Spitzkoppe Namibia – Photographing a personal favourite
During my trip in March 2018 along and through the highlights of Namibia, I visited Spitzkoppe, among others.
Spitzkoppe is a rock group of golden-yellow granite in Namibia. You can see it from afar when you drive on the road from Usakos to Swakopmund. German settlers gave it its name and it is also called the 'Matterhorn of Namibia'. The granite rock, with its height of 1728 meters, stands out impressively against the flat desert environment.
Around Spitzkoppe is a campsite with some basic facilities. The facilities are simple, toilets, showers and places to braai. There is a reception where you can discuss a camping spot and possibly book a tour with a local guide. The area is run by the local community and there is a small entrance fee to visit Spitzkoppe.
This desert mountain range is a popular spot for rock climbers and alpinists, routes vary in difficulty.
In this blog I will not discuss Spitzkoppe, but I will discuss the other striking mountain top: Pondok (grass hut) Mountain. This mountain is located next to Spitzkoppe and used to be a refuge for the bushman. A tether is attached to the east side to help visitors scramble up the mountainside to Bushmans Paradise, a natural amphitheatre. The first petroglyphs in Namibia were found here in the 20th century. Unfortunately, many of the Bushmen's petroglyphs dating back 2,000 to 4,000 years have been lost to vandalism. However, you will also find rock paintings in other places, such as Rhino Rock.
Equipment
My 3 week trip was planned to coincide with the end of the rainy season. Beautiful green parts in the landscapes and a chance of clouds and therefore structure in the skies. For me personally, a landscape image is only really complete when there is an epic cloudy sky above it.
When circumstances come together, as a photographer you also want to get the most out of these unique situations. My equipment this trip was therefore largely focused on landscape photography.
My scenery set this trip:
- The Pentax 645Z medium format camera with 50 megapixel sensor
- The Pentax 645 DA 28-45mm (about 22 ~36mm on full frame)
- The Sirui R-4213X, lightweight carbon tripod with excellent features
- The Sirui 100mm filter kit (review here)
Preparation
When I arrive at a location, I always scan the surroundings first. In this case, I was looking for a suitable base to get started at night with the starry sky and the small rock arch that is present on the campsite. Fortunately, there was still a spot available to set up camp, an advantage of traveling in the low season!
Once the camp is set up, it's time for a walk through and over the rocks that surround Spitzkoppe. How is the viewing angle, do I see a nice composition in the sensor size of the Pentax 645Z (a 3:4 format), can I safely climb up and down the rocks with my equipment, etc, etc
During my reconnaissance tour around our camp site, I quickly saw that with the wide-angle lens you can quickly get unwanted objects in your image; other cars, the toilet blocks and the access road required a sophisticated point of view for almost all landscape images I wanted to make.
This short investment in a 15 to 20 minute reconnaissance round would pay off later in the evening when the skies began to close spectacularly. At the hour “U” I knew exactly which camera and lens combination I could use for the most natural possible reproduction.
The magic of Spitzkoppe
While enjoying a gin and tonic we sat waiting for the sunset. The low-lying sun creates a beautiful shadow effect in your landscape and enhances your depth and contrast. Of course you also lose the hard sides of the light and the colors become warmer.
This evening, however, something magical happened in Spitzkoppe; a lovely rain cloud drifted into the area from the east, while the setting sun lit up the granite rocks from the west! It's up to me to capture that spectacle 🙂
In the granite rock above our camp I had seen a lovely line in the rock that I could use to guide the viewer's eye into the frame. By lowering the tripod, the Land Rover with its white roof just fell away behind the rock and the road that runs through the landscape was no longer visible. The polarization filter saturated the colors more, partly by filtering out the reflections of the sunlight on the granite.
To emphasize the threatening sky, I chose the Sirui 3-stop hard gradient filter.
When in the middle of my session the structure of the clouds also matched the lines and shapes of Pondok Mountain, my topper was finished…
For posting this image on the internet I have omitted 96.6% from the image. The resolution of this image only really comes into its own with a large print. Do you have a wall where this image would hang perfectly? Please contact me about the possibilities.|
Mike Muizebelt: hello@mikemuizebelt.nl / phone: 06-43094804
