Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Skagit Valley Tulips
Skagit Valley Tulips 2015
Rain is common here in Western Washington, November to March can be trying months with their relative dark and wetness. March and April bring a respite from this pattern, thankfully affording sun and color to what had been a dull and bland several months.
In spring the weather here in Skagit County often clears in the late afternoon/early evening. Yesterday was a great example: The morning brought rain and strong winds; there were several short spurts when the rain came down in buckets.
And then like magic, a few sun breaks appeared, some small chinks in the armor of the clouds. We jumped in the car and made it down to the center of this year’s tulips (so far) a patchwork of tulips along Best Road.
Skagit Valley Tulips 2015
Other people had the same idea, there were about 50 or so people out there, like wise enjoying the clouds, sky…and flowers!
The hard rain made a quagmire of the pathways and fields, the mud had a special viscosity and color that matched with the tulips nicely.
Skagit Valley Tulips 2015
Hard rain means puddles. There is not much that gets me more excited (photographically speaking, that is) than puddles!
As I slowly made my way through the pathways between the tulip fields the light came alive with color.
The textures and tones of the tulips, petals and stems both, were electrifying.
Skagit Valley Tulips 2015
My son, dressed in proper mud attire, was all too happy to model for me whilst managing to get sucked down into the mud more than once.
As the earth’s rotation turned away from the Sun the trees along the edges of the field made wonderful silhouettes.
Skagit Valley Tulips 2015
The tulips are early this year, some years we don’t see the blooming start until the second week of April.
Skagit Valley Tulip Photo Tours
If you would like to come be a part of the tulip festival and get a guided photo tour , there is still time and some openings for my Tulip Photo Tours. Each day has two tours, one for sunrise and the other for sunset. I will guide you to not only find the best spots to capture images, but will also provide spot-on advices for exposure, composition and post capture photo editing.
If you would like to get enrolled, here is the link.
