SANDY, WINDY, DUSTY, BUMPY, HOT & COLD

 

Yip it is the desert; windy, sandy, sometimes dusty, bumpy roads and it gets hot through lunchtime and the afternoon but generally cools down to pleasant temperatures at night in summer and in winter it gets cold. So you need to be prepared to clean and dust off your gear regularly, so bring wet wipes, blower brushes and brushes so you don't scratch filters or lenses with any micro-granules of sand - aka dust.

 

I generally don't travel with multiple bodies so I have to change lenses, sometimes with dust and wind swirling around, not ideal but keep lens caps on both ends and body caps if you do have spare bodies.

 

CAMERA BACKPACK FOR walking (Essential)

 

Part of landscape photography is about shifting from one place to another, to create your composition and fill up that frame, but in Namibia, you need to be able to walk with your gear, sometimes far.

 

• At Sossusvlei, the walk from the 4x4 parking to Deadvlei is about 800 metres (1/2 mile) on soft sand, so it requires a bit of effort, and then within Deadvlei itself, you need to cover some ground although it is solid underfoot.

• If you do want to take a longer walk/hike up to the top of one of the dunes (Big Daddy, Dune 45, Big Mommy) that can also create some good opportunities.

• At Sandwich harbour, we explore this area from sea level and also from behind the dunes, you need to be able to walk up a dune or two to get the elevated points for the best views, how many and how far is up to you.

• At Spitzkoppe we also walk up and down and around the rock formations, not very far but it may be easier to have your gear in a backpack while walking up and down.

 

So you need a bag to carry your gear - for protection from the elements or if you do take a tumble, and for any additional lenses, batteries, memory cards and cleaning gear.

 

Tripod

 

In my mind, this is essential for creative landscape photography and for late afternoon and early morning light, and shooting star trails etc - I also use a shift lens for panoramic images which requires two frames stitched together.

 

LENSES

 

Naturally, you will use wide angle lenses and medium telephoto lenses but I also enjoy using longer lenses for landscapes. On my recent trip I used 24mm, 50mm and 80 - 400mm lenses. Although I had my 500mm lens for Etosha I never ended up using it, that may be just due to what and how we see what we did.

 

FILTER (ND400?)

 

When shooting near the coast and if you want to create blurred, dreamy seascapes in daylight hours - an effect I quite enjoy - you need a Neutral Density filter to allow slow shutter speeds - like the shipwreck photographed below.

 

CHARGING BATTERIEs

 

Charging batteries in Namibia (and specifically on my September trip) we have a few options; while in camp, from a solar-powered battery supply in camp, also we stay in a few lodges on the way that are on mainline supply and lastly there is an inverter in the vehicle - so there shouldn't be any problem charging laptops, cameras and other equipment.