Living in Cairo, Egypt, one of the most congested and polluted cites of the world, and the oldest one in history, where the Pharaohs built the city 10,000 years ago.
In the surrounding environment in the street of Cairo you rarely spot a any birds away from the house sparrow, and that was all I know about birding till 2006.
In the year 2006 I switched to digital camera after a long trip with analog photography (which I still love), and during my annual leave in the summer time along the Mediterranean sea I had a long stroll on the beach with my D50, and a 300mm lens. After a one hour walk reached a small designated bay (demolished due to heavy construction in the year 2010) found a fleet of sea gulls to me (found later that they are white winged black tern) and started snapping images to pass time.
White winged black tern, On the North coast of Egypt, Yehia El Alaily
After getting back to Cairo this became a real challenge, purchased all the books regarding birding in Egypt and started the challenge.
The rare and endemic Nile valley sunbird, Cairo suburbs, Yehia El Alaily
In the first two years most of trips and works were around the Cairo and Giza zones, where several resident and migrant species were there.
Green bee eater having lunch, Near Giza, Yehia El Alaily
Graceful warbler, around Cairo, Yehia El Alaily
White throat Kingfisher, Cairo suburbs, Yehia El Alaily
Blue throat, near the pyramid of Dahshour, Yehia El Alaily
European Bee Eater during the migration season, Cairo suburbs, Yehia El Alaily
For more info about me and my photography work, please check www.yehiaelalaily.com
Yehia El Alaily
Yehia El Alaily is an Egyptian/ British commercial photographer based in Cairo, Egypt. Since specializing in commercial photography in 2005, Alaily has worked with several local and international clients. His commercial portfolio covers a wide range of trends: conceptual, lifestyle, people, nature and architecture, but his keynote project remains the Birds of Egypt started in 2005. His interest in photo- documenting bird migration in Egypt has taken Alaily across Egypt in pursuit of different bird species across the country. This ongoing project has established him as a contributing photographer with Christopher Helm Publishers.
Leave a Reply