I keep staring at this, because it is an actual, unaltered, picture that so much looks like a painting:
This isn’t a painting. It’s not a Photoshop job or an artist’s rendering. It’s a photograph, taken by National Geographic’s Frans Lanting, that captures the camel thorn trees of Namib-Naukluft Park at the most perfect moment imaginable. Click the image to biggie size for the full effect. That orange backdrop? That’s a dune reflecting Namibia’s rising sun. And while the trees themselves look like etchings of a dream, they’re a very real part of one of the country’s largest national parks.
This is so amazing that it’s making me uncomfortable. I’m weird like that. When I look at something that I can’t make sense of, it upsets me. So though this is gorgeous, I’m focused on trying to process it and understand how it came to be.
Story of my life.