a look inside as well to see some historic graffiti recorded on the walls.
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Jun, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I grabbed this shot in the Edom Mountains in the ancient city of Petra within the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 2007 after a rather arduous ascent in withering heat up a narrow uphill path of around 600 steps leading to the summit of this specific peak. This magnificent structure (called "The Monastary") surprises you just after nearing the top. It resembles the more famous "Treasury" building that greets you after making your way through the initial slot canyon hike from the parking lot far below. If in Petra, I highly recommend trekking to this fabulous location; be sure to bring a couple liters of water along - especially in the summer. It's worth it.Time
I reached the summit in the late afternoon in time to rest up in the shade of a tent of a local Arab who sells coffee, tea, trinkets and even a Snickers candy bar. While sitting and enjoying my tea and slightly melted Snickers, A young local Bedouin man began to impressively free climb the monument in bare feet all the way to the tip top where standing on one foot, he pulled out a small flute from his pocket, turned to face us, and began playing a melody that echoed sweetly through the high walls of the canyon. You can see him in some of my other shots in my profile. What an amazing climber!Lighting
As you can see from the photo, the sun lights up the monument beautifully during the late afternoon hours creating magnificent shadows which makes this a good time to shoot here. Night shots might also be fun, but I can attest that the sun sets rather quickly in the mountains creating great photo ops at the peak a few hundred meters farther up from where I shot this, but climbing back down the narrow and rocky path to the bottom in the dark can be very dangerous without a flashlight or headlamp as often the path is lined with sheer cliffs with no barriers at all to keep you from accidentally walking off and falling hundreds of feet to your death. Bring extra batteries!Equipment
I shot this with a SONY DSC-H2, handheld. Nothing fancy, but still a relatively nice light camera with faster recycle than smaller point and shoots that also took decent enough video. It currently rests at the bottom of one of the aforementioned cliffs if anyone wants it, as I lost it later trying to get self-portraits with a small tripod that proved to be too small and unstable to secure it. Fortunately, I had switched out the card beforehand, so I was able to save most of my shots - live and learn.Inspiration
I climbed this mountain path simply to get sunset photos at the peak where I was told it was a terrific view. I had no idea at the time that this structure was here, and it really surprises you when you see it almost all at once when you round the last corner to the top. Real WOW factor - I'll never forget it! Be sure to look inside where there is a lot of graffiti on the walls in various languages with some dates that go back a really long time. History inside history I call it.Editing
Simple answer here: this one specifically is right out of the camera. I can't remember now if I even cropped it, though I might have slightly. I play with post processing a lot - mainly to learn because I am not so great at it still, but I never got around to touching up this one.In my camera bag
These days I leave a lot of extra lenses, laptops, iPads, lights, stands, light modifiers, and such either at home or in the car while I usually standard carry whatever I can fit on my awesome Spiderholster belt system and in cargo-pockets which is surprisingly a lot: essentially a full frame Canon 5D Mark III with battery grip, an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM zoom, an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom, an EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, a SPEEDLITE 600EX-RT (all on the belt - seriously, I look like Batman), a flashlight, a head lamp, spare AA flash and flashlight batteries, a couple Honlphoto Speedlite gels, a couple spare memory cards, B+W CP filters, a Syrp 1-8.5 stop VND filter with stepdown rings, a Slik tripod with an Arca Swiss Z1 head slung on my back, a liter sized Nalgene bottle full of water, a Nokia C7 cellphone, usually the same camo booney cap I was wearing that day in Iraq when I shot that Haboob, and a walking stick to nudge the occasional snake off a trail. Recently I added an all manual Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 prime for a great fast night landscape lens. Travel light! lol Okay, it's all really quite heavy but the belt really helps as I am unable to carry much on my back due to a past injury in the Army. I really look like a geek, but my Spiderholster really saves the day for me.Feedback
Bring a couple liters of water and a headlamp with a backup flashlight and extra batteries. It's a great place to catch the sunset up at the peak which gives you an amazing and unique vista of much of the Edom Mountain peaks. The hike to the top can be moderately challenging too, so make sure you're in good enough shape for the climb. It's a bit long. Definitely take a couple or three days in Petra. There are some hotels nearby with nice accommodations and the local people I met there were all super friendly. Petra is a true wonder of the world! You can spend a week there shooting even without climbing mountains. Sometimes the local Bedouins set up hundreds of candles around the Treasury building at night as an opportunity to take some incredible night shots. Don't miss it!
