A blog by Mikael Stiller Photography

While travelling in Africa earlier this year I often found myself overwhelmed with scenes & moments so amazing and pure that it felt hard to describe them afterwards. This picture was taken during a roadtrip to Sossusvlei known and world famous for its pure and beautiful desert dunes.

Stepping out of the car instantly made me aware of the wind which was rather intense that evening. A rough 40 degrees celcius and the wind felt like a giant hair fan. I had just seen the most beautiful place on earth to live and of course it was a must to capture even though we (me & my girlfriend) were running late to the camp site in Solitaire where we had decided to stay that evening. Being late in Africa means you have to drive in the dark (A) and pitch the tent in the dark (B) and you don´t want that if you can try to avoid it. Back on the gravel road you see what you´re stepping on but the moment you leave the gravel road and start walking the grass you need to keep an extra eye to avoid stepping on anything that could take offense and try to defend itself. A few seconds later I found a perfect spot from where I had free view and took up my camera to take a look on what could be captured from this point. To my relief I looked OK and the mountain to the right which most people would think of as “the subject” felt like a good reference point and beauty there beside my little dream. The dream stands to the left on a smaller hill and I think somebody must be lucky about having a place like that, at least I would. Some like crowds and beaches full of people, I prefer remote and deserted places where my mind can find peace, refresh and heal. A place like this. To be honest I found a couple of places in Namibia where it felt like this.

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