Sunset on the Dutch coast

One of the latest additions to the Dutch coast is this beach in the northwest near the village of Petten. Previously there was just a straight and rather boring dyke along the coast here, but they actually build sand dunes and a sandy beach in front of the dyke. Artificial, like a lot of Dutch nature, but at least it is starting to look somewhat natural :).

On the new beach they put up these large wooden poles in the surf. A potential new iconic photo spot in The Netherlands if you ask me. With high water the sea just reaches the base of the poles, so timing is essential here – high water has to coincide with sunset for the best results. Past monday the clouds looked promising on the satellite images and the timing could be absolutely right. While at first the sun seemed to disappear behind clouds on the horizon, it was right after sunset that the sky started to catch fire. It has been a while since I last was able to capture perfect light conditions like this. So I was smiling from ear to ear as I was standing on this lonely beach with these colours right above me. Worth the wet feet and frozen hands!