The Giant Sand Dunes at Sossusvlei at Sunset

[Manfred M]

One of the most stunning places to visit in Namibia are the giant orange sand dunes that start not far from the entrance to Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia. The Namib desert is reputed to be the oldest desert in the world, and these wandering dunes can be seen on the 60km / 35mile drive to the end of the road at Sossulvlei, an oasis tucked in between the dunes. The colour, by the way, comes from the iron oxide (rust) in the sand.

As we were staying in the park, we were permitted to stay in the park up to one hour after sunset. The road for the last few km is terrible, and only accessible by 4x4 as you have to drive through 15cm - 30cm / 6in - 12 in deep sand. This is the sight at the end of the road, in the light of the setting sun, perhaps 10 to 20 minutes before the sun sank under the horizon. We were the only ones around. A fantastic photo op!.

Wouldn't you know it, we got stuck in the sand on the way out of the are. No problem, there must be a shovel in the truck, we though. No; so we had to dig ourselves out with the plastic tub we used to wash our dishes and a frying pan, and yes, we got to the gate before it was shut for the night, but it was a bit tense...





Now for a question; there is a thin light band of light along the tops of the dunes; could that be Alpenglow? It is definitely in the original RAW image, so while conversion to jpg made it a bit more noticeable, it is definitely in the original image. The only adjustments to this image are a tiny bit of sharpening (unsharp mask; radius 0.2 pixels, 80% at 0 threshold). The only other PP work is a luminance adjustment using a levels adjustment area, where I pulled in the black and white sides a bit. The there is absolutely no colour or hue / satuaration adjustment at all; the colours are really like that. I probably had a polarizer on, but no other filter. Exposure was 1/350 sec; f/8; ISO 500; using my f/2.8 24-70mm lens. Any ideas?

[Donald]

I can offer no suggestion re the thin light band. All I can do is express my sense of awe at the image. I (and other more esteemed than me) have said that colour photography should be about colour. Well, here indeed is the evidence.

Masterful work, Manfred

[darknight]

Lovely shot manfred, the colour truly is magnificent, i dont think the light will be alpenglow as that is usually red, it maybe reflection from the light at the top of the dune itself?

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice color, as Donald mentioned! I also like the still water and the reflections.

That thin line doesn't look like any alpenglow I've ever seen or any images of it that I've seen. I see that there is a trail going up the hill. The next time someone comes down that trail, ask them what's at the top.

Glad you got out of the sand in time!

[terrib]

That is truly beautiful. The colors, the serenity (despite your tense moments ) The still water and reflections really top it all off.

[escaladieu]

One of the most stunning places to visit in Namibia are the giant orange sand dunes that start not far from the entrance to Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia. The Namib desert is reputed to be the oldest desert in the world, and these wandering dunes can be seen on the 60km / 35mile drive to the end of the road at Sossulvlei, an oasis tucked in between the dunes. The colour, by the way, comes from the iron oxide (rust) in the sand.

As we were staying in the park, we were permitted to stay in the park up to one hour after sunset. The road for the last few km is terrible, and only accessible by 4x4 as you have to drive through 15cm - 30cm / 6in - 12 in deep sand. This is the sight at the end of the road, in the light of the setting sun, perhaps 10 to 20 minutes before the sun sank under the horizon. We were the only ones around. A fantastic photo op!.

Wouldn't you know it, we got stuck in the sand on the way out of the are. No problem, there must be a shovel in the truck, we though. No; so we had to dig ourselves out with the plastic tub we used to wash our dishes and a frying pan, and yes, we got to the gate before it was shut for the night, but it was a bit tense...





Now for a question; there is a thin light band of light along the tops of the dunes; could that be Alpenglow? It is definitely in the original RAW image, so while conversion to jpg made it a bit more noticeable, it is definitely in the original image. The only adjustments to this image are a tiny bit of sharpening (unsharp mask; radius 0.2 pixels, 80% at 0 threshold). The only other PP work is a luminance adjustment using a levels adjustment area, where I pulled in the black and white sides a bit. The there is absolutely no colour or hue / satuaration adjustment at all; the colours are really like that. I probably had a polarizer on, but no other filter. Exposure was 1/350 sec; f/8; ISO 500; using my f/2.8 24-70mm lens. Any ideas?

I had a problem once with Lightroom's CA correction introducing a line like this ...