Bulb Exposure

Every Dutch landscape photographer should have a picture of the world famous dutch flower fields right? It’s a cliché image to have in your portfolio but if done right it add’s great colour and perspective.
Last year I had my very first try. I was staking out possible locations on the internet and after weeks of planning the moment finally arrived The conditions were right and off I went to Sassenheim to find out that I was to late! It was the 9nth of May and all the tulips had been ’topped’ and their magnificent colors were gone… I decided to take a shot anyway and here’s the result of the ‘leftovers’.

This year I was prepared! I started early with searching for the right location and as soon as the conditions allowed I went for it. It’s about a half hour drive from my home and I got there about an hour before sunset. This time I was a little early, not in the day but in the season, the long and cold winter had delayed the growth of the flowers and not every field was in bloom yet. Especially my chosen location needed to grow a little longer. I went for plan B (always have a backup plan) and headed to the next location close by, but it was the same, the young plants just did’nt bloom. I drove around, luckily there was still plenty of time before the sun was setting so I took a small tour of the region. I decided to be bold, parked my car down the road and in front of the owners house I stepped over a hedge into a tulip field in full bloom…

Here’s an iPhone shot of the setup.

The wind was very strong so I had to be careful. I noticed that some of my shots weren’t usable due to the motion blur caused by the strong wind moving the tulips. So every time I took a shot I just waited for the wind to settle a little. Finally the sun allmost set and I got the shot I wanted. Normally I make a vertical shot as well but these just didn’t seem to work right. Because of the strong winds the clouds had all disappeared and the sky was just too normal/blue.