The Valley of Death

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 17, 20054,789 views22 comments

I took this shot of dead Camel Thorn trees in an extremely arid and surreal place called Deadvlei, located in the great Sossusvlei dunes of Namibia, Africa.

Taken with a D70 and 12-24DX @ 13mm. 1/80, f/18, polarizer, ND grad, tripod.

Comments

22 comments

Comment posted by Brian VanDenzen on May 17, 2005 at 1:45 PM

Stunningly simple and beautiful! Incredible shot!

Registered on April 17, 2005, 60 Posts, 1245 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on May 17, 2005 at 1:46 PM

Marsel,

Outstanding shot. Very strong composition and the colors are excellent. Congrat.s on a great one.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Windom on May 17, 2005 at 3:14 PM

An incredible image. Great care was taken in composing this shot as there is minimal overlapping of the trees as they recede into the distance and the placement of the one in the immediate FG helps set the mood for the entire image. The diffused light on the FG is ideal.
I would call this starkly beautiful. One of your best!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 176 Posts, 2302 Comments

Comment posted by Thomas Creel on May 17, 2005 at 3:15 PM

WOW, just beautiful. How nice the trees were to grow/die in such a manner as to have few trees overlapping each other too in the composition (OK, I'll give you credit for finding it

). The centered foreground tree definitely works here.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 104 Posts, 852 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Schnepf on May 17, 2005 at 3:24 PM

Wow, this is just fantastic. I've always wanted to visit this haunting location, now more than ever. Thanks for the inspiration.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 403 Posts, 2528 Comments

Comment posted by Dane Glueck on May 17, 2005 at 3:29 PM

Yep - this is good.

Registered on November 10, 2003, 193 Posts, 1748 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Dolde on May 17, 2005 at 3:29 PM

TOTALLY KILLER !

Registered on November 1, 2003, 305 Posts, 3900 Comments

Comment posted by renae sandberg on May 17, 2005 at 3:38 PM

Incredible composition. It's stunning.

Registered on December 29, 2004, 313 Posts, 2476 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Kayne on May 17, 2005 at 4:57 PM

YESSSERI, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.

JOE.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 573 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Rouch on May 17, 2005 at 5:36 PM

One of the more appealing and unique images I'm seen here for a while, by my accounting. Not only stunning of a great curiosity and interest - how do those things grow and why are they at this spot?

Registered on November 1, 2003, 159 Posts, 1014 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Oje on May 17, 2005 at 5:56 PM

Fantastic shot! Great composition, detail, colors, etc. It looks like it belongs on a calendar or something. I wish the clouds were a little more interesting though. But that's not even a nit. Great job!

Registered on January 28, 2004, 35 Posts, 78 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on May 17, 2005 at 6:17 PM

Marsel: Major

meter spike for me on this one. Just superb. ><>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on May 17, 2005 at 8:16 PM

Very nice.

- Dan.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments

Comment posted by Toni Lankerd on May 17, 2005 at 8:51 PM

I have seen some stunning images of Deadvlei, but this one ranks at the top and beyond! Simply excellent, Marsel!

Registered on January 3, 2005, 360 Posts, 4004 Comments

Comment posted by Lori Kincaid on May 18, 2005 at 8:00 AM

Simply surreal. Congrats on an exceptional image!

Lori

Registered on November 15, 2003, 90 Posts, 2033 Comments

Comment posted by Alice Scoggins on May 18, 2005 at 8:07 AM

Fantastic! It almost doesn't look real. The placement of the trees is wonderful, the clean lines, no clutter. Great job!

Registered on February 21, 2005, 430 Posts, 5959 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Weaver on May 18, 2005 at 9:54 AM

Absolutly perfect composition!!!!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 226 Posts, 623 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Wilson on May 18, 2005 at 2:26 PM

This is one of the most striking shots that I have seen on this site in the two years or so that I have been participating!!!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 573 Posts, 2211 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on May 18, 2005 at 5:45 PM

Just plain old wonderful!!

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Marsel van Oosten on May 27, 2005 at 4:16 PM

Thanks everyone for the kind words, they make me happy.

Registered on March 9, 2004, 285 Posts, 2277 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Van Rafelghem on June 14, 2005 at 8:27 AM

WAUWWWW !!

Registered on November 25, 2003, 82 Posts, 300 Comments

Comment posted by Steven Bein on June 20, 2005 at 5:03 PM

Just a WOW image of a place that is on my life want to see list.

Registered on November 12, 2003, 230 Posts, 209 Comments