The Little Prince was one of my favorite books growing up as a child. I particularly loved the illustrations of the baobab in the book, as they seems so other-worldy and magical. I recently had the opportunity to go to Tanzania and photograph these magnificent, sacred forces of nature. It was a dream come true, and an experience I will never, ever forget. In this image, a small Maasai shepherd stands beside the baobab - my Tanzanian ode to The Little Prince.
Two things about the approach. One, I wanted to photograph them at night, as I felt that was when the baobabs would feel the most magical. I put the camera on a tripod, and did assorted long exposures from evening into night, making sure I could get the stars. I then plated difference exposures together to create the final image. Secondly, i felt it was critical to give the viewer a sense of how massive these giant trees truly are. Thus, all the images have a local Maasai tribes person in them to give a sense of scale.
