Orange River, a photo from Northern Cape, West

Photographer's Note

Not so named for its colour here, the Orange is South Africa's longest river and forms the border with Namibia in the background. The Vaal and the Harts Rivers, tributaries of the Orange River, eroded some unidentified kimberlite intrusions and carried diamonds from them to the Orange River. Alluvial diamond deposits are worked along their courses.

The Orange River carried the diamonds further to its estuary on the Atlantic coast where diamonds are recovered from the beaches and from the sea bottom. Some of the diamonds were transported northward by the Benguela ocean current to where they were washed up on the beaches of the southern Namib desert in Namibia and blown into the dunes by the prevailing sea wind.

krzychu30, jhm, SnapRJW, geoant68, worldcitizen, josepmarin, danos has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

serp2000 (29188) 2011-03-16 23:20

Hi, Neels,
I remember this name from the school books. Good presentation of the South Africa nature. Outstanding colours and perfect composition. TFS!
Regards,
Serghei

krzychu30 (8873) 2011-03-17 2:56

Hello Neels,
beautiful landscape and nice presentation of South African nature.Good framing and superb,well-saturated colors.Thank you for sharing.
My Best Regards
Krzysztof

jhm (122444) 2011-03-17 5:48

Hello Neels,

South Africa is a extraordinarily nice country, a lot places are lovely for photographers.
This is truly a wonderful image with attractive colors.
Excellent sharpness and clarity.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

SnapRJW (18722) 2011-03-17 10:27

Hi Neels - Typical colours of the Orange River area; it's been full to bursting recently and the vinyards on the Namibian side were all flooded. Your note about the diamonds is interesting, my husband worked in "sea diamonds" for several years.
As to the shot, I think perhaps that a little less bush in the foreground would improve the composition, I might try cropping just below the gravel area which runs parallel to the river on the RHS. See what you think. have a good evening Rosemary

Ricx (13435) 2011-03-17 12:33

Good to see the Orange river Neels- well captured with good dark tones and sharpness.. Its a place I have only driven past briefly with all its grapes and fruit. all the best Rich

batalay (32860) 2011-03-17 13:32

Hello Neels,

An excellent note informs this photo. Congratulations on your 50th post.

There is no plumb line, no horizon showing the sea, but I wonder if this photo needs to be rotated counterclockwise a few degrees? In any event, it is a first class TE package.

Warm regards,

Bulent

dta (51418) 2011-03-17 13:52

Hello Neels ,
A splendid view of this superb wild landscape . Like the contrasted colors . As Bulent , I think that it would be better if you've corrected the feeling of tilt : when we take pictures of lakes , or river like this one , it is good to get the opposite shore staight horizontal , like an horizon line . I make a WS .
Regards

[workshop] [compare] +

geoant68 (3450) 2011-03-18 10:12

Hi Neels,
strange the name of the river as crosses the borders of two nations and is the longest river of South Africa.The greenery on the foreground make the scene more interesting.

Peter

janusz2054 (306) 2011-03-23 11:43

Hello Neels,
Very nice landscape view. The POV, as the colours, is good and has a good depth.
Good work.
Best regards
Janusz

Giorgio (11263) 2011-03-24 7:36

- Nice landscape Neels in verdant but wild ambience, beautiful hills around, very good PoV, well done!
Greetings.
giorgio

jemaflor (68913) 2011-03-24 10:40

Hi Neels,
Very beautiful landscape, well framed with the fg and interesting depth with water and mountains, nice light management.

josepmarin (55027) 2011-05-16 5:41

Hi Neels,
the wild beauty of the landscape that surrounds this river is very well caught in your composition, by means of an effective framing and a good structure of the elements.
The quality of the light and of the colors, as well as the great sharpness, offer us a very attractive image to look at.
It is a good work.
Friendly regards,
Josep

danos (73974) 2011-08-02 2:42

Hello Neels,
nice the view of the Orange river,what a strange name! I'm impressed as you say in your note that the river transports diamonds on the Atlantic coast.The light and the colour management are good.

Regards,Danos