Entry Title: " The Valley Of Death"
Name: Marsel van Oosten, Netherlands
Category: Professional, Nature


Entry Description: Deadvlei ("dead marsh") is a white clay pan inside the Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia. It's surrounded by the highest sand dunes in the world, the highest reaching 900-1,200 ft.

It was formed after rainfall, when the Tsauchab river flooded, creating pools where the abundance of water allowed trees to grow. When the climate changed, drought hit the area, and dunes encroached on the pan, blocking the river from the area.

The trees died, no longer having enough water to survive. The remaining 900-year old skeletons of the trees are now black because the intense sun has scorched them.

Marsel van Oosten is a professional nature photographer from The Netherlands. His images are famed for his mastery of composition, lighting, color and perspective. In his work he tries to simplify, to get rid of the extraneous: simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. His images are used worldwide in advertising, design, and magazines such as National Geographic. Van Oosten lives in Amsterdam with producer and videographer Daniella Sibbing. Together they run specialized wildlife and landscape photography tours and workshops for small groups of all experience levels to spectacular locations all over the planet. Website: www.squiver.com Blog: www.squivernews.blogspot.com