Wrecked Resting Place

I am working on an e-Book about Namibia's Skeleton Coast with the title "Between Sand And Sea". The layout and image selection is done and I am 2/3 in writing it - so hopefully it will be finished soon.

Allow me to share a sneak preview.

The history of the Skeleton Coast is full of tales about trechereous waters and abandonded victims. Some of them true, some of them colorful sailor’s yarn.

There is unquestionable proof for past tragedies in form of pictoresque shipwrecks which have accumulated along the coast these last centuries. They stand in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape and lend an air of adventure and mystery to the area.

Nature has a way of reclaiming back what was stolen from her. These cape cormorants take advantage of the otherwise almost non-existing possibility to perge and nest up high along the coast.

The bright sunlight and fast shutter speed, to freeze the bird in midair, make this almost a black and white photograph. I was lucky as the scene combines essential elements within one image which make the Skeleton Coast so unique. 

Forest Ghost

Fall is upon us
dark silhouettes move silently
on a carpet of leaves
thru growing silence
in the forest.

Wild boar, Black Forest, Germany

Be Unique

Fighting For Light

Sometimes life is the struggle to find light - at the end or above.

The Little Things In Life

Some of my favorite images are the ones showing the little creatures - like these of Tenebrionid beetles from the Namib desert.

They have adapted in ingenious ways to the challenges of desert life. To drink they climb to the ridge of the highest dunes and stretch their little bodies into the misty morning air. Dew collects on their wings, equiped with hydrophilic bumps just for this purpose, and after some time and with the help of the wind minute drops of life giving water glide down into the mouth parts of the beetle.

It is an almost surealistic sight seeing these bright blue, white or black beetles race over dunes in the heat of the day despite harsh coastal winds and wirls of sand.

Courtship Race, blue tenebrionid beetle, Sossusvlei, Namibia

Against The Wind, blue tenebrionid beetle, Soussvlei, Namibia

Chased By The Shadow, blue tenebrionid beetle, Sossusvlei, Namibia

Adapting, white tenbrionid beetle, Skeleton Coast, Namibia

The Power Of Life

The struggle of a friends early born son for his survival these last weeks made me contemplate about the power of life. Some waste this energy thoughtlessly while others can use all the help they can get. I am humbled by life's force I had the fortune to experience on my travels and foremost now see in my children.

Levin, my friend's son, is now stable. I wish him all powers of life.

Tadpole surviving in a small puddle, Central Namib Desert, Namibia

How Close Is To Close

As a wildlife photographer you will always have to ask yourself how close should you get to an animal. Apart from the obvious dangers this could involve dependent on the species you may of course also disturb and distress. I admit that that there have been instances where I for the sake of getting a photograph got real  close. In those cases I tried to make my presence quick.

Damara tern, Skeleton Coast National Park