Photographing Water

Nahed Rouchdy

I started serious photography about six years ago. Early on, shooting landscapes, especially at sunrise and sunset, was my favorite subject. The cameras I use are the Canon R6 and Canon 6D Mark II with a 100-400 and 24-105 lenses.

The best time for shooting landscapes, particularly waterscapes, is early in the morning and before sunset, a time often referred to as the golden hour. The light is very flattering at these times as opposed to midday when the sun is strong and comes from the top.

Landscapes are a pleasure to shoot. You capture beauty for a moment and can retrieve it at any time to look at it again. It freezes time for eternity.

My bird photography came at a later stage—believe it or not during the Covid years. I was in Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea in Egypt for quite some time escaping the virus and started noticing all the beautiful birds flying around me. From my balcony I was able to practice daily how to take a good bird picture, which is not as easy as landscapes, of course. Birds move constantly, and it is difficult to get a sharp picture when first starting out. You have to be quick and have good reflexes, which come with training.

If you are ever lucky enough to take a boat from Luxor to Aswan in Egypt you will witness the beauty of its landscape. Agricultural lands, very green and close to the bank of the Nile, allow one to view the life of peasants who live along the banks of the river.

When you get to Aswan itself you witness the beauty of sailboats with the wind blowing into their sails, thrusting them forward.

The sunrise in Ain Sokhna is an amazing spectacle—especially when there are clouds present. These clouds add a very dramatic effect that I appreciate very much. The sun’s rays illuminate the still water against a backdrop of mountains.

If you take a feluca (little wooden rowing boat) on the Nile you are able to photograph many birds, such as the Egyptian goose and the egret. Fishing is also abundant, and you can capture fishermen skillfully throwing their nets and later pulling them back up, hopefully filled with fish.

Egypt is a beautiful country with so much to see and visit. If you haven’t been there I strongly recommend planning a trip in the near future.