Landscape photography of a typical dramatic sky in The Netherlands
Dutch landscape painters of cloudscapes and skies
If you have ever visited the Netherlands, and you’ve stayed there during the spring or autumn season, you must have noticed that our weather can change very quickly. The climate in our country has always been, for many centuries, harsh during winter times and dynamic throughout the year. Those dynamic weather conditions make for the perfect cloudscapes and landscape photography in The Netherlands during these times! Both the summer and winter can be very beautiful, but somehow the magic isn’t the same and the sky is less dramatic during these times.
Hermitage
Whilst visiting a very unique museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, called “Hermitage’ I’ve learned that the old dutch masters of painting from the 16-17th century and myself as a landscape photographer have something in common; I too see the landscapes and cloudscapes of my own country, as the inspiration for much of my work and dramatic cloudscapes are a big part of them.
Work by Salomon van Ruysdael; Ferry boat near Arnheim - shown in the hermitage in St. Petersburg. Look how the eye is drawn to the right bottom of this painting; where the horizon meets the clouds and the ships, sailing down the river. The colors used to portrait the skies are stunning and the atmosphere and scenery captured by the painter are truly detailed, realistic and from a high quality
This work really put a little smile and giggle on my face, when I saw the painting and I heard the narrator explain to me how it was painted, with what idea in mind and what the viewer can see. It's exactly how I look at our landscape and how my eye tries to find this kind of depth, drama, and composition.
The old famous dutch landscape painters, such as these incredible masters:
Gillis claesz de hondecoeter.
Meindert hobbema.
Pieter molijn.
Jacob van ruisdael.
Salomon van ruysdael.
Adriaen van de velde.
Jan josefsz van goyen.
Isaac jansz van ostade.
These Masters of their trade have always been praised for their ability to paint these skies in such a unique way, that they are considered to be the best cloud and landscape painters of their time, and perhaps even the best ever. They are able to understand the layers of which the colors create these romantic, scenic and picturesque skies full of dramatic clouds. Of course, they have lived their lives in the dutch landscapes and had plenty of time seeing the true colors of the sky during sunrise and sunsets, and during daylight hours, especially during that time of the year when the sun is still low, in spring and autumn, colors of the sky turn yellow, pinkish and the blue is soft and hazy.
Dramatic skies and cloudscapes in the works of Rudolfo Dalamicio
In my work, I too have been inspired by those powerful skies, that always seem to be different but so beautiful and have incredible soft color tones.
The winds in the Netherlands are strong and not always fun to feel, especially when you drive your bicycle around town, but, the moment you take a look up early morning, you know it's all for the right reasons.
When taking out your camera, and you arrive at your landscape destination ( for that I usually use the website locationscout.net for the best spots around the country - everywhere around the world), you can rest assured that you won't be disappointed.
When I walk around the country, I always pack my Peak Design Camera Clip V3 to easy acces my Canon Mark III 5D
Dramatic skies at different times of the day
Now as most photographers know already, the day has been divided in different categories, and they are the following:
Night
The blue hour, usually long in the summers, and very short in wintertime ( depending on the location of course)
Golden hour
Day time
And again Golden hour
Bluehour
Here are some sky examples, mostly from the Netherlands, where you can clearly see the different atmosphere and scene created by the clouds and colors of the sky.
Night
The Milky way seen in Spain in the middle of the night
Blue hour sunrise
Blue hour in the Winter in National park The Netherlands
Golden hour sunrise
Golden hour power in Russia, Suzdal, 2022
Day time
On the island of Sumba, at the edge of a cliff
Golden hour sunset
Golden hour at a lake in Russia
Blue hour sunset
A summer night in Italy, where the moon is up and the blue sky is getting ready to sleep
A very interesting article found on this topic, can be red here: http://bib.gfz-potsdam.de/pub/wegezurkunst/realities/realities%20in%20the%20skies.pdf
Come and enjoy The Netherlands
All in all, definitely worth to come and visit The Netherlands, and get some amazing landscape photography for your own portfolio. Best times to travel to the Netherlands are spring and summer. And if you like to hike and enjoy the beauty of our forest, you can also visit in fall.
That’s it for me today! I hope you’ve enjoyed some images and are enthusiastic about heading out there yourself.
All the best photography moment to you. Regards, Rudolfo Dalamicio