Egypt Through My Lens | by Anna Guðnadóttir
Hi everyone!
A Bit About Me
I'm Anna Guðnadóttir, a hobbyist photographer from Iceland. My journey with photography started way back in my teenage years with a simple point-and-shoot film camera, capturing vacation memories and snapshots of my younger sisters. In my twenties, I “upgraded” to my first digital camera in 1997 – it was a point and shoot – and over the years, my gear has evolved to my current beloved Nikon Z6iii.
Getting Serious About Photography
While I've been taking photos for many years, it was in 2018 that I decided to get serious about photography as a hobby. That year, I started to capture photos in Raw, and the next year I learned to use manual settings and began taking various photography courses. For me, photography is the perfect fit because I love to learn new things – there's always something new to discover behind the lens!
My other great passion is traveling. So far, I've had the wonderful opportunity to visit 32 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.
Traveling to Egypt
This past March, my husband and I took our first trip to Egypt. While the initial goal was relaxation and escaping the Icelandic March chill, we couldn't resist a day trip to Cairo to see the legendary Pyramids and the Sphinx. I was truly awestruck by their sheer size and the weight of history. We also visited the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, which was fascinating. Seeing artifacts over 4000 years old made me wonder about my own ancestors – definitely not in Iceland back then!
Camels were a frequent and delightful sight during our visits to the pyramids and other locations. I found them incredibly cute and photogenic, and as my Instagram feed likely showed at the time, I thoroughly enjoyed photographing them! We even had the chance to go for a short camel ride, and our guide captured a particularly cute photo of us with our new, sweet friends.
During our visit to Cairo, we also enjoyed a relaxing boat tour on the city's stretch of the Nile. I always appreciate seeing a new place from the unique perspective that a boat trip offers.
Our base for the trip was Sharm El-Sheikh, a lovely but popular resort area at the southern tip of the Red Sea. I was impressed by the effort that has been put into cultivating lush greenery, both in the hotel gardens and public spaces. We spent most of our time lounging on the beach, enjoying the view, reading, and indulging in occasional cocktails.
Beyond the resort, we also explored some of the local area, including Soho Square, Naama Bay, and the Old Market. These areas cater to tourists and we found them to be clean, pleasant, and offering a variety of good restaurants. We were consistently impressed by the friendliness and helpfulness of the people we encountered, both at the hotel and in the surrounding areas, and their English was generally very good. One experience that stood out was taking a taxi to Soho Square. Our driver quoted us a price for the round trip and didn't expect payment until he returned to pick us up later. It was a testament to the trust these taxi drivers place in their customers, and of course, we called him back as agreed.
One of the highlights for us was the incredible snorkeling right off our hotel beach. Just a short swim (about 10 meters, or approximately 33 feet) brought us face-to-face with a vibrant underwater world teeming with colorful fish. We didn't even need to dive deep to witness this beauty because there were big groups of them swimming close to the sea level.
My Travel Photography Gear
When I travel, I usually pack light, except when it comes to my camera gear! For this Egyptian adventure, I brought my Nikon 24-120mm, Nikon 40mm, Viltrox 20mm, Trio28 from Lensbaby, and of course, my Samsung phone. I ended up shooting most of the time with my versatile 24-120mm, but I also really love playing with my Lensbaby Trio28 and made sure to use all of them. My phone was perfect for selfies, asking others to take photos of my husband and me, for taking photos underwater, and for those quick Instagram story snapshots – it definitely feels less pressure than editing my camera photos on the go for stories!
Travel is undoubtedly my favorite time to photograph. Everything is new and inspiring, and I always try to use these opportunities for my photography projects. I'm currently participating in the "52 Clicks" project with Angie Mahlke, and I was thrilled that the prompts for March and April focused on different compositional methods. This meant I could dedicate my photography time in Egypt to capturing images specifically for that project. For the “framing” prompt, having access to beautiful cocktails, flowers, and the sea provided some lovely opportunities. And for the “juxtaposition” prompt, I spotted a very cute camel, adorned in red, sitting near a road, so I waited for a red car to pass by to capture them together.
If you have any questions about traveling in Egypt, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram: @agiceland.
