Deadvlei is an ancient dry pan with dead acacia trees surrounded by sand dunes. Deadvlei is located in Sossusvlei, Namibia. Don Smith and I are hosting a photographic workshop in Namibia in August 2018 (click on workshops for more detail). On a recent scouting trip there we were photographic this ironing place. It was beautiful. There are hundreds of compositions just waiting all around. With so many options and images begging to be taken, how do you decide what to shoot?

          I have a rule I strictly obey; shoot that which changes first. Things that do not change can be shot later. If you miss that which changes it is lost forever. Change also typically means action. "Action" in landscape photography does not necessarily refer to movement. It can refer to bright color, bright light, and so forth. When you can combine color and bright light with movement that is real action. When you see that happening in the scene shoot it. Go where the action is. The other images can be taken at any other time.

In this image I saw action. There is bright light and color with sand movement. Shoot it before the sun gets to high and the action is gone. The trees down below are not going anywhere anytime soon. You can shoot them later. Focus on that which changes first (color in clouds, cloud formations, rainbows, etc.). These are fleeting moments.

          Be observant and look around. Wherever the action is, shoot there first.