Namibia - Camping on the Skeleton Coast

During my trip to Namibia earlier this summer we spent a few nights camping out on the Skeleton Coast where the towering dunes meet the ocean.
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:25 Day 1 - The Shipwreck
5:17 Day 2 - The Dunes
7:37 Day 3 - Return & Helicopter
9:35 Conclusion
If you’d like to join me for a landscape photography workshop in Namibia. or elsewhere, many of my 2023 and 2024 trips are already open. Check my website for more information www.andymumford.com/workshops/
Being able to camp out in the magnificent place was down to the huge local knowledge and tons of logistical work of my partners. Also, Jandre borrowed my drone to shoot some of the drone footage in this video. Check out their work:
Hougaard Malan www.hougaardmalan.com
Jandre Germishuizen www.gogravel.africa
If you're interested in purchasing any of the gear I use in this video, and you enjoy my videos, please support my work by clicking on the affiliate links below.
Thanks so much.
Camera & Lens:
Fujifilm GFX 100S amzn.to/39LRQss
Fuji GF100-200mm amzn.to/3sPmMPx
Fuji GF35-70mm amzn.to/3Nu9sYF
Fuji GF23mm amzn.to/3QVLqYj
Fuji X-T4 amzn.to/3hwoRsn
Fuji XF10-24mm amzn.to/3ug8AOs
Fuji XF55-200mm amzn.to/2YMVtE0
Drone:
DJI Air 2S amzn.to/3PDabrP
Filters
KASE Wolverine Magnetic Circular Filters kasefilters.com/ref/AndyMumford/
Backpack & Tripod:
Pro Media Gear TRS344 www.promediagear.com?aff=28
F Stop Kashmir Backpack amzn.to/3ATP5hQ
Camera insert for backpack shop.fstopgear.com/?rfsn=4299...
Website: www.andymumford.com
Instagram: / andymumfordphotography
Facebook: / andymumfordphotography
Music licensed via Artlist artlist.io/?artlist_aid=AndyM...

[@maxwellc2065]

I have never seen a place where the ocean and desert dunes exist in the same area. Truly mind blowing

[@AndyMumford]

Its an absolutely incredible place

[@timurhant469]

8:07, such a unique astro pano. Amazing!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much

[@camloff]

Superb video and amazing photos at Skeleton Coast, Namibia. Born in Cabo Verde and as I lived 17 years in wonderful Mozambique on the other side I appreciated very much my African Continent, diving, UW photos and general photography. My regards and thank you.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much Carlos, Namibia is a wonderful place and I’d love to see much more of Africa

[@EelsThe]

Thank you for sharing this! It is amazing to see.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much

[@barryj7478]

Bloody brilliant!!

[@AndyMumford]

Cheers 🙏

[@alexslobodkin671]

Amazing

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much

[@fototripper]

What an amazing experience. So jealous!

[@AndyMumford]

Cheers Gavin, it was a pretty special trip. I’d wanted to visit Namibia since forever

[@gabyisphoto2379]

absolutely stunning!!!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment

[@SkiwithMike]

Superb thanks

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, really glad you enjoyed the video

[@Stop-All-War]

1st thought - Pirates. Stay safe out there Andy.

[@AndyMumford]

Hahaha, thanks. Namibia is actually incredibly safe, so no worries.

[@icogicog8287]

Great video and great adventure. Thank you

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much Ico. It was indeed a fantastic adventure. Glad you could join us

[@stephennorgrove2924]

one of the best phot videos in a while, jaw dropping

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed it

[@julianrodewald7312]

fantastic 🤙🏼

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@YPSification]

Everytime i see one of your videos i would like to grab my fuji, go out and shot. Once again: fantastic impressions and fotos.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, I’m glad the videos inspire you.

[@Peter_Reed_Photography]

Wow, what a location the skeleton coast is.

[@AndyMumford]

Absolutely, it's an amazing place

[@jcblum1507]

Amazing!!! incredible pics!!!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for watching

[@RickMentore]

I tune in mostly for the images and again awed with your artistry! Hey Andy, ever thought about doing work shop here in North America!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much Rick, really glad you enjoy the images. North America is high on my bucket list and I’m hoping to do a project in Utah pretty soon

[@RickMentore]

@@AndyMumford Eagerly awaiting news about that Utah project. Thanks for promptly responding!

[@AleRodrigues]

What an incredible place Andy! Possibly will put on my wish list.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much Ale, it was an absolutely amazing place and you should definitely go there if you can

[@davidcox2499]

Over the top.

[@AndyMumford]

In a bad way? 🤔

[@galinakoleva3719]

Thank you for taking me to this wonderful trip. Amazing place!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment

[@alfabravo80]

🤩😍

[@AndyMumford]

🙏

[@traianmol]

Andy, this was impressive. Such an unreal and spectacular place. All your shots are iconic. Congrats!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, really glad you enjoyed the video

[@laurelb8372]

Fabulous video, thank you for sharing this amazing place

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, really glad you enjoyed the video

[@john_norris]

Andy, I know I am late to the party in commenting on this video, but boy! First, I am so envious of your experiences which I am sure that you will treasure for the rest of your life, notwithstanding that I appreciate it was 'work' - a small word for all the preparation, planning, logistics, care and workshop activities that you must have had to deal with. Second, your photos are awesome, I am sorry that all the effort, skill and technical expertise that you applied gets condensed to just one word - but awesome they are! Finally (almost), your videography - unbelievable. I am not trying to blow smoke up your bum but I know how much time it takes to post process/ edit the videos and to achieve such cool results, you should be proud of yourself! I post videos on YT for another channel and I normally have to put in 16 hrs for a 10 to 15 min video - and I am just an amateur! I said 'almost'; your delivery and narration is really natural and it is a joy to watch. I am saving my Escudos for a workshop - though I can't say that I relish a 5am get up for milky way photography! 😉 Best wishes.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment John, really glad you enjoyed the video. I'm super excited to be heading back to Namibia next month, it's an absolutely incredible place.

[@testtest3431]

It was mind blowing scenes! I was smiling all the way when watching and imaging how grand it was actually being there! I have only admiration for mother nature and for those who can capture beauty of her work.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, really glad you enjoyed the video

[@MarkRomine]

What an adventure! Thank you for sharing!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for watching Mark

[@MarkRomine]

@@AndyMumford My pleasure!

[@victormultanen1981]

Such a beatiful view!

[@AndyMumford]

Cheers

[@09591000]

Спасибо. Приятно смотреть и постоянно узнавать новое и полезное. Удачи!

[@dbb8448]

such a beautiful scenery and fantastic landscapes experience. love it

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, it was an amazing trip

[@RobinH8869]

Breathtaking

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@trevorpayne2749]

Just Wow!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much

[@Stillfilm1]

What a wonderful place. You captured such beautiful images which made me feel emotional even though I wasn't there.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the video

[@JenniferKlinger]

So beautiful! Thanks for bringing us along.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment

[@jakobschneeberger3965]

Thank you for the beautiful video and the fantastic shots 🙏👍👍👍.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comments really glad you enjoyed the video

[@amorrisphoto]

Great insights as always Andy. Looks like a really incredible place to be!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment. It really was a fantastic trip

[@dentom1954]

Beautiful location. Thanks for sharing these expeiences.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, really glad you enjoyed the video

[@MikeKline]

Stunning!

[@AndyMumford]

Cheers

[@gerryphilpott9766]

What an adventure and unique location. Thanks for sharing your journey!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment Gerry. Glad you enjoyed the video

[@margoboniface3294]

Just amazing!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks 🙏

[@timrutzi4368]

Been in Namibia a few weeks ago. Incredible place, surreal beautiful!

[@AndyMumford]

It's an amazing place

[@mrskarshsphotos]

This is so inspiring. Thank you!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, really glad you enjoyed the video

[@zjadaczkitu]

Incredible!!!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@AndreiDimaReviews]

Great video and beautiful location!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the video

[@arghyabanerjee]

Amazing photos and view....

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment

[@RobertVinet]

A beautiful place. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@AndyMumford]

Indeed, it is a really beautiful place. Thanks for watching

[@michivanhalen7086]

So inspiring and beautiful! Thank you!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks again

[@rosssayer6524]

Wow Andy, what a wonderful experience and location. Your images were amazing 🙌❤️👏👏👏

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much Ross, really glad you enjoyed the video

[@IslaVision3]

Fantástico maestro…👏👏👏🤘😘

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@carrietrimble3602]

Thanks for another great video, love the stills and the drone footage, makes me want to travel to Namibia.The photography opportunities look endless and challenging, but that’s what would make it fantastic trip.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much Carrie. Hope all is well with you. Namibia really is an amazing place, without any doubt the trip that's had the most incredible and varied photo opportunities

[@paulatkins4968]

Beautiful shots 😎 thanks, great video

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, really glad you enjoyed it

[@CalebHemphill24]

Unreal

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@ValerieMisaPhotography]

Incredibly beautiful locations and as always, sublime images, Andy! I'm just in awe of the vistas on offer in Namibia. Loved your drone footage also - fantastic perspectives and just elevates the video. What an adventurous and fruitful workshop it has been! Looking forward to seeing your astro photos hopefully in the next one. Thanks for another fantastic vid 🙏

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment Valerie, really glad you enjoy the videos. Namibia really is a special place..I can't wait to return there.

[@rogerhinchliffe8030]

0

[@malcolmmacgregor1406]

Great photography as always Andy and congrats on getting so deep into the area around Sandwich harbour

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment Malcolm, glad you enjoyed the video. Indeed, it was a treat to get so deep into the dunes

[@iaincphotography6051]

Amazing work, the drone footage was superb and the aerial shots sublime.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the video

[@hamdc4291]

Wow, loving these Namibia videos Andy, such amazing landscapes and images. Would loved to have done this workshop but at least I can somewhat experience it through these videos, so thanks! Cheers Hamish

[@AndyMumford]

Hi Hamish, how are you doing? Really glad you enjoyed the video..it was a pretty special trip and it would have been great to have you along. I'll drop you a line when we have the dates for 2024.

[@glowingeye]

Great photos, I always love to look at a scene, think about what I would do and then see your photos and interpretation, and this works so well with your videos because you always give us the opportunity to look around the place before showing any photos. Keep it that way, I really enjoy it! Just came here after the last Namibia episode… I also want to say that I really like your photography in general, the creative choices you make, how you compose your photos, the feelings they express - it‘s just so special and I do look up to you as one of my favorite landscape photographers. Thanks again for letting us be a part of this! Greetings from Germany :) Maybe one day I can join one of the workshops, that would be fantastic.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment, it’s nice to know you enjoy the videos

[@nickcarneyphotography]

Wow, those helicopter shots were incredible. Hoping to make it back to Namibia, I didn't get to visit the Skeleton Coast due to time restraints, but a very compelling reason to return!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, really glad you enjoyed the video. Bear in mind as I said in the video, this isn't the Skeleton Coast national park, which is where most tourism goes and is to the north of where we were. It looks different to this and you don't get the dunes going all the way to the ocean, nor the sense of isolation. This is the stretch of coast south of Walvis Bay past Sandwich Harbour

[@RobJorg]

8:06 good photo , love the helicopter photography too. good video Andy. checked out your workshops but they are solid booked until 2024. 😞

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks Rob. Yes, I've been quite lucky with workshops this year and next year in that they've filled very quickly. Now I'm putting together 2024, so if there's anything that interests you, drop me a line and I'll you to the priority list. There may also be a Kenya workshop later in 2023, but that's still very much in the planning stage

[@paulalex1362]

Brilliant video Andy, looks like such an incredible experience! Loving your video work, too!

[@AndyMumford]

Cheers Paul. This was one of those "pinch myself" experiences. I've wanted to do this for so many years and sometimes we really have to remind ourselves to take a moment and realise how awesome something is. I still feel a glow when I think about this trip now, it was one I'll remember for the rest of my life.

[@paulalex1362]

@@AndyMumford Ah that’s so good to hear! You’re absolutely right… most of us are already planning the next experience when we’ve barely finished the one we’re on. It’s nice to hear you buzzing about it 🙂 I can see this being a busy one for you!

[@AndyMumford]

@@paulalex1362 Cheers Paul. Oh, and if it's any consolation, I mostly got rain and mud in Lofoten as well. I think we had 2 actual sunsets in the 18 days I was there!

[@pifilos]

Excellent video as always but man... zooming out during that flamingo shot I was like oh come on !!! Fantastic detail and resolution from the GFX 100s.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much. Those flamingo shots...it's a pity because seen on a screen you can't really notice the flamingos...they'll only be seen on really big prints.

[@JGRGilbert]

I think you say, at the first site, "a half to a third of a stop" when you mean "second", to get motion in the water. I thought that was a really light ND, until I realised what you meant! The images with the sea in the foreground were my favourites.

[@AndyMumford]

Yep, that's what I meant. Slip of the tongue

[@chrisjames1924]

Incredible landscape and beautiful images but I bet you got a load of sand in your lenses? I still have a couple I need to send in for a service as they now sound like pepper grinders. Worth it for places like this though....but probably best to leave your Noctilux primes at home!

[@AndyMumford]

Haha, I was warned in advance about sand in the lenses, so I had the camera pretty much covered most of the time it was windy and in the bag. However, I've still got sand in my bag.

[@sakura-saji]

Andy, this is amazing! Love your work! Happy to see you made it to Namibia. Its beautiful. Were you able to keep your camera gear safe from the sand? How did you manage it? All the best to you and your work.

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much for the comment. Haha, I'm still finding sand in my backpack now over a month after returning, and my lens still grinds a little. We tried to keep the sand off with covers around the lens and camera, but sooner or later it always finds a way in.

[@sakura-saji]

@@AndyMumford Thank you Andy.

[@dereklee9972]

Hi Andy, yet again amazing locations, amazing photo's! I really enjoyed watching this, seeing the stunning landscape that Namibia has to offer. I do have a question for you, how did you find shooting with the GFX100S, 23mm f4 for astro, did you find yourself wishing Fuji had a wide faster lens for this system? Thanks for taking us along with you!

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the video. The GFX doesn't really work as an astro camera, shooting at f4 isn't ideal. I only did it on this shoot in order to compare with other astro sessions I shot earlier on the trip with the XT4 and Viltrox 13mm f1.4. That turned out to be a much better combination

[@shy-guy5544]

Wonderful pictures. Did you use any particular Fuji film simulation? Thanks

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much. I shoot RAW, so I only really use the film simulations for what I see on the LCD and EVF.

[@Simon-Simon-Simon]

did the students take portrait shots of each other in that low light would be amazing

[@AndyMumford]

Haha, no I don't think anyone did

[@vincentlafon9498]

Congratulations Andy, very nice photographies! Is you switch from XT cameras to GFX100S definitive?

[@AndyMumford]

Thanks so much, really glad you enjoyed the video. I haven't really switched, I use both the GFX and the X system.

[@brucecrossan2284]

The Tongan volcano threw so much dust into the atmosphere that's it's responsible for the beautiful sunsets all around the world. . . I understand the effect will last for a couple of years

[@AndyMumford]

Maybe thats what it was. It was just the one night, but it was pretty special

[@hejakma4682]

This is really amazing, Andy. So you switched to GFX for your landscape work ?

[@AndyMumford]

I used the GFX for this trip, but I use both systems now. I didn't take the GFX with me on my last trip to Norway

[@michivanhalen7086]

Beautiful. Are you using Vero?

[@AndyMumford]

Thankyou. I haven’t started an account on Vero yet, still only Instagram

[@f0t0b0y]

1:41 It's depressing if none of you surfed that spot. Just look at those left handers. Just north of you is the current longest tube ride. 🤙🏽

[@AndyMumford]

Haha, half of my friends in Lisbon are surfers and asked me about the waves on the Skeleton Coast. That view at 1:41 though is looking south

[@f0t0b0y]

@@AndyMumford Yeah, it's been on the radar for I think the last 5 years. A surfer I've photographed absolutely crushed it and goes once a year now.

[@f0t0b0y]

@@AndyMumford Worth checking out - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXqxf2tvqtCgj6c

[@hubertcole1645]

You now full time with GFX? Hopefully not for I enjoy seeing your x series work.

[@AndyMumford]

I do own the GFX, but I use it side by side with the X System depending on requirements. I’m super excited about the XH2 and XT

[@Film_Fog]

now i understand why you gave up wedding photography ;)

[@AndyMumford]

Haha, well it''s been a very long time since I shot a wedding, but to be honest it was never something I loved and just did to be able to feed my love of shooting landscapes

[@iamkaysie]

Hi Andy, I was wondering, do you ever have difficulty navigating drone laws in other countries? I know in many countries you need registration or even permission to fly. Do you ever find regulations getting in the way of your plans?

[@AndyMumford]

Well for Namibia you can't fly in any of the national parks without a permit. One of the guides here had a permit and flew the drone for these shots. I always take care to only fly in place where it's permitted. If not, then I don't fly the drone. For example, in the previous video there's no drone footage as it's not permitted to fly in Sossusvlei

[@kai64]

Always wanted to go Africa but somehow I don’t feel safe in that region.

[@AndyMumford]

That's a shame, Namibia is safer than most European countries.

[@kai64]

@@AndyMumford but after watching this, I would give a try 👍

[@christianschmidt7466]

Pᵣₒmₒˢᵐ

[@robertleake3345]

"put some meat on the barbecue" and signal predators to "come get it"? NO THANKS!!!

[@AndyMumford]

Interesting. What kind of predators exactly do you think you get out here? Very few predators can survive out here in an area where the only water is the condensation on the plant leaves, and the only predators you'll see are jackets and brown hyena, neither of which would ever threaten a person. I come here with trained local guides who've spent their lives here.