I chose good, non-touristy angles and then waited patiently for the few people who were there to disappear from view, to the frustration of my mother, who accompanied me on many of these excursions. I've come to the conclusion that I'm better off travelling on my own, as I tend to wait so long for the light to turn photogenic, for people to disappear from view, etc., that I drive my fellow travellers up the wall. It's not easy being a perfectionistic photographer. :-)
I drive Pip mad for the same reason. That's the worst thing about doing a tour or holidaying with other people; I found Egypt extremely frustrating from that point of view. On the other hand it does help to fit in lots of places within a tight schedule.
I also found the group thing in Egypt very frustrating at times. I didn't actually miss many good shots because I felt rushed by the rest of the group, but I did occasionally feel guilty towards my mother, who often had to put up with me while I was waiting for a particular shot. We were both glad she had some friends in the group, so that I could occasionally leave her in the care of her friends and do other things myself. Furthermore, I learnt long ago not to stay close to the guide and the rest of the group on excursions. I usually take a bit of a stroll while the guide is telling his stuff (especially when I know that most of it can be found in guidebooks, as well), as this gives me more time to take photos of the place we're visiting, without other people standing in the way. In some cases this has been known to greatly enhance my enjoyment of a place. For instance, when we went to Abu Simbel, we had to do so in a convoy of about forty buses, which all descended on the place at the same time. So there we were, about a thousand
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I do that too - abandon the guide and sneak off - but still almost everywhere we went there were hordes of people.
Three weeks sounds great to me as I had only a week. :-( I'd love to go back and see lots of other places in the country. When you start planning, let me know!
Oh, there were hordes of people whenever I snuck off, as well. I have photos with people in them; I may post some of those later. However, I've found that if you stand around looking for all the world to see like you're waiting for people to sod off -- as I've said elsewhere, I'm impatient, and it really, really shows -- they will usually apologise for being in the way (ha!) and step aside for a minute to let you take your photo. They just have to be aware you're trying to take a photo without people in it, that's all. There's nothing you can do about people who aren't aware you're waiting for them to bugger off -- nothing except trying to Photoshop them out later, which, sadly, isn't always possible
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How long were you in Egypt?
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Three weeks sounds great to me as I had only a week. :-( I'd love to go back and see lots of other places in the country. When you start planning, let me know!
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