George Steinmetz
This is a glorious, spectacular book.
Steinmetz’s images from a paraglider provide a unique view of some of our planet’s most beautiful landscapes, somehow a link between satellite views and “ground truth.” I don’t do commercials on this blog, but I can only recommend this - it’s remarkably good value for the quality of the images and the stunning scope. SIGNATURE
Comments
Rachel (2013-04-13):
Any chance you can describe the phenomena occurring in the photographs? They’re truly gorgeous. I’d love to hear the background.
Sandglass (2013-04-14):
Yes, indeed, gorgeous photographs of spectacular landscapes!
I’ll take some of the descriptions from the book: the top image is of salt caravans passing each other “in the enormous Tenere are of the Sahara. The caravan in the foreground is on its way out of the deaert, each camel loaded with 450 pounds of salt, while the one in the background is on its way to the salt mines at Bilma.”
The cover image is of the “Karnasai Valley, Chad. Pinnacles of sandstone rise through orange dunes a few miles from Chad’s border with Libya. During the conflict between the two countries in the 1980s, the entrance to this valley was planted with landmines, which keeps people out of this remote part of the Central Sahara.”
The third photo is of dunes in Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter, the great sand seas of the Rub’ al Khali. Dunes come in many shapes and sizes, and these are “star” dunes,shaped by more than one dominant wind direction.
The last is of the Adjder Oasis, 100 km NW of Timimoun in the Grand Erg (sand sea) of Algeria. “Each of these sand pits, surrounded by dunes, contains a family farm or garden in its hollow. Barriers of palm fronds stop blowing sand from burying these plots… The recent introduction of electric pumps is rapidly lowering the water level by three feet per year and is endangering this centuries-old system of agriculture.”
Hope this helps! Go to Steinmetz’s website to find many more wonderful images.
Originally published at: https://throughthesandglass.typepad.com/through_the_sandglass/2013/03/george-steinmetz.html
Discussion (2)
I'll take some of the descriptions from the book: the top image is of salt caravans passing each other "in the enormous Tenere are of the Sahara. The caravan in the foreground is on its way out of the deaert, each camel loaded with 450 pounds of salt, while the one in the background is on its way to the salt mines at Bilma."
The cover image is of the "Karnasai Valley, Chad. Pinnacles of sandstone rise through orange dunes a few miles from Chad's border with Libya. During the conflict between the two countries in the 1980s, the entrance to this valley was planted with landmines, which keeps people out of this remote part of the Central Sahara."
The third photo is of dunes in Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter, the great sand seas of the Rub' al Khali. Dunes come in many shapes and sizes, and these are "star" dunes,shaped by more than one dominant wind direction.
The last is of the Adjder Oasis, 100 km NW of Timimoun in the Grand Erg (sand sea) of Algeria. "Each of these sand pits, surrounded by dunes, contains a family farm or garden in its hollow. Barriers of palm fronds stop blowing sand from burying these plots.. The recent introduction of electric pumps is rapidly lowering the water level by three feet per year and is endangering this centuries-old system of agriculture."
Hope this helps! Go to Steinmetz's website to find many more wonderful images.
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