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The Death Pan


The Death Pan
Photo Information
Copyright: Brendan Gladman (bgladman) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 245 W: 51 N: 228] (1153)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2003-10
Categories: Nature
Camera: Nikon F90x, Nikkor 18-35mm
Exposure: f/16, 1/90 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2004-04-28 1:43
Viewed: 1421
Points: 28
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
One of Namibia’s highlights is the clay pans of Sossusvlei, in the Namib Desert., The dunes in Sossusvlei are the highest in the world and soar to over 300m or 900 ft. Although developed over a period of millions of years, their forms constantly change rising and falling at the whim of the wind. A climb to the top of one of these 'hills' is well worth the effort, especially at sunrise or sunset, when the view of shifting sand, stretching as far as the eye can see, is breathtaking.

The most impressive pan is Dead Vlei, a vast hollow depression of dry cracked mud scattered with ancient camel-thorn trees. The colours and contrasts are a photographer's dream. The pans (vleis)only ever fill with water after heavy rainfall, ocurring every couple of years, and the impermeable clay layers retains the water, providing a habitat for countless water birds and a drinking hole for animals.

This shot was taken on (i am told) an abnormally overcast day. We even got some rainfall, which was special and disappointing at the same time. In the afternoon the rain cleared and the sun was just shining when i took this shot. I shot this low to the ground usinf my 18mm zooms so i could capture as much of cracked mud formation in the foreground that lead to one of the many camel thorn trees in the distance.

Exposure f/16, 1/90
Film Kodak High Definition 200 ISO
Scanned on flatbed scanner at 300 dpi
Post processing: Sharpened using unsharp mask, auto levels, and border.
Marcie, ChrisJ, bfly, ale, manny, Galeota, summer89, RGatward, fayeulle, tamoy has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To eleparc: Yepbgladman 2 04-28 17:02
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Critiques [Translate]

Nice composition. I even like the noise or the grain of the shot, it emphasises more the dryness.

very nice composition Brendan, the frame is nicely divided into three parts. great perspective with this clay in the foreground. maybe a bit too much post-pro - the tree is too black and there is a white outline above the hill.
anyway, it is a very nice picture

  • Great 
  • bfly Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 745 W: 237 N: 1053] (5637)
  • [2004-04-28 2:21]

very nice Brendan..like Marcie, I liked the noise..it looks like everything is burned under big heat..I liked the 3 layers of brown and blue and our simple framing...

  • Great 
  • ChrisJ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 8647 W: 911 N: 11403] (55282)
  • [2004-04-28 3:46]

Great composition & moody lighting. The tree is a big bonus, that links the 3 different parts of the image. The repetitive textures & patterns of the dried mud are also interesting.

Beautiful scene here, Brendan!
I like this kind of shot, espacially the standing tree. I'm sure that the orginal film would have a lot better quality. Great scene!

  • Great 
  • ale Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 453 W: 86 N: 223] (1813)
  • [2004-04-28 4:12]

Hi Brendan, I like very much the three stripes of colours of this shot and the pattern of the ground close up. Well done!

hello brendan! nice pic, my eye was caught by those crackles in the mud... this renders for sure a great view. my only concern is maybe the contrast that seems a bit excessive for my taste. did you push it? still is a good shot for me;-))

points later

Beautiful picture of a death place... The earth is dry, the tree too... but the colours are magnifique !
Congratulaitons !

Nice image Brendan. This is a place I have heard is suppose to be beautiful. The oldest desert in the world.
Nice image. The grain doesnt really bother me. Lovely composition.

  • Great 
  • manny Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2980 W: 89 N: 4012] (21348)
  • [2004-04-28 9:30]

This is a very good shot! Your choice of a vertical compo makes the tree stand with pride in its death. Nice, warm colors.

Excellent! Composition, texture, colors.. I like everything.

Wonderfull composition, Brendan.

I like the three horizontal layer colors and position of the old tree.

Well done

very nice shot Brendan, i like the position of the tree. an interesting ground texture leading the eye to the background tree, well done

Funny, I thought I'd commented on this already, I must have been out of points, and forgot to come back, nothing to add to the others, but very good PoV, and everything else.

  • Great 
  • tamoy Silver Star Critiquer [C: 28 W: 0 N: 8] (133)
  • [2005-10-29 14:59]

Looks like this place is devoid of lif e seeing the leafless tree and the cracked land surfaces - an impression that it had water that dried up - a war ning for unabashed use of earth resou rces. The layers of color and composition contributed to this excellent desert scene. Interesting!

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