VIVID MOTIF # 1

Traveling through the hinterland of Namibia I found a landscape divinely dotted with a unique fossil plant - the Welwitschia. These amazing plants start life with a single leaf which then divides itself over years to form a new leaf and so it will carry on for centuries. With hardly any rainfall in the area the only water they gratefully receive is the mist flowing in from the cold Atlantic Ocean . Dew drops from the mist run down it’s leaves into the dry earth and so feed the plants. Remarkably the Welwitschia can survive the desert with as little as 15mm of water a year.

One afternoon, as the day was drawing to a close, I was looking for a suitable place to camp when I noticed this beautiful specimen. I quickly set up the camera and waited for the sun to set. With the clouds turning from yellow to orange to pink I began to expose the photograph. I used an additional light source to ‘paint’ the Welwitschia with extra light; this helped to stop it from going too dark and balanced the exposure with the surrounds. I shot this picture on film which turned out to be a real surprise when I processed two months later. How wonderful it was to relive that breathtaking moment of grace the Lord has given me to capture His incredible creation.