When photographers think of my country they think of windmills, Amsterdam and tulips. These are generally the most photographed subjects in the Netherlands. What they don’t know is that my country turns purple in August. It usually starts mid or early Augusts and ends till the end of August. It turns a lot of areas completely purple.
What am I talking about? The heather plants. Compare it to the France Lavender fields that start a couple of weeks earlier in July. The purple heather fields in the Netherlands are a dream for any landscape photographer. Combine them with mist and you’ve got yourself a dreamscape that looks to be coming straight out of a fairytale. The misty mornings usually start in August also, when it gets cold at night and warm during the day. The temperature along with humidity makes for low fog that looks great combined with the purple heather.
In this 10-shot series In hope to convince photographers that they do not only have to come here during flower season in April and May. There’s another chance in August to get some beautiful landscape shots. All of these photos were taken during early mornings. It’s amazing to be walking around in these areas during the start of the day and enjoy the sound of almost nothing but wildlife.
‘Purple Heaven’
When the sun just rose early morning casting a beautiful glow on the mist.
‘Serenity’
When the sun gets higher the light gets harsh but it makes the possibility for some nice silhouet shooting with the mist separating the different layers.
‘Trees of Silence’
There are some beautiful characteristic trees in the heather landscapes. The mist perfectly separates them for the tree line and the purple heather on the foreground.
‘Dutch Africa’
Sometimes these scenes looks to be coming straight out of the African Savannah with very empty moods and unique trees. This shot has a moon setting in it.
‘Rising Layers’
When the sun is just up and the fog is thick it’s a joy to photograph with a telezoom to make use of layers in the composition.
‘Mushroom’
A storm cell in the distance that looks like a mushroom. It gives an unreal feeling with the combination of the purple heather landscape.
‘Purple Hills’
These hills are called ‘the Posbank’ in an area in the Netherlands. They are probably the most popular place for photographers to shoot the sunrise in August.
‘Mystery Morning’
But the hills are not the only place to photograph this purple beauty. As most people know, my country is mostly flat which can gives some beautiful feeling of emptiness when the fog separates the trees from the foreground.
‘Character’
Even way before sunrise with the first light coming above the horizon the atmosphere on the heather fields is magical with great characteristic trees everywhere around.
‘The Old Hag’
This tree is iconic. It’s dead since forever but still standing. It is always a great challenge to shoot it the right way as it is very difficult to compose.
About the Author
Albert Dros is an award winning landscape photographer based in Amsterdam. He is a Sony Global Ambassador and has had his work featured by the likes of TIME, National Geographic and Huffington Post. You can find out more about him on his website, follow his work on Instagram and Facebook, or reach out to him through Twitter. This article was also published here and used with permission.
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