Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/3000 sec @ f/1.4
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/3000 sec @ f/1.4

Two weeks ago I realised that if I wanted to photograph heather in bloom, I had to hurry. Somehow I noticed the few tufts of heather at my work being purple, but it didn’t really sink in. But when I stumbled across something on the web, claiming the best time to visit heather fields was half of August, it finally dawned on me. There is a chance to photograph some purple fields, but I have to start making plans asap! So on my free Wednesday I took the train to Rheden to explore De Posbank, a heather field in the national park The Veluwe, which has hills that are really uncommon in The Netherlands.

Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/4000 sec @ f/2.4
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/4000 sec @ f/2.4
Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/1000 sec @ f/5.6
Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/1000 sec @ f/5.6

I have to admit that purple is my favourite color, I even have purple walls in my house. So being surrounded by vast purple fields made me feel like I was in heaven. I thoroughly enjoyed walking in this area. And apart from great fields, I also found some pretty trees…

Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/500 sec @ f/5.6
Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/500 sec @ f/5.6
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/1500 sec @ f/1.4
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/1500 sec @ f/1.4

Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/2000 sec @ f/1.4Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/2000 sec @ f/1.4

By the way, this kind of height difference is pretty rare around here:

Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/1500 sec @ f/1.4
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/1500 sec @ f/1.4

The other day I read somewhere that the purple is more saturated this year because of the rain we had this summer. I knew it was good for something…

Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/1000 sec @ f/2.8
Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/1000 sec @ f/2.8
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/4000 sec @ f/1.4
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/4000 sec @ f/1.4

Although I am pretty happy with the images I was able to make, I thought there was a greater potential. I really wanted to get back here around dawn to combine the purple with some special light. So I went back in the weekend. I was a bit late because of navigation issues, but in the end I was pretty happy. Again clouds, I didn’t really expect that, but the some sun too:

Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/180 sec @ f/16
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/180 sec @ f/16
Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/350 sec @ f/4.8
Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/350 sec @ f/4.8
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/180 sec @ f/16
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/180 sec @ f/16 (Panorama from three images)

Being there early in the morning came with an extra bonus: I ran into two deer. Below you can find one in the area with yellow grass. With the 35mm lens though it is kind of a puzzle. So I changed it for my 90mm lens, which is still not enough, specifically if the deer starts running away (which it did of course). However, I had to include the photo with the running deer, although even in the cropped photo it is still pretty small. And not totally sharp, as I need more practising my manual focus-skills. But this one is almost-sharp, so I am a bit proud of it.

Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/500 sec @ f/3.4
Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/500 sec @ f/3.4
Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/250 sec @ f/4.8
Leica Tele-Elmarit 1:2.8/90mm; 1/250 sec @ f/4.8

After this the weather got worse, meaning rain and thunderstorm. I almost packed my stuff to go home, but I wanted to go to a different location, so I gave it another try. I am so happy I did, because the storm gave the sky some pretty spectacular colors. I found it difficult to make a selection of my photos, hence the photo-heavy post. Please let me know your favourite!

Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/45 sec @ f/9.5
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/45 sec @ f/9.5
Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/90 sec @ f/6.8
Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/90 sec @ f/6.8
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/1500 sec @ f/1.4
Summilux 1:1.4/50mm; 1/1500 sec @ f/1.4
Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/60 sec @ f/6.8
Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/60 sec @ f/6.8
Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/60 sec @ f/4.0
Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/60 sec @ f/4.0
Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/30 sec @ f/5.6 (Panorama from 2 images)
Summicron M 1:2/35mm ASPH; 1/30 sec @ f/5.6 (Panorama from 2 images)

Thanks for reading!

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