Landscapes Gallery - Image of the Year

Namibia is not only the least densely populated country of the world; it is also one of the driest. The clear desert air is perfect for shooting stars and star trails, so that's one of the things we always try on each year's Namibia tour.

I had planned the trip to coincide with new moon, so that we would have pitch-dark nights with lots of stars. For this shot of a dead camelthorn tree in Deadvlei I made a 58 second exposure for the master image, during which I painted the tree and the foreground with a small torch and a warm-up gel. There was still some afterglow on the dunes in the background. During the night the camera took little over 80 shots, each four minutes long.

As I was shooting with a D3X, I converted the star shots to jpeg after raw conversion before stacking them in PS, to keep the file size manageable.

Equipment Used: Nikon D3X, AF-S 14-24/2.8 at 14mm, 58 seconds, f/5.6, 80x4min at f/5.6, ISO 100, Gitzo tripod, Nikon programmable cable release.

About the Photographer: Marsel van Oosten is an award-winning professional nature photographer from The Netherlands. His images are known for his use of composition, lighting and color. In his work Van Oosten tries to simplify, to get rid of the extraneous: simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

In addition to several First Prizes in the International Photography Awards (IPA), Marsel's awards include First Prize in the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, First Prize in the Nature's Best International Photography Awards, and he was a winner in the National Geographic/PDN Travel Photography Awards and the Travel Photographer of the Year Awards. His images are used worldwide in advertising, design, and magazines such as National Geographic.

Marsel van Oosten lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with producer and videographer Daniëlla Sibbing. Together they organize specialized wildlife and landscape photography tours and workshops for small groups to spectacular locations worldwide. For an overview of Marsel's work and photo tours currently on offer, check out his website: www.squiver.com.