!Nara, a photo from Hardap, South

Photographer's Note

The !nara is an amazing plant native to the dunes that parallel the watercourses in what is one of the world’s oldest deserts. The tap-root of the !nara can bore up to 40 meters down to find moisture, and once rooted its tangled branches form a thick crown that stabilizes the shifting sands around it. Plants augment ground moisture with condensation from the coastal fogs that blanket the areas in which they are found. The unique adaptations of the !nara allow individual plants to live for over 100 years in this harsh environment.

Every part of the !nara’s melon-like fruit can be used in some fashion. Outside protected areas, the Topnaar people traditionally use the husks for livestock feed; the nuts form a protein-rich staple of the Topnaar diet. The fruity flesh of the melon can be dried and stored for several years. The !nara is also thought to have medicinal properties for everything from stomach ailments to sunburn protection. In recent years the melon has become an important export to neighbouring countries.

Fossil evidence indicates that the !nara existed some 40 million years ago. The !nara was probably utilized in the stone-age, and it is likely that the plant is the sole reason why the desert tribes survived in their habitat to modern day
This photograph is copyright of Rosemary Walden - © Rosemary Walden 2013. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of the image in any form is prohibited. You may not, except with my express written permission, copy, reproduce, download, distribute or exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system

maria-v1981, timecapturer, Romano46, Royaldevon, kabel, Gigidusud, jjcordier, CLODO, adramad, abmdsudi, papagolf21, Eric_vd, williewhistler, krzychu30, Cricri, delpeoples, josepmarin, Angshu has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

maria-v1981 (10403) 2013-02-19 2:53

Hello Rosemary,
Outstanding composition. I like the red color you have here which contrast with the blue sky. The texture of sand and the plant nara completes the perfect scenery.
Have a nice day,
Regards,
Maria

barni (15745) 2013-02-19 4:26

Hello Rosemary
Great color !
It's a very nice landscape.
Regards
Christophe

timecapturer (30190) 2013-02-19 4:40

Hi Rosemary
one of those places on the planet where the earth and sky just seem made for each other. Glorious mix of orangey shades and textures that just look so stunning beneath a blue sky. A stunning place and captured so perfectly.

Regards - Brian.

Romano46 (4714) 2013-02-19 4:47

Ciao Rosemary
complimenti per questa splendida fotografia nella quale l'asprezza della natura della Namibia viene esaltata al massimo grazie anche la tua ripresa impeccabile nella quale il colore è il vero protagonista sia in cielo che in terra.
Ottima la nitidezza e la luminosità
Ciao e buona giornata
Romano

Sergiom (39078) 2013-02-19 5:10

Bonjour Rosemary

Les couleurs de cette photo ressortent dans la galerie. On dirait bien que des arbres meurent et que d'autre prennent leur place dans un défi constant pour la survie.

Amicalement

Serge

mesutilgim (67856) 2013-02-19 5:14

Hello Rosemary,
From Cppadoce back to Namibia again !
Another nice capture from Sossusvilei with amazing colors and perfect layout.
Many interesting notes enriches your entry.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

SNOOP_Chan (3464) 2013-02-19 5:53

Hello Rosemary, amazing image here. I like the sand patterns, it looks really old indeed. Good contrast with the blue sky. Well done.
Regards!

rogerl (726) 2013-02-19 5:59

Lovely composition with equal parts earth and sky. Unbelievable colors throughout; the desert is much more brown than I would have expected. Great sharpness and detail. What a beautiful place! Thanks.

Royaldevon (17713) 2013-02-19 6:05

Hello Rosemary,

Your notes are incredibly interesting and highlight the importance of adaptation and ecological balance.

Your photograph clearly illustrates the arid nature of the region, the sand ripples providing a lovely textured surface, guiding deeper into the shot, where the greenery creates relief.

This is so very very different from England!

Have a lovely day,
Bev :-)

dekanski (487) 2013-02-19 6:15 [Comment]

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JFS (32027) 2013-02-19 8:22

Fascinating scenery so well captured! So sharp...the colors are incredible too...Did you use Sony? A marvel Rosemary! Thanks a lot!

Kamilutka (3207) 2013-02-19 8:24

Rosemary,
by all means this is very high quality photo and very eye catching. I like the contrast between bright blue sky and orangy earth as well as the small details of composition which make it so great. Amazing sharpness!
Thanks for sharing
Kamila

Nicou (97509) 2013-02-19 8:37

Hello

quelle trace sur les sable superbe image quelle couleur et vue désertique fantastique avec la végétation sèche et vert super.
Bravo et amitié
Nicou

kabel (991) 2013-02-19 9:06

Hello, excellent color and sharpness with your chosen exposure. What captures my attention the most is the strong shadows from the clouds on that upper left corner of the dunes. The lines and ripples in the dunes give alot of detail but then I like geometry alot.
TFS,
Karen

amaryllis (30149) 2013-02-19 9:29

Bonjour
une superbe composition de ce désert particulier, des arbres par ci par là, de la verdure, de la terre rouge, de belles couleurs.
Le bleu du cielest splendide et la lumière est excellente
Amicalement
Juliette

cornejo (17972) 2013-02-19 10:21

Hello Rosemary, excellent photo of this wonderful view of the beautiful and interesting desert dunes with beautiful red and small green plants. Beautiful picture nicely composed and framed, with good sharpness, depth, light and beautiful color. Very good, interesting and beautiful work well done, congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing this excellent work.

Good night and happy week.
Greetings from southern Spain.
Angel.

yquem46 (32227) 2013-02-19 11:25

hello Rosemary
Splendid colors well saturated and blending well together
Beautiful
A landscape that I'll not see this year !
Have a nice evening, best regards
patrick

cargus (6434) 2013-02-19 11:32

Colour, light and contrast excellent, good together in a successful picture.
Regards
Adrian

ktanska (21495) 2013-02-19 11:54

Hi Rosemary,
Again a superb note describing plant of desert. Arid scene shows many different elements when looking closer.
Dry branches, green bushes, shifting sand and more solid ground. And all well composed from foreground to back.
Kari

Gigidusud (7944) 2013-02-19 13:41

Hello Rosemary,
Fantastic landscape with splendid contrasts of colors.Interesting note too!I like a lot!
Best regards,
Gigi.

jjcordier (62280) 2013-02-19 22:16

Rosemary
Très beau paysage au couleurs saturées juste comme il faut. Belle composition exploitant bien ces rares végétaux accrochés au sable rouge de la dune qui contraste superbement avec les couleurs du ciel.
Amicalement
JJ

CLODO (24672) 2013-02-20 2:26

Hi Rosemary

How can we resist in front of such a landscape? i like the ripple marks on the sand which color contrasts with the blue dotted sky. Did you use a filter to have the blue deeper at the top?
Cheers
CLODO

dkmurphys (36709) 2013-02-20 7:20

Hi Rosemary,
Again a splendid capture in lovely natural colors. I like the image a lot!

Daniel

adramad (27544) 2013-02-20 11:40

Hello Rosemary.
Superb beauty of this rugged landscape, the wonderful colors of these dunes and ideal the graphics of the grooves in them, these dry bushes in the foreground are an ideal, also wonderful that heaven is a great bonus to the composition.
Very good sharpness and brightness.
Well done. I love it.
Enjoy a good day.
Best wishes.
Luis.

abmdsudi (26199) 2013-02-20 20:32

Hi Rosemary
I can smell that this is yours by looking at the thumbnail, the famous dunes desert's red colour is almost synonymous, a trademark of Nambia. You're certainly getting huge detail & light out of the sands which shows off those great textures and stand out very well against vast last scape. Tonally excellent and super contrasty well saturated colors and yet looks very natural. This is exquisite that sums up the impact achieved leaving so much to admire. Remarkable, Very well done shot TFS.
Kind regards

jemaflor (68781) 2013-02-21 4:03

Hi Rosemary,
Always a pleasure to see this great landscape, very beautiful colors and light on your shot, tfs.

Noel_Byrne (7209) 2013-02-21 9:59

Hi Rosemary,

I know I am like a broken record when i say this, but the colour and contrast in these images never fails to amaze me. Orange sand on blue sky looks amazing, and I love the soft ripples in the sand, as well as the dead trees poking through. The little clouds breaking up the expanse of blue are perfect!
All the best
Noel

HimalAnda (5610) 2013-02-21 11:42

Hello Rosemary,

The colors are so beautiful! They make a very nice contrast: the red sand and the deep blue sky.
I like it a lot!

Stéphane

papagolf21 (76453) 2013-02-21 23:48

Bonjour, chère Rosemary,
Paysage grandiose, étonnant, sauvage et désertique.
Un vrai régal pour les yeux.
Image fort bien composée.
Très bonne journée.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Eric_vd (283) 2013-02-22 3:31

Just another then Europe, looking sooo huge, the colors of the sand in perfect contrast with the plants.

Wll done!!

williewhistler (7229) 2013-02-22 6:51

Hello Rosemary,
the sheer vibrancy of the photograph gives the game away,this is another of your masterpieces from Namibia,gorgeous colours and superb composition,oh how I like those patterns in the sand...
Beautiful,
Best Regards Les.

mkamionka (24455) 2013-02-22 7:22

Hi Rosemary,
beautiful landscape. I like so much the texture of the sand with the subtle regular patterns, it loos so pretty and unspoiled by human presence. The plants add a nice decoration here especially the green omnes which also inroduce some colors. Wonderful clouds as well to enhance the composition,
Excellent work,
M

krzychu30 (8775) 2013-02-23 0:58

Hello Rosemary,
the landscape looks so beautiful,that almost unreal.Colors and the contrast between the blue sky and rust-coloured desert are marvelous.Even if it´s quite hostile place for human being it´s still undeniable beautiful.Excellently captured!

Have a nice weekend
Krzysztof

Cricri (86295) 2013-02-23 9:11

Hi Rosemary,
coup coeur pour ce paysage de votre pays,merveilleuse couleurs, les traces sur le sable, l'immensité du paysage avec les ondulations des dunes, incroyable végétation dans ce désert magnifique
Belle soirée
cricri

ACL1978 (5689) 2013-02-23 19:02

Hi Rosemary,

Just catching up after being away, and I came across this wonderful shot... Beautiful ripples in the sand give way to spots of beautiful green - this is a shot I knew was from you before even reading the name. A nice shot with an interesting and most informative note - especially interesting that this plant has played such a vital role in human survival in this harsh environment. Thanks!

Andrew

delpeoples (44888) 2013-02-28 21:25

Hello dear Rosemary

What an unusual name but what a beautiful scene and an informative note. I love the rick colours and the abundant textures. The sand is particularly attractive and the sparse tres really tell us how stark and harsh life must be out here. I like how you broke the rules here and composed the shot half-half rather than in thirds. The sky with those wonderful clouds deserve just as much attention as the spectacular earth. Nice work, thanks for sharing.

Have a beautiful day, I hope the weather is cooling down a little
Lisa

josepmarin (55007) 2013-03-06 5:17

Hello Rosemary,
the vivid colors of this capture are a really eye-catcher, and attracts our look strongly.
This landscape is amazing and has a special beauty, I love the wind lines on the reddish sand of the dunes, the green plants, and the impressive blue sky, and the great light as well.
A powerful composition.
Best regards,
Josep

Angshu (51174) 2013-03-11 21:41

Hello Rosemary!
I have fallen woefully behind due to my reduced activities (time issues) & have a lot of catch up to do!

This scene is quite amazing...for one you tell us through the note & the image, about the !nara plant (how is it pronounced? Why the exclamation mark in the beginning of the word?), something which is a new learning for me. Secondly I like the reddish colour of the sand with the ripples which contrasts well with the blue sky.

A beautiful landscape which you composed well. As I look at the picture, I liked the clouds cast lovely shadows over the dunes in the far BG. Fine work!

Best Regards
Angshu

agjika (3991) 2013-05-06 14:52

Hi Rosemary,

I really like this photo,it has such a great atmosphere. Beautiful colours eps the green, well caught ripples.

Regards

Aleks