PHOTO: Champagne Castle, Drakensberg, South Africa


This is a photo of a portion of the Drakensberg mountain range. This portion is part of the area around Champagne Castle, which has an elevation of about 3,100 metres (10,000 feet). The photo does not do justice to the height of the range (as the photo lacks an object to provide scale). I thought the small mountain and cliffs in the foreground would give some scale but, alas, I was mistaken. To try and appreciate the scale look at the trees in the ravines (where water run-off occurs) below the cliffs off to the right of the photo - each tree would be at least 6 metres in height.  

I took this photo in the afternoon on a late Summer day, hence the hazy appearance of the mountain range in the distance. My wife and I had been away from South Africa for several years before I took this photo. I was trying to capture how I remembered the atmosphere, heat, and grasslands, and the unique scents of the earth and vegetation from the country of my birth. There is something about Africa that gets into your bloodstream and that you can never forget no matter how long you are away from the continent.

I chose this photo for many reasons, but one of the things that is striking for me is the shadows on the range in the background, particularly the area just right of centre. The play of light and shadow in the haze of the afternoon sun conveys a certain tranquility and gentleness which is quite striking against the rugged terrain of the mountains which have stood for millions of years.
Image: Cathedral Peak, Drakensberg Mountain Range, South Africa. Copyright - Michael Beaton

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