(Credit: Craig Gibson)
Photographer: Craig Gibson
Speciality: wildlife, environmental
Biography: Craig was born and raised in Botswana, where the great outdoors and his father's collection of cameras inspired him to explore photography and the natural world. A career in the environmental field has seen him work as a safari guide and environmental consultant, and has taken him across the African continent where he has been able to combine his love of the natural world with his passion for photography.
Craig's writing and photography has been featured in BBC Wildlife magazine, online and in a WWF sponsored book Heat, Dust and Dreams — An Exploration of People and Environment in Namibia's Kaokoland and Damaraland. The book highlights the inter-dependence of people and the natural world, a theme that Craig would like to emphasise in all his work.
All these images are from the remote region of south-west Africa, where the Namib Desert is a dramatic and incongruous setting for semi-nomadic Himba pastoralists and desert-dwelling wildlife. Craig is currently a content writer and lives in Sydney.
Equipment: Nikon F4s (film), Nikon D40, Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 20-35mm f/2.8 D, Nikkor MF 80-200mm f/4.5, Nikkor MF 300mm f/4.5, AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED used with skylight and polarising filters. No post processing software used. Fuji Velvia and Fujichrome films when using the F4s, with the transparencies drum scanned and archived as TIFF files.
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Thinking
An unlikely mountain-top silhouette. Elephants are not averse to climbing rocky mountains in search of food and a cool breeze.
Exposure: 1/500, f/8, ISO 100, 300mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Heat, dust dreams
Fashioned from cattle horn, these traditional ochre and butterfat containers are a necessary accessory for all Himba women. Tree gum is used to perfume the butterfat, before being mixed with ochre. It is then smeared over the entire body to moisturise, beautify and protect the skin.
Exposure: 1/250, f/4.5, ISO 50, 80mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Inquisitive
An inquisitive giraffe feeding amongst scrub. In the absence of large trees, giraffe in this region often have to resort to feeding on dwarf shrubs and trees.
Exposure: 1/125, f/5.6, ISO 100, 80-200mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Shadow Himba
The shadow of a Himba male with headdress makes for a striking silhouette against the mud wall of his homestead.
Exposure: 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 50, 80mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Procession sunset
A small family group move to feed amidst the imposing backdrop of the Namib Desert.
Exposure: 1/250, f/8, ISO 100, 80-200mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Desert storm
Dramatic cloud formations herald welcome rainfall for this hyper arid zone.
Exposure: 1/60, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Drinking
An elephant slakes its thirst from an underground water source in the bed of a dry river.
Exposure: 1/60, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Himba teen
Hairstyles play a significant role in identifying age stages of both sexes in the Himba. This is an adolescent girl, with ochre-plaited hair fashioned into a number of twists over the eyes.
Exposure: 1/125, f/5.6, ISO 100, 80mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Lunar giraffe
Giraffe are an incongruous sight in the Namib Desert, often traversing extremely arid areas in search of browse.
Exposure: 1/125, f/8, ISO 100, 300mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Goat ear necklace
Goats' ears provide unusual and ornate decoration for a Himba elder's necklace.
Exposure: 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 100, 80mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Behemoths
Elephants are surprisingly silent and often the only evidence of their passing are these distinctive prints in the sand.
Exposure: 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 50, 20-35mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Himba feet
The heavy ankle bracelets and ochre-covered skin distinguish this Himba woman from her husband.
Exposure: 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 100, 50mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Damaraland
An expansive vista of the rugged Damaraland plateau.
Exposure: 1/60, f/5.6, ISO 50, 300mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Doros crater
Dark volcanic rocks dot the rim of the remote extinct Doros Crater.
Exposure: 1/250, f/8, ISO 50, 35mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Rock art giraffe
This rock engraving was most probably made by a hunter-gatherer, some 10,000 years ago.
Exposure: 1/250, f/5.6, ISO 100, 35mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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Welwitschia Plains
The Welwitschia is one of the few plants able to survive on the desolate gravel plains of the Namib Desert.
Exposure: 1/60, f/8, ISO 50, 35mm
(Credit: Craig Gibson)
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