NAMIBIA

DEADVLEI

Surrounded by dunes, Deadvlei is a clay pan formed when the area flooded thousands of years ago when the Tsauchab river flooded allowing camel thorn trees to grow. Then, the dunes encroached cutting the pan off and drying it out, but instead of rotting, the incredible dryness of the air petrified the trees, and now around 700 years later they still stand in the white clay pan surrounded by the read and orange dunes.

**The Sand Flame**
Strong winds from the east kick up sand on the top of the dune which is then backlit by the rising sun as the gusts chase the sand across the white pan of the Dead Vlei just after sunrise

**Deadvlei Mist**
On my second sunrise visit to Deadvlei we were incredibly lucky to get mist, which is incredibly rare and happens perhaps once in a decade. The combination of mist with the trees against the dunes as the first light cut across the pan made for really simple compositions

**Deadvlei I**
Early morning light on Deadvlei

**Deadvlei Light**
Hazy early morning light crests the dunes and illuminates the camel thorn trees.

**Deadvlei Mist II**
The first touch of light starts to fall across a misty Deadvlei

**Deadvlei II**
Early morning light on Deadvlei

**Deadvlei III**
Late light fall on Deadvlei and the petrified camel thorn trees

**Deadvlei Morning**
After the mist had cleared the dawn light poured into the Deadvlei pan bringing with it incredible colour

**Nine**
Three trees in the pr-dawn light of Deadvlei

**Deadvlei Abstractions**
Trees in the pr-dawn light of Deadvlei

SOSSUSVLEI

Deep in the dunes of southern Namibia is a river valley, carved out hundreds of thousands of years ago, the river now is long gone, returning only briefly in the rare rains that come here once or twice a decade. Running alongside the valley are some of the oldest and tallest dunes in the world, coloured beautiful deep oranges and red due to all the iron oxide, they are an abstract dream to photograph.

**Dune 45**
Dappled light on Dune 45 at the end of the day in Sossusvlei

**Glow**
Incredibly clear air combined with overcast skies to create unique conditions at Sossusvlei. These peaks in the Namid Rand are usually invisible due to heat haze, but incredibly cold conditions created an incredibly clarity, and as the sun set, it picked out this tall peak with the last light of day

**Windswept Sossusvlei**
When the wind swept down the valley, combined with the haze of the last light of the day when looking directly into the light, some beautiful high key scenes were revealed.

**Sossusvlei Haze**
Early morning haze and strong wind combine to particularly obscure this massive dune in the Sosssusvlei valley

**Ribs**
The last light of day picks out the shape and texture of the dunes in the valley of Sossusvlei

**Sossusvlei Light III**
And late afternoon light creates the same effect from the other side amongst the dunes of Sossusvlei

**Sossusvlei Dune Abstract**
The curves and lines of the Sossusvlei dunes are an endless source of abstract images when the low light of sunset hits.

THE SKELETON COAST

The Skeleton Coast is where the Namib Sand sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. It’s utterly empty wilderness, endless sand for hundreds of kilometres in every direction, and some of the largest dunes in the world. I’ve been lucky enough to camp here multiple times, driving into the area in a modified 4x4 with a trained and experienced team, allowing us access to this absolutely incredible part of the world. It’s an incredibly special and unique experience, completely cut off from civilisation spending time beneath the stars and amongst the endless rolling dunes.

**Skeleton Coast Sunset**
The shipwreck of the Shawnee on the Skeleton Coast, captured just after sunset on an absolutely wonderful evening in Namibia.

**The Skeleton Coast II**
We headed deep into where the dunes meet the ocean on Namibia’s coast and camped next to this shipwreck. What an incredible place to spend the night.

**Desert WInd**
A strong wind blows across the dunes at sunset on the Skeleton Coast

**Desert Driving**
Jandre’s Landscruiser cross the dunes of the Skeleton Coast

**Skeleton Coast Abstract**
Dappled light from overcast skies creates abstract patterns on the dunes of the Skeleton Coast

**Skeleton Coast Milky Way**
The Milky Way sets just before dawn above the Shawnee shipwreck on the Skeleton Coast

**Skeleton Coast Mist**
Sea mist rolls in just before sunset on the Skeleton Coast

THE NAMIB RAND

The Namib Rand, or “edge of the Namib” is a landscape of mountains and vast plains that seems to go on for ever. The scale of the landscape is mind-boggling and when the light gets low in the mornings and evenings the scenes are magical.

**Namib Rand Light II**
Last light of day on the Namib Rand

**Kwessi**
A lone tree in blue hot at Kwessi dunes in the massive expanse of the Namib Rand

Namib Rand Light IV
Dappled light illuminates trees on the plains of the Namib Rand

QUIVER TREE FOREST

The Quiver Trees aren’t actually trees at all. They are in fact succulents that usually grow amongst rocks on some of the hard to reach ridge lines and hills scattered throughout Namibia. However, not far from Keetmanshoop is Giant’s Playground, an area where some of the trees are relatively easy to access which is great for astro photography

**Quiver Tree Sunset**
The iconic shape of a Quiver Tree at sunset

KOLMANSKOPP

The town of Kolmanskopp was built to house diamond mine workers in the early 20th Century. When the diamonds dried up the town was abandoned and since the 1950s has been being slowly reclaimed by the desert sands. Exploring the empty buildings is incredibly atmospheric.

**Kolmanskopp Light**
The old diamond mining town of Kolmanskopp, abandoned for over half a century, is slowly being reclaimed by the desert

**Kolmanskop Light II**
Light and dust in the deserted mining town of Kolmanskop

AERIALS

Namibia is a beautiful country, but from the air it’s even more spectacular as a land of abstract shapes and texture is revealed. Helicopter trips with the doors off are an incredible experience and give an entirely different perspective on these stunning landscapes.

**Namib-Rand Aerial**
The mountains of the Namib Rand from the air just after take off

**The Devil’s Pitchfork**
Taking a helicopter flight with the doors off above the dunes at sunrise in Sossusvlei

**Dune 42 Aerial**
First light creates a play of shadow and light on the dunes of Sossusvlei captured from the air.

**Sossusvlei Aerial IV**
Taking a helicopter flight with the doors off above the dunes at sunrise in Sossusvlei

**The Devil’s Pitchfork II**
Taking a helicopter flight with the doors off above the dunes at sunrise in Sossusvlei

**Sandwich Harbour Aerial**
Thousands of flamingos take to the skies in Sandwich Harbour on Namibia’s coast. I captured this image from a helicopter looking down onto the river estuary

THE HIMBA

In the north of Namibia, it’s still possible to find tribes of Himba people living the traditional way of life that they have done for hundreds of years. We were incredibly lucky to be able to go into their village and photograph them

**Moonrise II**
The Himba stand on a dune in Harrtmann’s Valley as the moon rises

**Himba on the Dunes**
A Himba plays on the dunes

**The Himba**
A local tribe of Himba, who still live traditionally in the desert, in Hartmann’s Valley

HARTMANN’S VALLEY | THE FAR NORTH

In the far north of Namibia on the Angolan border, rolling dunes meet the mountains and valleys in one of the most remote and inaccessible parts of the country.