Where is the camera located and what are your working conditions?
The camera is located at the SIAG Pyramids Hotel in Giza, about 1.5 kilometers ENE of the Pyramids Plateau. It is placed at the highest point in the area and is over 200 feet above street level. This affords us the best possible view of the Pyramids looking from east to west into the sunset. If we were any closer, it would be difficult to take in the entire plateau in one image. If we were farther away, images would be degraded as a result of the intervening haze.
What equipment are you using?
A StarDot Technologies NetcamMegapixel with zoom lens, which has been specially setup and filtered for this application.
Why did you start such a project?
First of all, because it was obvious that it needed to be done and we wanted to be the first to do it. Secondly, we wanted to make a first class portal to the Pyramids over the net so that anybody in the world could have the pleasure and enjoyment of viewing them under the best possible circumstances - particularly those who might never have the chance to come here. Lastly, we wanted to do something to promote tourism for Egypt. Since we started we've received many many emails from viewers who have told us that the website has motivated them to put Egypt at the top of their travel destination list. This is very gratifying to us.
Why do you feature sunsets particularly?
When we first started we did not expect anything but trouble from a very bright and intense sun shining directly into the lens from an hour or two before sunset till dark. We thought that perhaps we had chosen the wrong location for the camera. When the sun finally moved into our field of vision in late October, we were astounded at the beauty and variety of the sunsets from our vantage point. The camera has done a terrific job in this extreme bright light situation and has survived day after day in light conditions that would have melted lesser cameras. The result, after going through the 'molten glass' period of intense light, has been that we have recorded some of the most remarkable sunsets imaginable. Each is very different from the last - we never know what to expect and are almost always surprised as they unfold before us.
Why does the light suddenly get brighter sometimes during a sunset?
The camera's light exposure is software controlled. As a result of the intense direct sunlight it receives just before sunset, it closes to the maximum. As the sun sets into the haze the incoming light intensity diminishes very rapidly and the software does not have time to open back up one stop at a time to allow more light in. It jumps stops and may open up slightly too much for the actual light conditions. As you see though, it always recovers within a frame or two. I want to add that these are not 'normal' viewing conditions - in other words "don't try this at home". Nothing of the sort happens under normal webcam viewing conditions.
Why don't you keep the camera on 24 hours a day?
Night viewing requires a different type of camera with different light capturing abilities. We have tried our camera at night and were able to record some very nice night images of the Pyramids during the Sound and Light Show when colored lasers are flashed on the Pyramids. They were good, but we did not consider them 'production quality', so we abandonded that tack. We are about to launch a night camera, however, and hope to be 24/7 in a very short time.
In your PhotoBlog you have a section about people who have climbed the Great Pyramid. Is that allowed now?
When I first came to Egypt in 1974, climbing the pyramid did not seem to be expressly forbidden, although there still may have been regulations against doing so. People did it all the time. Now it is forbidden and the reasons are fairly obvious: danger to life and the need to preserve. The stones at the corners have become very smooth and worn, for example. it is not a simple climb by any means and it's truly terrifying on the decent. There have been deaths. It goes without saying that in general our world's monuments are slowly decaying under persistent attack by air pollution, ground water, natural weathering and human contact. Khufu is no exception, notwithstanding its 4,500 years of defying the elements and mankind.
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