I have had the privilege of photographing in Namibia twice before and especially loved the great dunes in Sossusvlei. The first trip I photographed them from the "road" and that offered a more panoramic - wide view that included great skies and clouds. One of my favorites from the first trip in 2006 is the Lone Tree photograph below.

The second visit to Namibia in 2009 found a cloudless blue sky that moved all the drama and story to the ground. Walking not on the road this time, but in the dunes with John Paul Caponigro presented an entirely different view and way of seeing. Working the dunes themselves, climbing them, crawling on them and looking for images was a real challenge. It was easy to take a simple form or texture photograph and my eye found many of those pleasing shapes and sand details.

The problem with simple form shots is that they lack the "actor" or "element" to hold ones attention and make the photograph satisfying for a long time. If I could photograph a scene that had a "story" rather than a simple "shape" I would have a much stronger photograph. If I could find in the light and shapes of the dunes a "metaphor" - something that viewers could bring their own thoughts to the photograph then I would have a great photograph. So I walked, thinking of the difference between shapes, story and sensual. One of my favorites from the 2009 trip is below.

The highlight of the 2010 Namibia trip was the helicopter ride over Sossusvlei. Now shooting not from the road, or lying in the dunes but floating hundreds of feet over them. The massive dunes sprawled out into the horizon. From above their towering presence changed to something elegant and the shapes were sea like. Breathtaking!

Strapped into a helicopter- doors removed and hanging out the side seeing the amazing dunes of Sossusvlei from above for the first time. The helicopter moved slowly over the dunes in the morning light as we photographed the remarkable beauty. The helicopter circled and I realized that I had an amazing Pano head! I asked the pilot to spin the helicopter while I shot a series of images of the dunes below. Incredible!

Seeing the dunes below in a dusty, misty, morning light was an incredible experience. I was shooting with the Leica S2 and their 35m and 70m lenses. Bump ISO, fast shutter speed and f8 aperture and things looked terrific -both histogram and the lcd panel. I leaned out into the buffeting wind and began an shooting.