Pink Salt, a photo from Erongo, South

Photographer's Note

Whenever I am down at the coast I like to drive out to the Walvis Bay salt pans. Apart from the incedible wet-land bird life the flat desolate-looking landscape of the pans fascinates me.

Walvis Bay has one of the largest salt works in Africa. The seawater is fed into large ponds, which gradually dry out through natural evaporation. The colour indicates the salinity of the ponds. Micro-organisms change their hues as the salinity of the pond increases. In low to mid-salinity ponds, green algae are predominant. In middle to high salinity ponds, an algae called Dunaliella salina shifts the colour to red. The salt fields of Walvis Bay cover an area of 3 500 hectares and annually produce 400 000 tons of high-quality salt. This successful commercial enterprise also provides an ideal habitat for many species of marine birds.

williewhistler, Angshu ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

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annjackman (23019) 2010-11-06 3:13

Wow - what beautiful colours in striped layers. Small point but perhaps the horizon could be straightened a touch and even cropped as a leterbox (below the whitish cloud) to add to the effect,
Stunning picture - wish I had seen this when I was there.
Regards
Ann

posternpete (203) 2010-11-06 11:53 [Comment]

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williewhistler (16606) 2010-11-06 14:32

Hello Rosemary, I enjoy the muted colours in the layers,well seen, plus your interesting note.
Best wishes Les

jonathan_hart (21276) 2010-11-06 16:26

i like shots composed of simple layers like this one
the "red" tones are amazing !
jc

hispic (9658) 2010-11-08 19:28

Hi Rosemary
Alluring scene. pink of the salt evaporation ponds is beautifully caught. I've been to Walvis Bay last April, but didn't know there is such a attractive place. Thsnks for sharing.
Best wishes, Hisashi

Angshu (56760) 2010-11-15 21:20

Hello Rosemary
Interesting note which explains the colour of the water...flamingo pink if I may say? Thanks for teaching me something new today!
I like the work of layers...the alternating brown & pink with a layer of white in between. Works well!

I'll just comment on a couple of things, hope you won't mind..
1) The horizon is in the centre. Try keeping it in the 1/3rd of the height of the frame, not at the centre
2) The picture lacks some object which could be a focal point...like say a bird, or a dead branch of a tree, or a tree...anything! Else the eyes wander around the entire picture without much 'objectivity'

Regards
Angshu

clic (23798) 2011-02-03 11:04

What a pleasure to discover your nice posters, dear Rosemary!...and many thanks for your kind words.
I never saw such splendidly-layered pastel seas of salt!
Sell this lovely piece of art to a modern-art museum!
Cheers.
Robert