Quiver Tree Forest, a photo from Northern Cape, West

Photographer's Note

Moving back inland today, this is one of several shots I took of the strangely beautiful Quiver trees which grow in abundance in this location.
The Quiver Tree Forest is the most southerly concentration of Quiver trees (Aloe Dichotoma) in South Africa and the largest aloe forest in the world.
This aloe tree forest was a gathering place of Khoisan (Bushman) hunters who would journey here in days long gone to source holders for their arrows. The hollowed out branches of the tree made excellent quivers to hold their poisoned hunting arrows.
These trees, which have distinctive smooth branches and scale-like bark, grow up to 400 years old and produce vivid yellow flowers in May, June and July, as they have been doing for many thousands of years.

This photograph is copyright of Rosemary Walden - © Rosemary Walden 2012. 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

jhm, Suppiluliuma, Suppiluliuma, snunney, mmohan, Royaldevon, mkamionka, papagolf21, delpeoples, timecapturer, gervaso, mayjayne, ciakgiak, marabu61, siolaw, bayno, COSTANTINO has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jhm (122444) 2012-10-17 4:49

Hello Rosemary,

Thank you very much for your interesting notes about the poisoned hunting arrows.
Exactly a desolate hill with these specially trees.
Sharpness and clarity make this image wonderful.
Depth an perspective are excellent present.
Excellent composition, lovely presentation.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice day,
John.

Sergiom (39223) 2012-10-17 5:02

Bonjour Rosemary

J'aime bien le point de vue et l'utilisation des branches à l'avant plan comme cadre supérieur. Elles semblent pointer vers les autres arbres à l'horizon et offrent une belle perspective. Le ciel très bleu est magique.

Amicalement

Serge

Suppiluliuma (3843) 2012-10-17 5:07

Dear Rosemary,

Again a striking "parliament blue" gives the sky the prolific color of your shots.

The quiver trees are very interesting. They should look even more so if there were some bushmen around. When did they stop coming to the area?

The use of a small aperture allows us to see both the close and distant branches, yet IMHO it seems as if the trees in the minimized jpeg version don't give too much detail.

TFS.

Erdem

snunney (67334) 2012-10-17 5:30

Hello Rosemary,
A well composed shot featuring these rather unusual trees, whose spindly branches sit well against the saturated blue sky. The image is pleasantly lit and benefits from excellent colour contrasts. Very interesting note.

mmohan (738) 2012-10-17 5:51

Hello Rosemary,
Interesting composition, and you have some excellent light showing off the branches to great effect.
Kind regards,
Manoj

jjcordier (62328) 2012-10-17 7:58

Rosemary
Ces "arbres" sont très photogéniques et t'ont permis de réaliser une nouvelle très bonne photo, lumineuse et colorée à souhait.
Amicalement
JJ

carlo62 (12582) 2012-10-17 12:35

Ciao Rosemary
una foresta molto particolare, molto diversa dalle nostre, la foto ritrae molto bene questo paesaggio ed è ben composta, mi piace il ramo in alto a sinistra e lo splendido cielo che contrasta con gli altri colori.
Saluti
Carlo

Royaldevon (17791) 2012-10-17 13:11

Hello Rosemary,

Such interesting notes.
I learn much about the African continenet from you.

It is lovely to see you making the shot your very own style, with the spiky leaves making a strong f/g statement as they buffer between light and shadow. They create a sort of introductory wave to the rest of the scene. I have never seen nor heard of these trees before so I thank you for this sharp photograph which extends my knowledge.

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

ACL1978 (5775) 2012-10-17 14:41

First the bright field of seaside flowers, now these, which feel a world away... I envy you for living so close to all of this. I've never been to any part of Africa, and I am itching to mark something there off the list (and the TE map!).

The capture here is a good one with nice perspective and strong light. I like the branch hanging over the top left, placing the viewer into the frame.

Andrew

mkamionka (24529) 2012-10-18 0:26

Hi Rosemary,
I have seen these trees in Botanical garden and want to go there to see them in their natural environment since I saw them. Beautiful composition with the silhouette of the branch making a nice foreground and framing from above, covering as well the uniformly blue sky. Extraordinary landscape. Excellent presentation,
M

papagolf21 (76561) 2012-10-18 2:27

Bonjour, chère Rosemary,
Dépaysement total à travers cette très belle composition.
Ces arbres étonnants ne nous veulent pas que du bien !
La beauté d'ensemble est remarquable.
Amitiés.
Philippe

thebest (3370) 2012-10-18 2:47

Hello Rosemary,

A very clever image I love this POV the clarity & colours of this landscape image are really beautiful to the eye & the darkness of the quiver tree in the foreground really gives your photo the WOW factor... love it.

Kind regards,
Dawn.

delpeoples (44904) 2012-10-18 3:13

Hello dear Rosemary

What a fascinating place with an equally fascinating history. It's so unique and so wildly beautiful. The trees, thanks to your good low POV, seem to be leaning even more so than they naturally would. The colours are lovely and vivid and I like the textures alot. beautiful shot, nice work.

Hugs
Lisa

dkmurphys (36801) 2012-10-18 3:30

HI Rosemary,
Lovely angle to show us this amazing hill of trees. Great artistic catch, well done!

Daniel

timecapturer (30324) 2012-10-18 5:56

Hi Rosemary
I love these trees, just wish they grew in the UK. The shapes and textures are so wonderful and they make such superb subjects. Your composition here is perfect at making them look so alien yet beautiful. Exquisite imagery!

Warm wishes - Brian.

gervaso (8043) 2012-10-18 6:27

Hello, Rosemary!

Beautiful landscape with these trees, captured with an interesting perspective and excellent light and colors! Wonderful composition! Very good job!

mayjayne (2792) 2012-10-18 6:59

Dear Rosemary,

Your presentation of these quiver trees is interesting with the additional branches placed at the left hand corner - very well executed !

TFS,
May

ciakgiak (30329) 2012-10-18 13:08

Hello Rosemary,
What an impressive image! I like a lot how you composed the scene, the effect of the wide angle, the light and the colors. This landscape is fabulous!
Congratulations and TFS
Kind regards
Giorgio

jemaflor (68913) 2012-10-19 2:40

Hi Rosemary,
Well presented with an interesting angle, well to see trees and also a detail with this close up in the corner, light is lovely with a perfect bg with blue sky.

marabu61 (3914) 2012-10-19 15:19

Hello Rosemary
A very strong composition with a perfect low POV and superb framing by including the branch in the upper left corner, it really holds the picture together. Those colors are amazing, especially the blue.
Thank you for you interesting note also, again I learnt something.
have a good weekend
Daniel

emka (58140) 2012-10-19 23:47

Hi,
I saw some quiver trees and I like thed them verz much but here the concentratio n of them is so impressive. Wo nderful presentation and again fantastic blue skz.

WArm regrads

MAlgo

siolaw (37568) 2012-10-20 2:20

Hi Rosemary
Those trees look very special and quite resilient.
I like how you included some branches on the top left corner, it adds visual impact and graphics of the star shaped leaves (looking a bit like aloe vera and apparently in the same botanical family!
Greetings
Laurent

yquem46 (32263) 2012-10-22 2:28

Hello Rosemary
Nice shot of these famous and so special trees
I like a lot the way you framed the image with including some branches when placing yourself below it
An excellent POV
Of course nice saturated colors and contrast
have a nice day, cheers
Patrick

bayno (16195) 2012-10-28 23:18

Ciao Rosemary,
beautiful composition, the branches in the shade at the top right are a treat, wonderful colors and light, the landscape is surreal, always excellent quality...and a incredible sky, very very nice...
have a lovely week...
Valter

COSTANTINO (42746) 2012-11-07 22:13

Hello
artistic shot taken in a special way
it looks like a scenery from a movie
film,sharpness and clarity make
this shot unique,your notes are
very useful
thanks for sharing
regards
Costantino