Taking photos of Namibias sand dunes

Some of the most famous landscapes of Namibia are in Sossusvlei which is in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The highest orange and red sand dunes that constantly change shape and colour with the wind, weather and sun. The height of the sand dunes isn’t appreciated until you walk right up to them. They are absolutely huge!

There are many sand dunes, but Dune 45 (45kms from the Sesrium entrance gate) has been set aside for visitors to explore, so you often see a trail of tourists climbing it and multiple 4x4 vehicles at the bottom.

I spent 2 sunrises and 2 sunsets at Sossusvlei and Deadvlei. Whilst it is a popular tourist attraction most tourists walk to a section, look at it, take a photo and head back to their vehicle (or climb dune 45). Landscape photography is all about the light, so being there at the best time of day to get the best light is crucial for photographers. The park is closed between sunset and sunrise, so if you are staying at a lodge outside the gate or camping, you’ll need to wait for someone to come and open the gate at sunrise.

For photography It is great to take photos away from Dune 45 as you want clear lines and the natural beauty of the dunes rather than lots of footsteps in your photos.

Most of the time I have two cameras on me. One Canon 5D with a 24-70mm and one Canon 5D with a 100-400mm. I absolutely love the 100-400 for landscape photography!

When you travel you can be so focused on looking at something in particular you can miss what is happening around you. From being a wedding photographer I have to constantly know what is happening all around me. It helps in moments like this when we had gone to photograph the dunes at sunrise but the magic was happening if you looked in a different direction. Make sure you take the time to look away from your camera and take in everything that is happening around you -then reconsider what you want to capture!

Our first night we stayed at Sossusvlei Dune Lodge which is within the gates of the park. It is beautiful accomodation but because we were out so late and got up before the sun we didn’t get to spend much time there…but it was perfect and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way! Although I do remember having three cups of tea before going to bed while I was downloading all my photos! I attempted to take a quick photo of my room with the stars above, but I’d left my tripod in the vehicle so I was quite limited with the angle I had to take it as I had to balance it on myself and the decked walkway!