Sneak Preview of Petra Jordan

I was finally able to take a few hours away from my day job and spend some time in Petra Jordan today.  It was a mind blowing experience that I recommend to anyone traveling in this part of the world.  The beauty, artistry, craftsmanship, and scale were difficult to absorb in the few hours I was able to dedicate to this venture.

I would do a completely inadequate job of describing the history of Petra if I were to make an attempt, so I will leave that to more authoritative sources.  However, to set the context for these photographs, I will tell you that Petra was a metropolis dating to the sixth century BC, was an important trade route, wass the capital city of the Nabateans, and was chosen as the “New Seven Wonders of the World” in 2007.  It is principally carved from the sheer walls of a wadi (dry watercourse) and has my full support as one of the true wonders of the world.

As one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, I don’t expect that my few hours in Petra will add much photographically to this well shot site.  However, I may be able to contribute by taking a different look at it.

The photographs in this post are probably not terribly creative in being different from the thousands of photographs available for this phenomenal site…except that these are all HDR.

I promise to post additional entries from this trip, hopefully adding a new dimension to Petra photography in addition to the HDR perspective.  I took nearly 600 exposures today, and have a wealth of really cool stuff to share.  I promise to do so soon.

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this teaser to further entries focusing on Petra and maybe a few clicks to learn more about this truly amazing place.  I also hope to spend more time in Petra to get all the shots I am sure I missed today.

BTW, the shots I have included in this post are simply a random sampling of the photography I took today.  They do not necessarily represent the best, or the most interesting.  They represent a grab bag of the HDR photography that I was able to process in a short time. 

There will be additional posts that focus on non-HDR as well as black and white, people, and other interesting aspects of Petra.

Finally, if there are any Jordanian photographers, or Jordanians just getting into this wonderful art of photography, please contact me.  I would love to spend some time with you.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.
Craig