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Gallery: taking a wider view in Botswana
Looking for the ‘ah-ha’ seems to me to be an excellent mantra for any photographer. Although in truth I sometimes search for that not by stepping back but by zooming in. For me the important thing is not to settle for the obvious, for the first angle that occurs to me.
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Barely afloat: the Banjul ferry
The river Gambia runs through the heart of the country of the same name, splitting it into two narrow strips, north and south of the river. To the west is the Atlantic Ocean; on all other sides the country is surrounded by Senegal.
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Keep walking … even on crutches!
We were just twenty-four hours into our first visit to Marrakesh. We had arrived in the city with high expectations. It had been on our wish-list for some years; and as this was the first holiday of any length that we had been able to take together for over a year, we were determined to enjoy it. But on the evening of our first day I stumbled on the edge of a tiled basin in a fancy restaurant and broke a bone in my foot. I spent the rest of…
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Gallery: when the light is right
Studio photographers can spend a lot of time getting the light just right, changing the angles, adjusting the brightness and colour. Landscape photographers don’t have that luxury; we have to work with the light we have, or wait until it changes naturally.
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‘Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
The crumbling red stone ruins of the Kasbah of Telouet hide a secret; within their walls lie the remains of a glorious and self-indulgent palace, where Pasha Thami El Glaoui asserted his power and wealth. These atmospheric ruins are relatively off the tourist trail, although easily visited on a day trip from Marrakesh.
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Finding geometry in the buildings of Marrakesh
Some of the most beautiful architecture I have seen has been in the Islamic world. Islamic art shuns the depiction of living figures, whether human or animal, partly to avoid any suggestion of idolatry and partly because it is believed that the creation of living forms is Allah’s prerogative. Instead the emphasis is on geometric forms as well as calligraphy and abstract floral motifs.
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Gallery: lone trees in the landscape
'Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.' (Kahil Gebran) And if every tree is a poem, a tree that stands alone is perhaps a performance poem - a poem that is shouted to the heavens?
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Friendly Friday: meet Cheikh, a guide in Senegal
Welcome to a new departure for the Friendly Friday Challenge. Every six weeks when it's my turn to host, I will be introducing you to a person or people I have met on my travels. People whom I have been inspired by, fascinated by or perhaps intrigued by. And I will be inviting you to do the same. As much as the sights we see, it is the people we meet who make travel so rewarding and so memorable. Whether close to home or on the other side of the…
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Elephant encounter: flashback to our first safari
The bull elephant seemed to glower at us from just a short distance away. Reginald eased the jeep door open a few inches, not for the first time. The elephant stomped his feet and advanced a little, and Reginald hurriedly shut the door again. Clearly the elephant was not going to let him out of the vehicle without charging. Sitting in the back seat Chris and I looked at each other nervously. Would the first day of our first ever safari end in disaster?
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The sun sets and the sun rises over the Chobe River
The wide waters of the Chobe River form the northern boundary of the national park of the same name. They divide Botswana from its neighbour Namibia to the north. But of course the wildlife that teems on its shores, in its waters and in the skies above knows no national borders. And nor does the sun, which sets and rises on all.
