Last night I was out conducting a photo tour of the tulip fields and encountered this lovely lady with a very photogenic umbrella. The conditions were favorable for a very nice image.
Stormy Skies, Sun ad an Umbrella
I made a trip last weekend to Palouse Falls State Park.
Caught the sunset.
Palouse Falls State Park – Sunset
Espied a few Yellow Bellied Marmots.
Yellow Bellied Marmot
Camped the night.
Palouse Falls State Park Campground
Captured a nice image of the falls in the moonlight.
Palouse Falls State Park Moonlight
and got this last parting shot of the sunrise.
Palouse Falls State Park Morning Light
This last Saturday the rains hit, a real deluge…windy and storms, a day to stay indoors!
Late afternoon arrives and there was a hit of blue peaking out of the gray.
It’s hard to predict if the dark skies will win the battle or if there will be a late-day clearing, but I decided to make the gamble and head out to the tulips field all abloom in La Conner.
The mud was slick and deep, the sun and clouds perfectly in harmony and the colors! The colors were to die for.
I spent a few hours here, until the sun set.
Skagit Valley is located in NW Washington State and is home of some of the most stunning scenery anywhere. Spring brings amazing colors to the low lands, giant fields of tulips and daffodils create a patchwork of heaven. The Tulips have just gotten started this year, if you’d like to come for a visit and have a Tulip Photo Tour, we still have openings for Sunrise and Sunset tours this spring, have a look here.
This year has been especially warm here in Western Washington and our spring has come early. The ski areas have closed and today was more than 65 F.
That translates to early bloom dates for tulips!
Skagit Valley Tulips
In early February we saw the arrival of daffodils and today I made a sunrise visit to the first tulip field that has popped open!
The workers were arriving, getting their bearings and starting to head out into the fields.
The day turned out so warm! And the sky is still filled with wondrous clouds…I hope they last until sunset!
Skagit Valley Tulips 2015
If you would like to come for a sunrise or sunset Tulip Tour, now is the time to get registered!
Living here in Skagit Valley not far from Tulip Heaven I am able to visit the tulip fields every day. As tulip season gets started I head out to scout the new year’s tulip and daffodil field locations and plan where are the best spots (and times, mornings or evenings) for capturing fabulous images.
The best time of day to visit the tulip fields is early morning or late afternoon. The low light and clouds offer some incredible back drops for the flowers.
Skagit Valley Tulips 2015
The best days to visit are Monday through Friday to avoid the throngs of people. On Tulip Festival Weekends after 10am, the entire tulip area is mired in a horrible traffic snarl. Weekends between 9am and 5pm are times to avoid the tulip fields, unless you enjoy traffic!
This tour is available Monday through Friday, every week that the flowers are blooming. The tour starts at 3pm and ends at 10pm. (Note: the times and itinerary are always up for change, depending on your preferences!)
Itinerary:
3:00 – Meet at Skagit Food Coop, relax, discuss photo techniques.
3:30 – Begin our photo tour at either of the two main Tulip Tourist centers (Optional)
5:00 – Drive out to several of the year’s best locations to get great evening shots of the flowers at sunset.
8:30/9:00 – Head out for a bite to eat and a review of images and tips on editing.
Cost: $150 per person Note: Each tour is limited to no more than 5 people
Skagit Valley Tulips 2015
This tour is available every day, 7 days a week, every week that the flowers are blooming. The tour starts at 5am and ends at 10am. (Note: the times and itinerary are always up for change, depending on your preferences!)
Itinerary:
5:00 am – Meet at Starbucks for coffee/tea and to discuss photo techniques.
6:00 am – Drive to several of the year’s best locations to get great morning shots of the flowers at sunrise.
9:00 am – Head out for a bite to eat and a review of images and tips on editing.
Cost: $150 per person Note: Each tour is limited to no more than 5 people
Weather
Skagit Valley Weather in the spring is…unpredictable. We can have snow, rain and sun, all in the same afternoon! Some days are gray and overcast, others with totally blue skies, but most often we will have a mix, throughout the day of clouds and sky. Rain is common. I have often seen days where it rained hard all day long, and in the late afternoon partially cleared into the most fantastic skies.
Skagit Valley Tulips 2015
Start of the Copper Ridge trail
Recently I received a photo request from a magazine looking for images of Copper Ridge in North Cascades National Park.
When I receive a photo request for a location I’ve visited and have decent images, I go and review the folders and choose the shots that I feel best fit my idea of what the publication is looking for.
I will have a look at the original images and their edited versions, trying to decide if I may have learned any new Photoshop skills since my last editing session, and if so, I open the original raw files and start the editing process over, from the beginning, on each shot that I feel holds promise.
Ruth Mountain and Mount Shuksan
I have no idea whether any of the images will be chosen for publication, in fact the chances are against me, but its fun to revisit these fantastic places and relive my short visit to their majesty.
These images are all a part of that process. You can view these images, and more North Cascades Vistas in my gallery where they can be purchased as canvas prints and fine art prints.
North Cascades National Park, in Washington State, is one of the most rugged and least accessible National Parks in the lower 48. Lots of rain and thick flora make the mountains a sheer hell to bushwhack through. So, most travel in the back country is along trails. The northern section of the park has few trails really, there are large sections of mountain fastness that people very rarely visit.
Evening light at Copper Ridge
One very popular trail is along Copper Ridge. The trail starts at the Hannegan Trail head and crosses over Hannegan Pass and then heads up Copper Ridge. There is a campsite atop the ridge, Silesia Camp. Its small, only two or three tent pads. But the views are spectacular. From here you can see Mount Shuksan, and Ruth Mountain, straight across the valley and, a little to the west, Easy Ridge and Whatcom Peak in front of Mount Challenger, draped with glaciers, and just south of this massif, the needles of the fabled Picket Range jut skyward.
Its a cool campsite!
Silesia Camp
Just below the camp is small Egg Lake, with a few more tent pads. The trail heads northerly from here, to the top and the Copper Ridge Lookout. Rangers man the lookout through the summer and this is the highest point on the trail, at almost 7,000 feet.
From here the path descends down to the shore of aqua blue Copper Lake. This is the next spot where you can camp, but the views are lacking. Its a great place to stop for lunch and a swim!
The ridge hike follows the contours through forests and meadows, now and again popping out into the open for more jaw dropping vistas until, finally reaching its end, you plunge steeply down more than 4,500 feet to a ford of the Chilliwack River.
If you make the trip in early August you may be lucky enough to find yourself fording the river full of spawning salmon!
Whatcom Peak and Easy Ridge from Copper Ridge
Mount Shuksan from Copper Ridge Lookout
Sunset at Copper Ridge
Hiking along Copper Ridge
Silesia Camp Sunset
Copper Ridge Trail
Capturing sunset
Copper Ridge Panorama
Copper Ridge Lookout
Copper Lake
These last two images are from the end of the Copper Ridge trail, at the Chilliwack River and its confluence with Indian Creek. Here is where yo may have a salmon encounter!
Indian Creek
Indian Creek Salmon
Evening Light
Here is the new flyer for the classes scheduled in March and April here in Burlington.
There are 3 classes on How to Use Your DSLR: This class is for anyone who wants to become more creative and capture better images.
And then there are two classes about Photo Composition and Editing. This is a two-day class and is for anyone who would like to learn the secrets of taking image taking to a higher level.
Olympic National Park in Northwestern Washington State contains several distinctly different wonderlands.
The rain forest
, glaciated peaks
Mount Olympus, Olympic Wilderness
and the Pacific coast.
The Olympic beaches are some of the wildest most rugged beaches in the lower 48. I have visited and slept on these beaches many times. There is something truly magical about the ocean.
Last week I spied a window of nice weather forecast for the coast and headed over. I was not disappointed!
Evening light
Lines in the sand
Sunset through the Arch
Arch aglow
Point of the Arches
Evening Light
Point of the Arches Sunrise
Point of the Arches Sunrise
I recently embarked on a trip from my home in Sedro Woolley to my favorite coastal hike and camping spot at Point of the Arches, in Olympic National Park. It’s a long way, maybe 9 hours from start to camp site, and one of the beautiful legs of the sojourn is a ferry ride from Coupeville to Port Townsend. I booked my spot on the Ferry and arrived just as the sunrise was happening.
Washington State Ferry Sunrise
Ferry Drive-in
Inside the ferry
On the Ferry Deck
Washington State Ferry Sunrise
Washington State Ferry Sunrise Crown
Washington State Ferry Sunrise: Looking Out
Washington State Ferry – Coupeville
Washington State Ferry Sunrise light
I knew it was going to be a great trip when the images from the ferry ride were enough to make the entire trip worth while!
Images of the coast to come, but here is just one to whet the appetite!
Point of the Arches, Olympic National Park
This year the winter weather has been especially mild here in the Northwest. While the lack of snow and warm weather is not so good for skiing and bodes poorly for water supply in the summer, it has been pleasant to be out side in February!
If you’re interested in coming for a visit to this years Skagit Tulip and Daffodil Festival, I am offering guided Photo Tours this year!
Normally the daffodil fields explode in mid to late March, but I captured these images on Feb 18th at sunrise.
Skagit Daffodils at sunrise
Looks like our Tulip Festival may just be a bit early this spring!
Daffodils, Morning Light
Lake Ann
The feeling of exhilaration from being in the mountains is unsurpassed. Sweat and strain, fresh air and a cool breeze, a lake reflected and gathering clouds: these are all part of what makes the trip Great.
The Maple Pass Loop trail starts at Rainy Pass, on the North Cascades Highway. Ascending through the brush and out into the sun a first view whets your desire for more.
Swinging around the head of a small basin you soon plunge back into the cool forest.
Now the climbing becomes more insistent. The trail angles up along the side of a ridge and switchbacks heavenward. Lake Ann beckons below, her silvery waters calling.
Heather Pass appears and you keep climbing, but now the wonder of the view cancels any thought of your body.
You are in the mountains!
The clouds invade the valley as you view the world from above. Its time to start heading down.
Clouds
Bright colors, my favorite thing!
Flowers
Its difficult to keep walking…despite the threatening skies, I just want to sit amid the flowers.
Darkening clouds
I see the skies opening in the near distance…
Meadows
The thunder and lightening are not far off now.
This summer I am offering photo tours of the Maple Pass Loop.
And if you’d like a bold, bright canvas print of any of these images, here is where to go.
North Western Images - photos by Andy Porter 