10 Tips for Heather Photography

I have been shooting heathlands in the Netherlands for more than ten years, and I still go back every season. They are close to home, they are quiet, and they never look the same twice. It is not just a Dutch thing either. There is beautiful heather in Belgium, in Germany, and all over the UK. Scotland has some of the best heather landscapes in the world.

What I love about heathland is that it keeps changing. Trees grow, branches break, new ones come up. The bloom moves around too. One year a spot is full of heather, the next year that same spot looks dull and the field across the path is the good one. You can walk the same trail for ten years and still find something new. That is why I keep going back.

Here are some of my tips.

Know the Season

August is the best month for the blooming purple heather. That is when the heather is in full bloom and the fields turn deep purple. But do not skip the rest of the year. Heathlands look great in every season: green in spring, golden brown in autumn, frost and snow in winter. There is always something to shoot.

The same heathland in winter, with the first light hitting the frosted birches.

Scout During the Day

This is my most important tip. Walk the area in the middle of the day, when the light is 'boring' and look for compositions: a lone tree, a curving path, a group of birches at the edge of the field. Remember where they are, then come back for morning or evening light. Also learn and understand how the light will affect the scene: where does the sun come up? Where do I get the backlight?

Do this again every year. The spot that was great last August can be the dull one this time, and a field you walked right past can suddenly be the best one. And a walk through the heather is lovely anyway, even without a camera.

Go out on Humid Mornings

Heathlands are damp most of the time, and on cold nights without wind you get fog over the fields. Mist over purple heather is just so beautiful!

This is what I check in the forecast: a clear night, no wind, and a dew point close to the lowest temperature. That is the mix that makes ground fog. If all three line up, set your alarm early. These mornings are rare, and the mist is often gone within an hour after sunrise.

Fog over the heather at first light, with the moon still up. Sony A7R II · FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS · 29mm · f/13 · 1.3s · ISO 100

Look for Sun Rays

There are almost always trees and forest next to a heath field. Use them. When the low morning sun shines through the trunks and branches you get those beautiful beams of light across the ground. This works best on the misty mornings I just talked about, because you can only see the rays when there is something in the air: mist, haze, or dew coming off the field.

Stand so the sun is behind the trees, not in open sky. And move around a lot. Two steps left or right can change everything. Shoot into the light, and get the purple heather fields in the foreground.

Morning sun breaking through the pines, with the mist making the rays visible. Sony A7R IV · E 28-75mm F2.8-2.8 · 49mm · f/14 · 1/10s · ISO 100

Try Backlight on the Flowers Themselves

This one is close to the last tip but not the same. With the sun low and behind the heather, the flowers light up and the whole field starts to glow. Get low and shoot through some flowers in the foreground. It is the easiest way to turn a normal patch of heather into a nice photo. I often use a bit of a longer lens for that. This one was taken with my 70-200 f/2.8.

Low sun behind the flowers, with dew still on them.

Look for Animals

You often see deer and Scottish Highland cattle in Dutch heathlands. Sit low so they do not spot you so fast, and use the purple heather as a soft foreground. A long lens, a low angle and blooming heather in front of the animal always works. Move slowly, and do not get closer than the animal is fine with. In this one I did not even frame heather. I loved the glowy atmosphere from the morning mist and the backlight.

Scottish Highland cattle under an old oak on a misty morning.

Get in Close

There is so much to see in the heather if you really look. The little plants, the bell heather, but also the small animals hiding in there. I once found this big green bush-cricket which looked so good against the purple. And in the morning there are always spiderwebs full of dew drops. Bring a macro lens, or just get close with the lens you have. And I took this one just in the middle of the day during a 'scouting session'!

A green bush-cricket sitting in the heather, right next to the path.

Be Creative

Try different lenses. Wide angle for the big view, telephoto to stack the layers of heather and trees, macro for the details. Also play with the moment and the season. I have shot the heather with a rising moon and mist, and even with the northern lights. The purple of the heather looked great with the colors of the aurora. Do not only shoot the obvious moments :)

The northern lights over a Dutch heathland. The purple of the aurora and the purple of the heather in one frame. Sony A7R V · FE 14mm F1.8 GM · 14mm · f/4 · 30s · ISO 2000

My Favorite Locations (in NL)

Zuiderheide and Westerheide near Hilversum, and 'de Posbank'. But there are so many more. Just search for "heide" on Google Maps and you will find the areas near you. And if you ever get the chance, go to Scotland in late August. The heather runs up the hills there as far as you can see.

One of my favorite trees, on a morning with mist and a clean sunrise.

Enjoy the Heather!

This is the most important one. The bloom only lasts a few weeks. Bring your camera, but also take the time to just walk and look around. After ten years it still gets me out of bed at four in the morning. The heather in bloom is always beautiful!

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at info@albertdros.com.

One more thing: my coffee table book 'The Beauty of the Netherlands' has a whole chapter on my heather landscapes here in the Netherlands. You can get it here, shipping worldwide!