Hey Everyone,
I’ve been back a few days from Egypt now, but recovering from a respiratory infection I picked up over there, so been a bit quiet and snowed under at work. I also lost my baggage but have been told I may be receiving it later then week (which is great news).
I had an absolutely fantastic time in Egypt and enjoyed myself to no end, I dressed as a local and wander the streets, ate fantastic food and made lots of new friends and penpals. I didn’t take as many photos as I predicted and that was partially due to me really embracing the holiday and just enjoying myself and the culture first hand rather then behind the lens. I still managed to rattle off over 7000 images and some movies to boot so I’m still importing the full collection onto my PC at home. Last night was my first chance to play with a few shots and I picked my favourite three portraits to share with my RB friends. I hope you all like them and the stories behind the captures. I was keeping a loose log of my adventures and travels so I am considering doing a slow release day by day account, with illustrations to accompany the account. There is a fair bit of work to get it up to scratch, but if there is any interest then I think the photos and stories compliment each other better then just images alone.
Well I’m glad to be back, and while I struggle to get on top of my work and into a normal routine please enjoy my three favourite portraits (thus far) from my trip photos.
Blue Eyed Stare
Cheeky Grin
Bright Eyes
berndt2, 5 months ago
Fantastic portraits all (what was your lens – the bokeh is fantastic in all of them!), and absolutely I’d be interested in a day-by-day, blow-by-blow photographic account of the trip!
Charlene Aycock, 5 months ago
fantastic Craig. want to see more too. you are so lucky to go take photos like that.
Craig Goldsmith in reply to berndt2’s comment, 5 months ago
The first was with the trust 18-200VR (Nikon of course) didn’t leave my camera for more then an hour at any stage. The two kid portraits were with the 50mm 1.4, I’d been inside taking some shots of Nubian coffee being brewed (very low light) so it a great coincidence when the kids were outside waiting for a photo shoot as I left to re-board our felucca.
bodymechanic, 5 months ago
craig u can be so modest sumtimes!! the blue eyed stare is truly amazing!!
bodymechanic, 5 months ago
oh yeah i cant wait 4 u to take us all on ur journey as u load it down for us!! well hurry up
then we are waiting…....... look we arent impaitent…....... ok have it ur way we’ll wait!!!
it look like it’ll be exciting!
chilloutbuddy, 5 months ago
Welcome back!
Fantastic shots Craig, all three of them! They really make me want to travel, which I will next week :)
The last one is my fav, reminds me a lot of Manuel Librodo’s work, well done!
Keep that pc going, we want to see more…
mlgkats, 5 months ago
all your portraits are amazing, the little girls eyes you captured really well, the blued stair unique color, and the little boy, he has sad eye but happy at same time
Bill Fonseca, 5 months ago
These are awesome Craig. Hope you had fun mate. Look forward seeing more photos. Cheers
Dyle Warren, 5 months ago
Wow, what an adventure you must have had Craig! Great shots, can’t wait to see more! My fav, the blue-eyed Egyptian, what a rare find! Like two gem stones…
Melanie Dooley, 5 months ago
Hey, what’s with the beard?
James Pierce, 5 months ago
Oh tell me you took the M !
Craig Goldsmith in reply to Melanie Dooley’s comment, 5 months ago
It’s gone now, but I grew it long for Egypt so I could blend in when I went “native”.
skunk, 5 months ago
Glad to see you back safely. Looking forward to your slow drip feed of images :)
Melinda Kerr, 5 months ago
Mate that blue-eyed shot is one of the best portraits I’ve seen. Period.
vinee, 5 months ago
Great shots!!Craig
Irene Burdell, 5 months ago
I am Glad you had a great time , anda wonderful experence .
These portraits are wonderful.
Craig Goldsmith in reply to James Pierce’s comment, 5 months ago
Sorry James, I didn’t feel I could risk it. I took my D200 and my Canon G9, the M is currently on assignment with my best mate in the UK, but I’ll be visiting shortly to take custody of it again :)
Halcyon007, 5 months ago
OMG Craig, you crack me up. When you said that you didn’t take as many shots as you’d like bet then rattled off a mere 7,000!
How many were you thinking of taking!?
Glad you had a great time and I hope that luggage turns up soon.
James Pierce, 5 months ago
Yes 7000 !!!! My last trip OS netted me about 400 frames !
hilarydougill, 5 months ago
Absolutely fantastic portraits, beautiful people, beautifully captured
Craig Goldsmith in reply to Halcyon007’s comment, 5 months ago
Hey Stuart, I took 22k on my Europe trip which was heavily photography based in contrast to the 7000 odd in Egypt. Sadly what they thought was my luggage was nothing like my luggage, so it’s still AWOL and I had my hopes up. :(
Halcyon007, 5 months ago
Oh man, what a bummer. I hope you get it eventually.
I had 350 photos from Eygpt on our old point and shoot and my wife told me off for always being behind the camera!
Craig Goldsmith in reply to Halcyon007’s comment, 5 months ago
I guess everyone is different, but my snap happy nature did rub of on my fellow tour members, some of them found they were filling up their cards much faster when traveling with me :) I even used their camera’s sometimes when I left mine behind. Storage is cheap, and I’m likely only going to be there once, so capturing lots of details really appeal to me, overall probably 1-2% might be up to RB standards, the rest are capturing memories, people and places.
Halcyon007, 5 months ago
It’s very true, if you’re only going somewhere once, you want as many reminders as possible. My wife loves the place and is very interested in Eygptology so I wouldn’t rule out another trip in the future (when I can take my D-SLR).
Glad you inspired the others too and I love the fact you used their cameras (but how come you left yours behind?? LOL)
Looking forward to the ones up to RB standards coming online soon
rebecca zachariah, 5 months ago
welcome home craig. really love the blue-eyed stare. looking forward to see more.
Matthew Bonnin..., 5 months ago
Craig, these are some of the best shots I’ve seen from you mate. I love them and they’re totally my style.
The first one wouldn’t look out of place in a national geographic article. The vingnetting on all three draws attention to their faces perfectly.
I’m sorry you’ve lost your luggage but I hope you had insurance. I can’t believe you packed a D3 in your checked in bags, but hey, we all make mistakes ;-).
jaffa, 5 months ago
love blue eyed stare, brilliant capture.
Mundy Hackett, 5 months ago
gorgeous, thanks for sharing!
Fiona MacNab, 5 months ago
Fantastic portraits, nice to read about your trip too. Hope you get reunited with your luggage soon, and look forward to seeing more of your photos.
lilifrog, 5 months ago
Just beautifull Craig!
Patricia L. Ba..., 5 months ago
Amazing, Craig. Can’t wait to see more.
Cadence, 5 months ago
Welcome back! The portraits are amazing!
Randy Monteith, 5 months ago
Great photos ! Craig can’t wait to see more. Hope your feeling better soon and welcome back!
Paul Louis Vil..., 5 months ago
Love the shots Craig, hope you start feeling better soon and I love the new avatar! :D
Karen Cougan, 5 months ago
Get well soon mate…...........I was wondering who the newbie was, but just an oldie with a new hairdo…............love the first of the adventure…........look forward to more
xkc
Trevor Armstrong, 5 months ago
Great Shots, show the character of each and every one of them Well done!