News Photography

Closeup Photos of Frozen Flowers on Fruit Trees

April 4, 2022

Spring is a beautiful season in the Netherlands. Every year there are many different flowers to see and photograph. You might know me for my many years of photographing tulips, but there are so many more beautiful flowers to see in the Netherlands!

During spring we occasionally get some very cold nights here during spring with temperatures dropping way below zero. When that happens, fruit growers spray all of their fruit trees with water during the night and early morning. This actually protects flowers — perhaps the opposite of what you would expect. Sleepless nights for the fruit growers, but beautiful frozen flowers in the morning.

The water freezes around the flowers and buds and gives a protective layer for the ‘real’ destructive frost. In the morning the water unfreezes from the first sunlight, and most flowers awaken untouched! The frozen water around the flowers gives a magical effect!

This photo series shows frozen flowers on the morning of Sunday, April 3rd in the Betuwe area of the Netherlands, which is famous for its fruit trees.

Plum blossoms awaken two hours after sunrise by the first sunlight under a blue sky.

Water spray constantly spraying the little flower buds of pear blossoms, making the water freeze around them and also causing beautiful ice pinnacles below them.

The little red flower buds are apple blossoms.

Sometimes the ice creates spectacular structures around the flowers. In this case, it looks like a tie!

Getting very close to the little apple blossom buds where you can see how they are ‘in peace’ in their little shell of frozen water.

A wider view of the trees getting sprayed by the water with the first light of the day.

I really liked the contrast between the red buds and the crystal clear ice created by the water. The red really makes it pop through the ice.

Here you can see how the water bulbs are still thick as this was photographed before the sun rose with temperatures still way below zero. The ice is crystal clear as you can see the little flower bud right through it.

Taken more than 2 hours after sunset when this water bulb melted halfway, exposing the flower the sun unharmed.

A slightly wider view of the apple blossoms.

Frozen blossoms, that actually look like just one flower on itself with the frozen structure.

Two flowers that awaken from their melted ice.

Super close up of an apple blossom bud in its very early stage.

Special thanks to local Betuwe photographers that photograph this beautiful sight every year, in particular Ronald Verwijs that pushed me to come and see (and photograph) it.

All the photos above were shot with the Sony a7R IV, Sony 90mm Macro, and Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM Mark II.

About the author: Albert Dros is an award-winning Dutch photographer. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. His work has been published by some of the world’s biggest media channels, including TIME, The Huffington Post, The Daily Mail, and National Geographic. You can find more of his work on his website, or by following him on Facebook and Instagram. This article was also published here.

Author: Albert Dros
Source: Petapixel

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