Kolmanskop - a ghost town

[Kaye Leggett]

Another stop on our recent trip to Namibia and another photographers dream, The abandoned diamond minig town of Kolmanskop which is being reclaimed by the sand dunes around it We spent fantastic 3-4 hours here and shot lots of images before the day was too hot and the wind too strong (which is the time to put the cameras away from the blowing sand). Here is a small selection

A general view





And a more ghostly look








Some of the buildings have been renovated and doors/windows kept shut to stop the sand encroaching. Anyone for a game of ten pin bowling 1930's style ?





It is the sand and details inside the buildings that provide the most evocative shots

















I tried to find the ghosts...............








C&C welcome - I doubt I will get an opportunity to revisit, but I can improve on processing.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Geoff F]

Yes, very good, and there were obviously some tricky light scenes there.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice set Kaye 1 and 8 are my favs.

[rpcrowe]

Kaye, it certainly looks like this town was affluent in its era. Of course, diamonds are a valuable quantity...

Great shots BTW...

[Kaye Leggett]

Yes, very good, and there were obviously some tricky light scenes there.

Thanks Geoff. The light was a challenge but with all that sand around it was easy to set up the tripod ! It was also one of those locations on our travels which I knew we were visiting so was able to do some research beforehand.

Thanks Binnur and John for looking.

Richard, indeed very wealthy. One statistic is that due to its low population at one point it had the highest per capita income in the world.

[Ken MT]

The same building in2006. Scanned Velva slide film

[Kaye Leggett]

Ken, indeed, one of the classic shots. And interesting to see the sand here has not incroached much in 10 years I suppose because the prevailing wind is from the rear.

[Dave Humphries]

Fascinating series Kaye, thanks for sharing.

With reagard to improving your processing, the only one that stuck out as needing attention (on my radar), was #10, which seems to lack a correctly set black level/point.

Conversely; #9 struck me as being well processed for the tonal range - very natural looking despite the vast dynamic range (apparent in #8).

Well done, Dave

[IzzieK]

All good ones, Kaye...I particularly like the ghostly figure...

[CormacD]

Absolutely amazing Kaye, well done. Your series tells a fascinating story and leaves me with many questions about the shear waste in a country where a lot of people could do with improved housing, I assume. Although I appreciate that the desert is not the best place to live unless someone is paying good money.

[Stagecoach]

That's one impressive set of images Kaye

The interior shots are may favourites.

[Dave A]

Wonderful set! Really enjoyed viewing these images because not only are they well taken but quite interesting too.

Dave

[NorthernFocus]

Really a nice set, Kaye. As others have mentioned the interior shots are most dramatic. Definitely an interesting location and well displayed by your images. Well done.

[Kaye Leggett]

Thanks all for continued comments and encouragement

Dave - thanks for the feedback and technical info. I have looked again at 10 and set the black point - I ended up altering the exposure too so that the image was not too dark.
Izzie - my husband is flattered
Lindsay - Namibia is a great country - I wouldn't want to live in Kolmanskop as it is trully desert and very windy, but it is only 10kms from the coastal town of Luderitz which, apart from being in the middle of nowhere as you are not able to go either north or south along the coast, is a nice town where accommodation is of a good standard. There is a township area in the capital but even this is better than South Africa - so a minor success story. Mind you when you are the second least populated country on earth with only 2.3 million residents you would hope that the authorities couldn't get it too wrong.
Thanks Dave, Graeme and Dan - it was, as I said, a photographers paradise.

The amended photo