Why Namibia Has Been My Dream Photography Destination for Years

Spitzkoppe Under the Milky Way - Photo Credit: Laura Oppelt

If you had asked me ten years ago which country I dreamed most about photographing, I probably would have answered Namibia. Back then, I was deeply immersed in astrophotography. I spent countless nights chasing clear skies, planning around moon phases and waiting for the Milky Way to rise above the landscape. Namibia represented

Night photography was my greatest passion

something almost mythical. With one of the lowest population densities in the world, incredibly dry air and exceptionally dark southern skies, it offered conditions that most astrophotographers can only dream about. Seeing the Milky Way stretch across the southern hemisphere sky above the desert was high on my photographic bucket list long before I had any realistic expectation of travelling there.

Interestingly, that's no longer the main reason I want to go.

Over the last decade my photography has changed considerably. I still love photographing the night sky and I have no doubt that standing beneath the Milky Way in Namibia will be one of the highlights of the journey. Photographing Spitzkoppe at night will be a dream come true, much like the Milky way panorama I managed to shoot in Masaai Mara.

A dream come true. Photographing the Milky way on the African savanna in 2023

But somewhere along the way I became increasingly fascinated by quieter landscapes and simpler photographs. Instead of asking how much I could fit into a frame, I started asking what could be left out. Instead of searching for spectacular subjects, I found myself becoming more interested in shape, rhythm, texture and the way light slowly transforms a landscape.

Perhaps that's why Namibia has remained so compelling.

The country seems to exist at both ends of my photographic journey. It still offers the extraordinary night skies that first captured my imagination all those years ago, but today I'm just as excited by the dunes themselves. Their sweeping lines, the constantly changing patterns created by the wind and the remarkable interplay between light and shadow make them feel less like static landscapes and more like living sculptures. I have a feeling I could spend hours photographing the same dune without ever making the same image twice.

Namibia`s Sand Dunes - Photo Credit: Laura Oppelt

When Laura and I began planning this workshop, that philosophy naturally shaped the itinerary. We knew we wanted to experience Namibia's iconic landscapes, but we also wanted to experience them well. Rather than treating each location as a quick stop on a checklist, we've built the journey around time. Time to return when the light changes, time to explore different compositions, and time to discover photographs that rarely reveal themselves during the first few minutes after arriving.

Laura already knows these landscapes well, and one of the things I'm most looking forward to is seeing them through her experience while also encountering them with fresh eyes myself. I don't expect us to photograph the same scenes in the same way. In fact, I hope we don't. One of the joys of leading a workshop together is that we bring different perspectives into the field. Laura is naturally drawn to the grandeur of the

Deadvlei - a place we will visit. Photo credit: Laura Oppelt

landscape, while I often find myself slowing down, looking for quieter relationships between line, texture and light. My hope is that participants will feel encouraged to do the same - not to photograph Namibia as either of us would, but to discover their own way of responding to this remarkable place.

I'm sure I'll come home with photographs I never expected to make. If history has taught me anything, it's that the images we remember most are rarely the ones we've imagined for years. They're the ones we never saw coming.

But who knows, maybe it is the night sky I will remember and appreciate the most?