Shine Your Light on Me, a photo from Erongo, South

Photographer's Note

About 7 kms north of Swakopmund one finds the Swakopmund Salt Company. Outside the main gate there is a newly erected ‘lighthouse’, a strange site in the typically barren-looking landscape of the central Namib Desert coast. The ‘lighthouse’ motif forms part of the company’s logo and appears on their bags of salt. Here the coastline has been extensively altered to create numerous evaporation ponds. Immediately inland lie the gravel plains of the Namib Desert.
Production of the concentrated brine at the salt pan, known as Panther Beacon, began in 1933, but by 1952 the salt source was exhausted. Seawater has since been pumped into open evaporation and concentration ponds from which crystallized salt is removed with mechanical scrapers. The pans are shallow and of varying salinity. A large wooden commercial guano platform covering 31 000 m2 has been built in one of the northern pans.
Mile 4 (the name by which this area is known .... 4 miles north of Swakopmund) occasionally supports massive numbers of water birds and the guano platform has supported up to 700 000 Cape Cormorants.
A more resent enterprise is oyster farming and the Richwater Oyster Company has been cultivating oysters in the pan since 1985.

This photograph is copyright of Rosemary Walden - © Rosemary Walden 2013. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of the image in any form is prohibited. You may not, except with my express written permission, copy, reproduce, download, distribute or exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system

daddo, manrezaei, snunney, timecapturer, Romano46, ktanska, No_One, jjcordier, mvdisco, chanteuse, delpeoples, ourania, Robert1969, Robert1969, adores ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

daddo (28728) 2013-04-12 6:03

Hi Rosemary. Strange edifice- looks like a child's Plasticine or clay version of a lighthouse. cute and colourful. I wonder if one can go inside through the painted entrance? Are you sure it's not the North korean missile with its nuclear warhead?Regards. Klaudio.

sevy (58) 2013-04-12 6:08

Even if not really a lighthouse, I would have been happy to have it in my serie on this subject. An Earth lighthouse: an interesting concept ;-)

The colors are well shared thanks to the grey sky in behind.

Yves.

JFS (32459) 2013-04-12 6:13

Stunning shot Rosemary! Very appealing and always so clean and Sharp.

Have a good WE!
Cheers,
Juan

emilbo (22616) 2013-04-12 6:35

Allô Rosemary!
Magnifique photo et très drôle cette tour qu'on pourrait retrouver dans un parc d'enfants. Belle présentation sous un bel éclairage, bons détails et belle harmonie de couleurs.
Félicitations!... et bonne fin de semaine,
Emilius

snunney (130967) 2013-04-12 7:26

Hello Rosemary,
Indeed, rather a strange looking building that looks as if it is made out of icing sugar and should be on a cake. The whole depicted with great clarity.

timecapturer (49288) 2013-04-12 7:44

Hi Rosemary
this looks so wonderful in this wide open setting. Strange because it has all the colours of Saxo salt which is a brand here in the UK. An original, colourful and delightful image.

Have a great weekend - Brian.

dta (98540) 2013-04-12 8:24

Hello Rosemary ,
A curious light house , and an original framing for this kind of subject . But I understand it with the circle of stones around the building .
REgards

jemaflor (135380) 2013-04-12 8:33

Hi Rosemary,
Interesting vivid colors, good pov and light management, well presented with stones in the Fg, a vertical format would be also interesting, maybe.

mjw364 (1466) 2013-04-12 10:13

Hello Rosemary

Vivid colours of the lighthouse contrasting markedly with the colours in the rest of the scene to make the "lighthouse" really stand out in an almost surreal way.

The lighthouse has a shape similar to one of the "Fab" ice lollies you used to get as a kid!

TFS

Mike

Romano46 (18472) 2013-04-12 11:06

Ciao Rosemary,
sei fortunata (almeno dal punto di vista fotografico) a vivere in Mamibia. I soggetti che si possono trovare nel tuo paese spesso sono sconosciuti a noi europei.
Un faro, vero o finto che sia, dai colori così belli è impensabile trovarlo in Europa.
Questo è un monumento alla bellezza per le ricche forme architettoniche e per i colori che incantano, inclusa la bella isola (immaginaria) ai suoi piedi.
Uno splendore architettonico che hai valorizzato nella migliore delle maniere grazie alla tua ottima tecnica.
Ciao e buon fine settimana
Romano

ktanska (40061) 2013-04-12 11:39

Hi Rosemary,
That original painting gives impressiont that the beacon is bigger than it actually is. Fun one. Slice of desert visible in the background gives idea of the surrounding environment.
I remember salt production in Walvis Bay from my visit back in 1998.
Kari

No_One (4) 2013-04-12 11:41

Hi Rosemary,
This is fascinating, the thumb is of course eyecatching with its vibrant colours, but then to click on the pic, read the note and realize this is in a desert is really cool :)
Brilliant to hear that something like this has brought so much life the area too, this is a wonderful symbol of that as well as the salt company.
Thanks for sharing, very cool shot!
Cheers
Noel

Silvio1953 (205657) 2013-04-12 12:29

Ciao Rosemary, lovely composition with fantastic lighthouse, wonderful colors, excellent clarity and splendid light, very well done, my friend, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

jjcordier (79299) 2013-04-12 13:26

Rosemary
Ce pseudo phare est vraiment très photogénique. Tu en as réalisé une splendide photo.
Amicalement
JJ

carlo62 (81265) 2013-04-12 13:29

Ciao Rosemary
un faro originale e lo scatto lo esalta piacevolmente.
Bella nota di accompagnamento.
Saluti
Carlo

mvdisco (17798) 2013-04-12 14:35

Hi RoseMary,Bonjour,
Interesting lighthouse well presented and composed with great tone of colors and light,
Excellent details and sharpness,
nicely done.. my compliments
Michel

EstelleJ (921) 2013-04-12 15:03

Hello Rosemary,
Even though not a real light-house - still a very interesting eye-catching strong-color structure - looks a bit like a decorated cake. Such clear sharp professional photo!
I think the shape of this edifice is not random. In the old days they used to make salt, as well as sugar, into same elongated cones, that was easier to transport and sell. I saw samples of such salt-cones in a few old historic house-museums.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful image!
Regards,
Jenna

williewhistler (16606) 2013-04-13 3:31

Hello Rosemary,
red,white and blue,looking like something from a childs space magazine it`s a remarkably attractive building that you would just have to photograph.
A lovely shot.
Best regards,
Les.

rogerl (1632) 2013-04-13 6:29

Rosemary, what an interesting and amusing shot. The colors on the building certainly contrast with the earth tones elsewhere; I'm sure this stands out for quite a distance. Good choice of a wide angle shot and low point of view, giving us a nice look at the landscape as well as the building itself. Thanks.

Roger

ACL1978 (7511) 2013-04-13 7:28

Must have been a quite unexpected sight in the middle of the desert, Rosemary - amazingly bright colors in an otherwise subdued landscape. Almost looks like it is made itself of salt bricks! Here's a great example of breaking the rules effectively, too, placing the lighthouse right in the center of the shot and letting the whole frame revolve around it.

Andrew

macjake (96157) 2013-04-13 10:20

Hi Rosemary
well, the subjects of Namibia continue to surprise me.
and you're right about the landscape, I think this short lighthouse is the tallest thing around for miles and miles :)
certainly sticks out like a sore thumb, but i guess in a good way.
bright and cheerful type of atmosphere :)
the rocks in the fg are very sharp add a nice textural touch.
enjoy your day
craig

marabu61 (11587) 2013-04-13 13:29

Hello Rosemary
Now that brings a splash of color to this barren coastline for sure. Great inginuiety of the people responsible.
Lovely composition to go with a good story about salt recollection in that area.
have a good sunday
Daniel

delpeoples (60326) 2013-04-14 2:14

Hello dear Rosemary

You must really excuse me for being so slack with my critiquing, I've just finished a week-long trial and it really took alot out of me. So whilst I've been avidly viewing your beautiful photos, I haven't been saying much. Hopefully I can get back into some serious TEíng :)

What a corker! In fact, this looks like something out of a dream. The red white and blue colours are so vibrant and really jump out against those earthier tones. And the coloured stones make such a fantastic visual impact. It almost looks like you've pasted the lighthouse in, it's just so incongruous with the landscape. What an eye-opener! And a fantastic capture of this stunning place.

Hugs
Lisa

ourania (51103) 2013-04-14 10:23

Hello Rosemary,
a very bold and effective composition leaves no doubt on which is the dominant focal point. The striking thematic and chromatic contrasts make the minimal composition look very rich and rewarding. Sharpness is excellent, the textures are very interesting and the "lighthouse" stands out as tridimensional. Light, contrast and colour management are marvellous. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a lovely evening,
Ourania

npecanhuk (79329) 2013-04-14 14:49

Hi Rosemary!
Lovely lighthouse! It looks like a toy!
Attractive picture with excellent sharpness, exposure, colors, horizontal format, chosen pov and composition!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

Robert1969 (7160) 2013-04-16 3:55

Hello Rosemary,

A original subject with beautiful clear colors
and it looks like that they clean it every day.
Composition and light management are
excellent and the sky fits very well.

Friendly regards,
Robert

adores (46979) 2013-04-18 17:52

Hi Rosemary!
Seems a really unusual building in the middle of nowhere. The colours and the shape make it stand out so well in this landscape. Light and colours are very good. Good shot!

adidas5nb (5743) 2013-05-04 4:27

certainly the most unique and strange lighthouse i have ever seen.may be the shortest too.love the barren surroundings and the contrast of the colorful light house being there.you have been able to emphasize that very nicely in the frame.
regards
dwaipayan