Marsel van Oosten
The Swamp Awakens
I just returned from this year’s last Africa tour - it’s been a hell of a ride with trips to Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. I shot close to 2TB, so I guess it’s safe to say it was productive. The next three weeks I will spend at home, catching up on emails, working on stuff I should have finished four months ago, and I will finally be able to do some image processing - it’s about time.
Next trip will be our Into The Cypress Swamps tour in Louisiana and Texas, USA. This is a very special tour, because everything is done from kayaks. The locations we will visit can not be reached by car or even by foot, so you have to paddle. It’s an entirely different experience.
What also makes it special, is the fact that it’s so ridiculously beautiful and surreal. On a quiet, misty morning, like in this image, you hear not a single sound except for the water drops falling from your paddle. Especially in the dark, an hour before sunrise, it’s eery - but in a nice way. Of all the places I have been, this is by far the one that always gets to me when I’m there. There’s nothing like it.
There are many places on our planet that are incredibly beautiful, but there’s nothing like gliding through the water in a forest of cypress trees.
This image was shot on a cold an misty morning. The person paddling in the middle is my wife Daniella. I asked her to paddle towards me because I like to include people in my swamps images. It adds scale and a sense of adventure to the shot, and, until recently, there were no swamp images with people paddling in them.
To get this shot I had to get out of the kayak and stand in the icy cold water to be able to use my tripod. The cold water may be uncomfortable, it’s actually a good thing because it means the alligators are inactive
This year’s tour is already fully booked, but there are still a few spots on next year’s Into The Cypress Swamps tour. If you like trees and a bit of adventure, you will love this. The paddling is easy, so you don’t need to be an athlete. Check it out on our website!
Marsel | squiver.com
©2019 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.
The Swamp Awakens
I just returned from this year’s last Africa tour - it’s been a hell of a ride with trips to Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. I shot close to 2TB, so I guess it’s safe to say it was productive. The next three weeks I will spend at home, catching up on emails, working on stuff I should have finished four months ago, and I will finally be able to do some image processing - it’s about time.
Next trip will be our Into The Cypress Swamps tour in Louisiana and Texas, USA. This is a very special tour, because everything is done from kayaks. The locations we will visit can not be reached by car or even by foot, so you have to paddle. It’s an entirely different experience.
What also makes it special, is the fact that it’s so ridiculously beautiful and surreal. On a quiet, misty morning, like in this image, you hear not a single sound except for the water drops falling from your paddle. Especially in the dark, an hour before sunrise, it’s eery - but in a nice way. Of all the places I have been, this is by far the one that always gets to me when I’m there. There’s nothing like it.
There are many places on our planet that are incredibly beautiful, but there’s nothing like gliding through the water in a forest of cypress trees.
This image was shot on a cold an misty morning. The person paddling in the middle is my wife Daniella. I asked her to paddle towards me because I like to include people in my swamps images. It adds scale and a sense of adventure to the shot, and, until recently, there were no swamp images with people paddling in them.
To get this shot I had to get out of the kayak and stand in the icy cold water to be able to use my tripod. The cold water may be uncomfortable, it’s actually a good thing because it means the alligators are inactive
This year’s tour is already fully booked, but there are still a few spots on next year’s Into The Cypress Swamps tour. If you like trees and a bit of adventure, you will love this. The paddling is easy, so you don’t need to be an athlete. Check it out on our website!
Marsel | squiver.com
©2019 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.