Once you’ve been out to take pictures of the tulips as many times as I have you start to get a bit bored with the standard images of rows of flowers and the usual shots.

I have tried to find some different elements to add to the image, something in the foreground maybe to create a bit of the different look and feel.

Water and reflections do the trick nicely, accenting the colors and maybe the sky.

Are you interested in a Tulip Photo Tour? Here is the link for the details!

Living so close by affords more opportunity to visit often, and so I can make it there for sunrises and sunsets easily. Nothing adds more to a tulip shot than an dramatic sky!

Finding interesting foreground elements is based on where the tulips are each year. Every new year the crops are rotated. Some years they are near a barn, others a grove of trees…

This year (2016) is more difficult, the only interesting foreground element was a school bus. These are from sunrise on March 30.

Including people in the images is also an option, one I tend to avoid, but often with good results.

The two (so far) elusive shots I dream of are: a huge, gob-smacking rainbow over the tulips, and as unlikely as it may be, lightning firing above the fields. One can always hope!