Singular – by definition,  remarkable strange or eccentric in some respect, no explanation accompanied this rather singular statement , exceptionally good or great ……….the poster child for this – Deadvlei

Singular was a word that was foremost in my mind when visiting Deadvlei in the world renowned Sossusvlei in March 2012. We  had discussed the subject of how to get  a unique or new image from this iconic place and all had our own ideas and opinions and this proved to be a interesting debate.  Having the opportunity to visit the vlei over a few days, I decided to take time out, sit quietly, absorb my surroundings and just enjoy the time…………..

After the short deceptive hike across the dunes in the morning, taking a quick breather and mouthful of water was the perfect ‘excuse’ to find a comfy spot to sit down 😉  Here I found that sitting down against a tree was not as comfortable as one thinks so I  lay flat on my stomach to get a lower point of view………..

 

 

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 The first thing that struck me was the hard texture of the ground that still felt comfortable early in the morning with the warmth that had been absorbed the day before……………I did receive some odd glances from other international visitors when I did a short leopard crawl across the vlei to relocate and find a new vantage point .

I am sure the white powdery dust all over my front when I eventually stood up was a point of many snickers and giggles.  They had enough to say anyway about everything else …but that is another story for another time.

 

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The unique nature of this place does not connect with everyone in a emotional or spiritual way but does inspire one to capture great natural images.  I spent one afternoon, again on my stomach shooting various compositions.  I took a breather and sat up looking around to see only my two fellow travellers, Mark and Ruby enjoying the silence with NO other people around…………Amazing.  I watched the sun set and the shadows start moving across the vlei, I lay back down to capture the image below as the sun reach the foot of the opposite dune.  It does not conform to most styles with the use of a very shallow depth of field making the foreground very out of focus but the eye drawn towards the single tree……….The sunset colours and slight underexposure of the scene added to the rich colours of the dunes.  I have a few with more detail of the vlei floor but really am drawn to this image .

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The singular beauty of the desert……….

I hope you enjoyed the details above and will get out and enjoy the nature that surrounds us

Peace and Light – AA