Keukenhof Tulips

This post will feature tips on shooting flowers with a DSLR in the Keukenhof garden! The overall trip to the gardens took 4 hours and although we spent 2.5 hours at the gardens itself, we only got to see one half of the park so TIP #1: Give yourself 4+ hours to enjoy it all if you have extra time! Since the busses send people off here in herds, the park is very crowded, which brings me to TIP #2: be patient while shooting.

TIP #3: Use a prime lens for a shallow depth-of-field to single out a particular flower/bud. However, since I didn't bring any prime lenses with me on this trip, I used my 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 lens and zoomed in for a shallower DoF (the longer telephoto lens, the greater depth of field).

Camera settings: 100mm | 1/4000sec | f/5.0

TIP #4: Shooting when cloudy allows for better diffused lighting, and avoids any harsh bright spots. It was partly cloudy and partly sunny when we were there, so I would wait until it got cloudy to shoot. However, you can also play with backlighting when the sun is out!

When it got cloudy:

TIP #5: Shoot with a shutter speed of 1/200th or higher to reduce motion blur from any wind.

TIP #6: Since there are so many flowers, take the time to compose your shots, and experiment! There are also very cute kiddos running around, so watch out for them as well!

Finally, just remember to enjoy the gardens. All the flowers and people can be overwhelming, but there are certain spots with less people and still just as beautiful tulips.