Apocalyptic Quivers – The Frame
I have decided to share the thoughts behind some of my favorite images……………..
On a photographic adventure early in March, I travelled to Southern Namibia. One of the overnight stops was at the “Quiver Tree Forest “ just outside of Keetmanshoop. One of my goals was to capture a night scene with a Quiver Tree and the stars and Namibian night sky. The composition I had in mind included for a quiver tree, silhouetted against a bank of stars. After a ‘interesting” hike over a small rocky outcrop I started looking for a suitable formation. It was unfortunately not a clear night but I was not disappointed when I noticed a bank of clouds over Keetmanshoop about 25 km away .The outcrop I had negotiated earlier had a small group of Quiver trees on the ridge and I got a little excited………
Canon 5 D MK 2
Canon 16-35 mm MK 2
Focal Length – 16 mm
Exposure – 30 sec
ISO 1250
Manfrotto tripod and ball head
Remote release
I set up my trusty Canon companion 
and found a suitable composition. I have some basic settings, which I use when photographing night scenes and experimented with two or three before settling on the ones I used. As with any long exposure, movement in the stars is always something I try and avoid to ensure a clean ‘nightscape’ but I sacrificed that here to enhance the movement in the clouds as they ‘emerged’ from the quivers. The light pollution of the ever-growing town was instrumental in the end result of this image as it created the red glow on the clouds.
Post processing was done in Lightroom 4 with a basic workflow in the develop module.
Enjoy every moment of your photography and get out there and capture the world, one frame at a time – AA
4626 – In Search of Epic Light
This was the total number of kilometers traveled in March 2012 with 2 great friends and spectacular photographers, Mark Dumbleton and Ruby Wolff. We travelled Southern Namibia to capture the amazing natural beauty of this inspiring landscape and titled this adventure, In Search of Epic Light……………………….
Our aim was to find unique compositions of some of the well known photographic destinations with some of the legendary Namibian light, that has been captured by another gifted photographer, Hougaard Malan. Our first stop on the adventure was the famous Quiver Tree Forest at Keetmanshoop. After doing research and speaking to some friends who have visited Namibia before, I had a fair idea of what to expect regarding the landscape and placement of the quiver trees in relation to nearby Keetmanshoop and the roads. It was none the less extremely challenging to find appealing compositions within the single sunset and sunrise that we were going to spend there. We spread out and hiked around the area and I was excited to capture this image of a quiver tree with the late afternoon sun.
Later that evening after a few cold ones to wet the extremely dry throats and a 1400 odd kilometer drive from Gauteng, I slipped into the night and started searching for a Quiver Tree scene with the stars and Namibian night sky………….I was not disappointed when I noticed a bank of clouds over Keetmanshoop about 25 km away and captured this image titled ” Apocalyptic Quivers “. The light pollution of the ever growing town was instrumental in the end result of this image as it created the red glow on the clouds……….
Our next destination was the famous Sossusvlei with its Dunes and Deadvlei. The end of summer heat was intense with days averaging 38 degrees and reaching 45 at some points during the day, which made for intense and sometime physically draining hikes in and around the area in search of the unique landscapes. I can spend many hours describing the time spent there but will leave that for a later post………This image is one of my favorites and is the result of a loooong hike in 40 degree heat………The shear size of these dunes as you get to there base is awe inspiring………………….
Halfway through my stay in the Sossusvlei area I caught a glimpse late one afternoon of what true epic Namibian light is. It would not be but a few days later that I would experience the magical light of Namibia for myself……………This is a panoramic stitch of 9 images where I tried to capture the immense expanse of the dunes and light of the rain over the distant Namib Rand.
The final leg of our adventure was in the Namib Rand and we spent some time on the farm Excelsior. A truly unique and spectacular area with endless compositions and opportunities for landscape photography. We were exposed to the most epic light and sunset on our second last night in Namibia. An image that I will also do a entire post on as it was one of the highlights of my photographic career………………
I have already started planning a 2013 adventure into Namibia and hope to be able to share it with some of you. A big up to Mark and Ruby for a extreme trip on which they shared some amazing insights and photographic magic. I cannot wait for the next adventure a little futher north east……………..Please visit the Landscapes Page on my gallery to view more images from this epic adventure as I will be posting them in th enext few days.
Peace and Light – AA
” 400 “
The epidemic of senseless Rhino slaughter has been in the media for the last 18 months ……..every where we turn the social media sites and news feeds are highlighted by news and blogs of more an more poaching incidents.
To see well repected wildlife vets , game rangers and even SANPARKS members being arrested for these illogical massacre is even more soul destroying…………..NEVER have I ever felt so sick and nauseated as I was this morning called by a friend tell me that he just had seen a post on facebook about the dehorning of 3 rhinos at one my favorite reserves in the Eastern Cape , Kariega …………
Last year I captured this image of one of these rhino and titled it ’400′…the number of rhino that had been poached at that time in South Africa………a image I will cherish for the rest of my days……..
This news struck home very hard as over the last several months I have spent a number of hours with this small ‘crash’ of rhinos and photographed them extensivley. Not only that but i was privileged to sit silent as they grazed and moved silently through the savannah but to be in there presence was phenomenal. I am completely perplexed as to why these rhinos have been senselessly attacked , darted and dehorned by unscrupulous thieving bastards all for the sake of a mythical ‘make you stronger and longer” poison .Only a few weeks ago I managed to capture a series of images that are worth more to me now thank any I have captured to date………….
This image is one that reflects a small miracle as this mother and calf where unharmed according to un official sources on the reserve………….I want to congratulate the rangers of Kariega and the rest of the staff during this horiffic time as the 2 smaller animals fight to survive the dehorning and darting………
I leave with a short film I have made to reflect the true beauty of this awesome game reserve hidden in the Eastern Cape but excluded the horned rhino’s, now its sad that its just a memory. Thanks to Brendan Jennings , ranger and close friend for sharing the majority of the still images in the production and to Mali Korsten for allowing me to use her music as the accompaniment ………I hope you will all fight towards the total destruction of this greed motivated slaughter of one of our most awesome animals…………………- Capture the light , one frame at a time ……AA
