Sphinx Perspective

November 16, 2010

Head Sphinx Pyramid Menkaure Side by Side - Cairo, Egypt - Daily Travel Photos
(Cairo, Egypt)
f/8 ▪ 1/500s ▪ @200mm ▪ ISO100 ▪ Canon 5D ▪ Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8
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The head of the Sphinx and Pyramid of Menkaure, the furthest of the three major Giza pyramids.

As mentioned yesterday, a telephoto lens compresses the background and foreground elements to make them appear closer than they actually are. The pyramid of Menkaure is easily 3 football fields away from the Sphynx.

sphinx pyramid background
Panorama Image Sphinx Road Pyramids Desert Necropolis - Cairo, Egypt - Daily Travel Photos
(Cairo, Egypt)
f/8 ▪ 1/500s ▪ @70mm ▪ ISO100 ▪ Canon 5D ▪ Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8
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The Shinx and its immediate surroundings with the pyramids in the distant background.

Here, technically, I used a telephoto lens but a less severe 70mm versus the 200mm focal length used above. This image should give a slightly better perspective of how small the Sphinx is when you see its height in relation to a bus and average sized people. Upcoming days' images will illustrate the size of a single building block of the pyramids compared to an average sized person.

For the record, the pyramid in the first photo appears second from the left in this photo. The tiny pyramid (of which there are three) are the Pyramids of the Queens, not the Pyramid of Menkaure. In actuality, the Pyramids of the Queens are as tall as the Sphinx itself!

sphinx panorama