April 4, 2011
Quiver Tree in Namakwa, South Africa

We left Lambert's Bay after photographing the Cape gannets on Bird Island one last time in the morning and went to Springbok in the heart of the Namakwa region of South Africa. Springbok's a nice little town and a convenient stop on the way from one wildlife destination to the next. I usually only stay one night in the town, but this time we're staying two nights so that we have more time to photograph the unique quiver tree or kokerboom.

After we checked into our guest house in Springbok, I went out to scout for some good quiver trees and J stayed behind to take advantage of the internet access. After driving around for about two hours, I had found several good subjects, but no spectacular subjects. When I explained the situation to Jan, she suggested that we could ask the friendly guy at reception where to find a good quiver tree. (She's full of good ideas!) I was dubious because most people don't understand what I think would make a good photographic subject, but I was astonished that the guy knew what we were looking for and quickly brought up some images on his computer that he had taken recently at one of his favorite locations to photograph quiver trees — bingo — it was exactly what we were looking for. We got some directions and headed off. We reached the secret quiver tree area shortly before sunset, and the light was starting to become magical. We quickly scouted the area and we each round a favorite, and different, subject to photograph. After I photographed the first subject that I had found, I started photographing a second subject nearby, and that's where I captured my favorite image of the day.

The composition doesn't follow the rule of thirds, and I like it that way. The hillside further to the left had lots of bushes that didn't look good up against the horizon and I didn't want to include them in the image, so I composed it with the idea of cropping it to a 4x5 aspect ratio to get the tree closer to the "proper" location. However, I decided to leave the open area on the right side of the frame as it's presented in order to increase the sense of space. Quiver trees grow on the vast, rocky, and arid hills in the region, and by including more of the surroundings, I was able to show how isolated they are.

Finally, two lessons today. 1) Ask the locals about photographic subjects — they just might save you a lot of effort. 2) Keep your eyes open while working your subject — you just might find something more interesting.