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Before exploring Lüderitz and Kolmanskop, we drove all the way south to the second largest canyon in the world: Fishriver Canyon. I didn't even know about this canyon before this trip, and since we still had a few days left after our initial rough planning, we both agreed to go there. We looked at the possible accommodations and found a government-run campground on the south side and a lodge on the north rim. As we hadn't read the best things about government-run campsites and were planning to camp most of the time anyway, we opted for the lodge and didn't regret it.
The drive there changed from paved roads to gravel roads, which had some sandy sections the further we got. At one point, we had to drive up a small hill and back down a steeper section that led to a narrow gravel road that crossed a dried up river a few times. We drove on and on, wondering if we were still on the right 'road', but a glance at the offline GPS map showed that we were heading in the right direction. After driving through some really impressive wide open landscapes, we crossed an “airfield” (which was basically a flat gravel field) before finally reaching the parking lot of Fishriver Lodge after a little over 3 hours of driving. As we entered the main building, we noticed the really beautiful glass façade which gave a breathtaking view of the canyon as the lodge is situated right on the canyon rim. We were then asked onto the terrace where we were given a welcome drink, enjoyed the view and thought about using the pool, but we both felt it wasn't quite warm enough (as it was winter there, the temperatures were moderate).
We then checked in, got the keys to our cabin right next to the rim and carried all our stuff from the car to our room (which was quite funny as we had all our stuff in cardboard boxes covered with plastic bags to protect it a bit from the sand that got into the back of our car during the drive, unlike all the other guests who arrived in fancy clothes and with normal suitcases). We then made ourselves a coffee and enjoyed it on our terrace while taking in the stunning views. I then wandered around the area a bit looking for possible sunset compositions, but as the sun got lower, I realized that its angle was far from optimal as the sidelight left most of the canyon in shadow and only illuminated a small upper portion.
At a certain point, I noticed that the colors on the side facing away from the canyon began to explode. I quickly ran to our cabin and told my girlfriend to get her camera. In the rush, we even forgot our tripods, ran around like headless chickens (as Mads Peter Iversen would put it) looking for compositions and found this lone quiver tree. The colors became more and more intense, and I can tell you: I have never seen colors like these before. Apart from one cloud that I cloned out as it was right behind the tree, I didn't edit this image at all (which is quite rare as raw files are usually very flat and require some contrast adjustments). The show went on for quite a long time as there were no mountains in the distance that could block the sunlight, but eventually we went to dinner and enjoyed one of the best meals we had on this trip. After dinner, we went back to our room and realized that the curtains were different than when we left. We thought that someone might have broken into our room, but when we went to bed we realized that the staff had brought warm water bottles as it can get chilly at night (which they hadn't told us). With that, we ended our day and couldn't be happier as we stood right on the edge of the second largest canyon in the world and witnessed one of the most colorful sunsets we had ever seen. I hope you like it!
Taken in my garden.
Photo taken at Randfontein in South Africa.
Using the Tamron SP AF 60mm f/2 Di II MACRO 1:1 LD (IF) (model G005N II) lens.
I Shoot Raw and edit in GIMP.
I am open to critique.
Thank you all very much for your visits, favs and comments. Each one is dearly appreciated!
Just think how many seed pods are in just one Cattail head. Look at the original size and you will see what I mean. Some are drifting off in the wind at the top. The day I shot this and some others it was 23 deg with the wind blowing.
If you like go to 'All Sizes' and look at either the 'Large' or better yet the 'Original'. Look just above the top bursting pod and you can see the fluffy seeds blowing away.
The Black/Whiteprocessing matches the drama of the moment as strong wind blew the crest off another wave behind.
The waves are channeled into this ice formation where they then explode looking like a volcano erupting.
One of the more fascinating focused-stacked mineral sphere macros I've shot thus far, this image brings to my mind the surface of the sun, or lava exploding from a lake of fire... This came from my Cobra Jasper sphere.
Also, given the abstract nature of this image, I find I see a lot of faces there, some of them could come right from a horror movie... The name for this is Pareidolia which is where the brain tries to make sense of an image and to impose structure and order to it ;)
As usual, this was taken using the Cognisys Stackshot. About 40 images stacked and merged using Helicon Focus and processed in Lightroom and Photoshop with tender love ;)
See my older post on how this is done. Ever since my previous edit I didn't like the mask I used to blend images. Since it is a pano and blending isn't straight forward. So I had to rely on auto mask and then manually fix it at pixel level. Here's the final clean edit of the milky way arch rising over Mesa arch.
Flower photographed in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Wonderful colours that just radiated in the bright sunshine.
The treasure inside the blossom :-)
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Exploding Inside.
Your putting it on the line,
Showing me the white in everything you do.
Your opening up this time,
Allowing me to see the real you in you
And journey's do take time,
but your hand is firmly in mine
we'll guide each other through
to see your smile,
my lifeline.
Gand Rapids Art Museum, Saturday all day with the arts!
Air dry clay with water color stain. Art by Brevision! #GRAM
I could not believe my eyes when I saw this goatsbeard (Tragopogon dubius or western salsify) plant growing on our acreage! I love experimenting with the seedheads!!
Tragopogon dubius (western salsify, western goat's-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow salsify, yellow goat's beard, goat's beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify) [...] has been introduced into North America where it has become widespread, being reported from all the continental United States except for a few in the far south-east, and all provinces of Canada except Newfoundland and the northern territories.
Like most salsifies, the Western Salsify grows as an annual or occasionally biennial forb, reaching a height of typically 20-60 cm but sometimes almost a metre. It grows typically in warm, sheltered spots with moist soil. Its yellow flower is 4-6 cm in diameter and is likely to be seen in late spring or early summer. The flowers open early in the morning and often close up by late afternoon. Later the plant forms a seed head that resembles that of the dandelions but is distinctly larger. The seeds themselves (known as achenes) are 2-4 cm long but featherweight, weighing about 8 mg each on average. [...]
