Bowie's in spa-a-hace...
In light of the fact that this blog is clearly a massive extension of my ego, I thought I would take time out to highlight some of the photos that have been largely ignored on my various websites but just happen to be some of my favorites. My goal is to convince you- by the end of this blog- how stupid you are and how I know more about the subjectivity of art than you do. Ready? Let’s begin…
The above shot, called (cleverly) “Lunar”, was taken on the indescribably beautiful plain of the Salar de Uyuni on the Alto Plano of Bolivia which, as you can see, somewhat resembles the moon. This is, without question, my favorite travel spot on earth. It’s probably to do with the fact that it’s absolutely hellish getting there, no matter your route or means of transport, and, thus, never mobbed with travelers. I sat on a bus for 14 hours from La Paz and- this is absolutely not hyperbole- it was the coldest I’ve ever been in my life. I’m serious. I possibly incurred irreversible nerve damage. But it was worth it. You stay in the town of Uyuni and travel the 20 or so miles out to the salt flats during the day. The exposure here is particularly tricky as the salt is blinding. But (pause while I sniff derisively), I got it. By the way: it should be required that all people sit in a tightly packed ATV and cruise across these truly vast plains while listening to The Dead Texan‘s self-titled album and staring wistfully off into the distance at least once in their lives. I mean, talk about poignancy…
I'll never forget this. *wink*
When my tour group finally rolled into Etosha National Park in Namibia, I’d had just about enough of the ruminants. I was ready for some pachydermic action. Elephants are such fascinating animals and impressive to see up close. Now, it’s well known that I do not admire nature photography (close ups of animals = kind of boring)- it really does nothing for me. So it got me thinking, “How can I approach this differently and still get compelling pictures?” And so I decided to take some long exposures of the elephants grazing (the technique of which can be found here), having no idea what the final product would look like. To further complicate things, I had to wedge the camera against the seats and windows and hold them steady in a rocking vehicle. If you know anything about long exposures, you would know that attempting them without a tripod is something of a fool’s errand. And believe me, the roll was filled with unusable shots. But this one turned out well, I think. I especially like the vignetting that occurs with long day exposures. Nice job, me.
I think this picture is worth a thousand and ONE words.
Another incredibly beautiful spot, this is the surreal Spitzkoppe in Namibia. We got here about an hour before sunset, and the light was just perfect. I slept in the open plains that night, and I can only describe it as National Geographicesque. It was like stepping into one of those documentaries. And let me give myself a bit of a shout here- the exposure was fairly tough on this. So high five to me. Noticing a trend?
More to come tomorrow. It’s late. And I’m tired.
