I'm a Dutch photographer and have been capturing tulips in my homeland from every possible angle for more than a decade. So I asked myself: What's next?
Recently, the Dutch Tulip Society, an international network of tulip parks and festivals, contacted me with the direct answer to that question: They asked me if I wanted to photograph tulips outside of the Netherlands, all around the world!
The first stop was Yancheng, China, to the Holland Flower Park in Dafeng. I didn't really know what to expect. But once I arrived, I was amazed! Not only did they have a crazy amount of tulips, they also had many Dutch buildings. In fact, they have a whole Dutch-themed village called Holland Village. The backstory to this is that 100 years ago, a Dutch water engineer supported the local community in creating arable lands, on which nowadays millions of tulips are showcased for the public to enjoy!
In this photo series, you can see this incredible place, complete with many flowers, windmills, and even a spectacular church building!
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#21 Evening Windmill
In evening times most people left, but the park is still very beautiful, with a lot of nice lights and details on the buildings.
11points
#22 Fairytale
10points
#23 The Church Building
The church building, beautifully lit during the evening. Some of the Dutch landmark’s lighting can really learn from the Chinese. The lighting on this was spectacular. As you can see, this building was inspired by the looks of the beautiful Dutch churches.
10points
#24 Color Palettes
The variety of tulips planted in combination with greenery and different flowers created some beautiful harmonious color palettes.
10points
#25 Dutch Traditional Houses
You can see the Chinese went to great lengths to replicate the Dutch atmosphere. If I didn't tell you this was China, you would probably think this was a small Dutch village in the countryside.
9points
#26 The Perfect Picture
Of course, they had a real windmill in the park. It's funny that as a photographer, we always try to find that perfect photo of a beautiful tulip field with a windmill in the background. This is different each year as the fields are always slightly different. In Dafeng, they know what people want, and they just put the windmill right there where people want it. The paint is a little over the top for me, but awesome nonetheless.
9points
#27 Amsterdam Station?
A crazy replica of the Amsterdam Station, with lighting and everything. Very impressive. When I posted this on my social media, some people thought it was the real thing.
9points
#28 The Locals 2
9points
#29 Top Down 3
9points
#30 The Locals 3
9points
#31 Foggy Windmill
The Chinese know that I like fog! Ha, they are way ahead of us photographers. They use big water humidifiers in a lot of places, spraying water. Not sure if these are actually meant for photos, but I used them to my advantage. They were actually spraying the tulips around them to keep them wet, especially during the warmer days.
8points
#32 Top Down 2
8points
#33 Top Down 5
8points
#34 Evening Flowers
8points
