Namibia photo workshop

Namibia Photography Tour, 7 – 17 March 2018

Namibia is a massive, desolate landscape and boasts the title of the 4th least populated country in the world. With an average distance between towns of 200km, its endless vistas will be permanently etched into your soul. Namibia’s desert winds have sculpted the world’s highest dunes out of red sand and it is these dunes that make the Namibian landscape like no other on earth. In some places the dunes rise out of endless fields of grass and in others the dunes are as high as mountains. In a special place the sand cut off the water supply to a seasonal wetland and today the result is the petrified trees of Deadvlei. In the far South, fine silica sands are now reclaiming what was once the site of a great diamond rush – the ghost town of Kolmanskop. To the West, a special combination of rocky ground and hot, arid conditions have created one of the most alien plants on earth; the Quiver Tree. Where the Fish River flows over an ancient plateau, it has cut the 2nd largest canyon on earth into the rock. Join us for an opportunity to experience and photograph these one of a kind landscapes under top professional guidance, from the ground, road and air.

Nowhere is the change that water brings more apparent than where it is needed the most and we’ll be visiting in the rainy season, hoping to witness a few thunderstorms sweeping their dark curtains of rain across the landscape.

MAIN FEATURES

•Ultimate convenience – All you have to do is pack your bags and book your plane tickets.

•Ten days of photography in some of the world’s most unique landscapes.

•Tutoring by three highly experienced guides.

•Visiting in late summer – Good chance of thunderstorms, green grass and rainbows, without the extreme temperatures of high summer.

Day 1

Upon arrival on the 7th of March, you will be collected from Hosea Kutako airport by a private driver and taken to our hotel. Once the whole group has checked in, we’ll go for dinner at one of Windhoek’s restaurants. Everyone will have a chance to tell their photographic story and the guides will give a breakdown of the days to come and what to expect.

Days 2 and 3

After breakfast overlooking the hills of Windhoek, we’ll hit the road south to Quiver Tree Forest. This will be the furthest drive on the trip, totalling just over 500km, which should take about 5 hours to cover. Found only in Southwestern Africa, Quiver “Trees” are actually very large succulent plants. With their cracked golden-white bark and remarkable shape, they make great photographic subjects. We’ll arrive at our destination early afternoon, leaving plenty of time for everyone to familiarize themselves with the trees. After sunset we’ll have dinner at the lodge and get to bed early. The next morning, we’ll get up around 4am to capture Quiver Trees with the starry Namibian skies above. As darkness fades to twilight we can capture the red pre- dawn glow on the trees and prepare to capture the colors of sunrise.

Days 4 – 6

Day 4 we’ll head further West to the coastal town of Luderitz. We’ll spend a long afternoon familiarizing ourselves with the many colorful, sand filled rooms of Kolmanskop. Situated just 5 minutes inland from Luderitz, Kolmanskop is the long forgotten site of one of the greatest diamond rushes in human history. Just after the turn of the 19th century, German mining companies invested a fortune to build an entire town in the middle of nowhere. Everything from the doorframes to the paint was imported from Germany and today the desert is reclaiming this once-glorious town. Despite being flooded with sand, the dry climate has done an amazing job of preserving the colorful rooms. There are well over 25 rooms worth photographing, so everyone can do their own thing. The guides will assist everyone to identify a room with an east-facing window for the next morning.

On days 5 + 6 we’ll get up for an early coffee and depart for the Ghost town in darkness. Guides will make sure that everyone is in place for a beam of orange sunrise light as the sun crests the horizon in the East. After a quick morning shoot we’ll head back to the hotel for breakfast. We’ll return to Kolmanskop just before noon to make sure we capture the shadows of open roof slats under a 1 o’ clock sun, and then have another relaxed afternoon exploring the Ghost town.

Days 7-10

Day seven will begin with a sunrise shoot at Kolmanskop, before we head on a long drive through some of Namibia’s remote landscapes to Sesriem, the town that will be our base for a trip to Sossusvlei in the Namib-Naukluft National Park.

Sossusvlei is a one of a kind landscape created by an ancient river flowing into the desert. Like several other rivers in Namibia, the Tsauchab River used to flow from the mountains, through the desert, all the way to the coast. Thousands of years ago it was cut off from the ocean by the expanding desert and this created a seasonal wetland among the dunes. Over the millennia, this wetland has retreated inland as the Namib Desert slowly reclaims the valley that the river cut through the dunes.

As it stands today, Sossusvlei is about 60 kilometers from the coast, but still 40 kilometers into the towering red dunes of the Namib Desert. Although the river only flows all the way to Sossus a few times every decade, the valley still sustains a large population of wildlife among the dunes.

Deadvlei

At the end of the Tsauchab Dune Valley is the famous deadvlei, which was cut off from Sossusvlei by a low dune an estimated 700-800 years ago. The lack of water, arid climate and hard wood of the Namibian Camel Thorn tree has kept the trees of Deadvlei from decomposing. The result is a collection ghostly trees rising from a cracked white clay surface. The pan is deceptively large and offers about 50 of the oddly shaped trees to photograph. The location can be overwhelming at first, but Hougaard knows the location well and will assist everyone to find the best trees and photograph them adequately.

Aerial Photography

We have an option for doors-off helicopter flight over the Sossusvlei park (not included, optional). Flying over this landscape and capturing it from above is a once in a lifetime experience and it offers amazing photographic opportunities. The helicopter operator has two Robinson Raven II R44’s, which can take 3 passengers at a time.

Night Photography

We have a very special permit to photograph Deadvlei in the night on 15 March!

Day 11

On day eleven we’ll head back to Windhoek for the end of the tour. Your flight home should be booked for the following day.

Price: 6900 USD

Included in the price:

All Accommodation
All Meals starting with dinner on the 7th of March and ending with breakfast on the 18th
All beverages, except for premium/imported liquor and wine
All permits, park and entry fees, including special access permit for Kolmanskop and one night time outing to Deadvlei
All Transport, fuel and drivers, including transfers to/from airport
Bottled water in cars
All expenses for all guides and drivers

Not included in the price:

Additional Activities like helicopter/balloon flights.
Items of a personal nature
non-meal time snacks and drinks
single room supplement (950 USD)

What to bring

Gear:
– DSLR camera with tripod and remote shutter release
– A wide angle lens. For example, Nikkor 14-24 or Canon 17-40. Best lens for use in wide-angle scenes or architecture photography
– A middle-zoom lens such as a 24-70 mm
– A telephoto zoom lens, such as a 70-200 mm. 300 mm with 1.5 TC or 500 mm, 600 mm are recommended for wildlife and bird photography. Be sure to have additional tripod mount to this lens.

Wear:
– Waterproof and windproof jacket (consider the average temperature 5 – +10 C at nights and +10 – +20 C during the daytime)
– Waterproof pants
– Warm jacket and thermal pants
– Wellingtons or fishing boots

The full list will be sent by mail to participants.

Tour leaders

Daniel Kordan

Daniel was born in Moscow area. In his childhood he graduated the art school. After that, he is studied in Moscow institute of Physics and Technology and became an optics physicist. During the study he gain experience not only in physics, but also in mountain climbing and hiking, guiding tourist groups in winter and in summer in Russian mountains. Right after graduation he became a guide of photo-workshops and chief editor of “Continent expedition” magazine. This magazine is about travel and adventures all over the world. He has got several awards in photography: Golden Turtle’ 13 Nature nomination winner, National Geographic Russia contest 2013 and 2014 finalist, Best of Russia’13 and ’14 winner, best photographer’13 finalist and others. He is spending most of his time in Norway, Lofoten islands and in Tuscany at villa Gaia, guiding groups of photographers.

Iurie Belegurschi

Iurie Belegurschi is a landscape photographer based in Iceland, where he runs photo tours and workshops. He was born in Moldova and has been living in Iceland since 2006. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality. His photos have been published worldwide in books, calendars, greeting cards, magazines and some of the most popular newspapers like The Daily Mail, The Independent, The Sun, The Huffington Post, and The Telegraph

Hougaard Malan

Hougaard has spent more than 200 days capturing Namibia’s photographic hotspots and knows the locations like his backyard. He speaks Afrikaans, which is the predominant language in the South of Namibia. Over the years he has learnt exactly which lodges have the best access to the locations, when is the best time to shoot each place and what permits are required. All these factors make him the ideal local guide for a photographic tour in Namibia.