There are 3 good reasons that I take so many pictures of the Tulip Festival each year:
1. Tulips are incredibly colorful!
2. They are very close by!
3. The mountains are still covered with snow!
So, here is a sampling of my favorite images of the Tulips (and Daffodils!) from this year!
Here is the cover of the March-April Northwest Travel Magazine, featuring one of my favorite tulip images…
Here is my original image…
Next months issue will feature another cover shot I took, in the North Cascades National Park. Here is the image.
These images were taken at sunrise, on March 13th, 2014!
Skagit Valley is famous for tulips in the spring. And daffodils! Each year the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival harkens the arrival of spring to the Pacific Northwest.
There are hundreds of acres of tulips and daffodils. If you want to visit, here is a link to the Bloom Map.
Daffodils bloom first, there three large fields alight now, with more to come. The arrival of the tulips generally happens in the first week of April, but it always depends on how many sunny days we get!
March has arrived and it’s not too long now (hopefully!) until it gets a little warmer and the flowers start to arrive.
Rows of Reds, Reflected
This months issue of NW Travel Mag with one of my images on the cover!
I live in Skagit County, named after the Skagit Indians and Skagit River) in the NW corner of Washington State. And among its other striking features such as the North Cascades and Puget Sound we have the Tulip Festival every April. 
Yellows at sunset
I understand that outside of Holland there are more tulips grown here than anywhere. The valley floor has a wide expanse of fertile, flat farmland and near the towns of Mount Vernon and La Conner there are fields and fields of bright tulips. 
Infinite Pinks
Each year the bloom times change, but generally its mid April when they are at their height of color.
This is a web site that has a link for a map showing exactly where the fields are and when they are abloom.
Rows and people
Every Saturday and Sunday the roads are crammed with cars forming long lines. This is not a good time to come! If you do come on the weekend make sure to arrive for either sunrise or sunset. I am often out for the sunrise and the fields are bright a crisp, a few workers and photographers are there, and that’s about it.
Weekdays are the best, plan to arrive about 5 or 6. The tulipy stores are closed and the manicured gardens. But the huge expansive fields are alive with the hue of low light and alive with vibrance!
Yellowy mud!
Make sure to dress for mud, and bring your tripod and polarizer!
Reds and a dramatic sky
If you decide to make the trip for a sunrise or sunset and want a tour guide, make sure to let me know! I am always happy to have company!
These two images are from 2012, I was reviewing folders for a submission and found these two backlit shots.
And some Daffodil shots with nice lighting. 
All four are early morning shots. You just can’t beat the sky, and details from light at a low angle.
These images are from 2012. I recently revisited these images with new found skills using Photoshop Camera RAW.
If you are not capturing your images as RAW, you really should start! Even of you don’t have PS or know how to use it, some day you may…and when that day comes and you see all that you can do you will be most happy that you have your “old” images stored somewhere as RAW files… 
Here are the original files of the images above.
I am blessed, being so close to the Skagit Valley tulip fields (not to mention the North Cascades and a whole host of other marvelous places…)
I am reviewing more than 40 photo shoots from this year, eight of which were visits to the flower fields. Here is a sampling of this years best images. 
Skagit County is in the northwest corner of Washington State. Sunsets in the valley are magnificent, full of hue and texture. Expanses of sky, fields of flowers (and/or mud!), barns and tulips, its a great place to capture colors. 
North Western Images - photos by Andy Porter 