Tulip Heaven

Let's just say that for a photographer, events such as festivals are a dream come true. When it comes to me, put any sort of flower in front of the word festival and I will even get butterflies of happiness. Because of this un contained excitement out in the field I have lots of photographs to share with you.

This was my first time going to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and it exceeded my expectations. To get there we decided to take the Port Townsend Ferry up to Whidbey Island and take the bridge over deception pass. For those of you who have not had the privilege to visit this area, the view is breathtaking...literally.

In order to take this picture I had to walk to the center of the bridge, that not only has some great height to it, but also had cars whizzing past your body by only a foot (I am probably exaggerating, but that is what it felt like!). I think my palms might be sweating even as I write about it...did I mention that I am not particularly afraid of heights either? Anyways, my point being, if you get the chance to drive through Whidbey Island, take it! It is beautiful! But be warned.

Once we passed through all the wonderful little towns headed towards Mount Vernon, we began to spot glimpses of fields displaying wonderfully bright patches of color. With Mount Baker behind us as a background, I began to have fun, relax and take lots of pictures of one of my favorite subjects, flowers, thousands and thousands of flowers!

This is the first field that we stopped at. The time of day was perfect for lighting and two bike riders just happened to pass by giving me a nice photo opportunity.  

Purple and green make a beautiful contrast. For some reason the phrase from the Beatles song, "strawberry fields forever" kept popping up in my head throughout the day. Maybe because the fields went on forever?

Sunshine, flowers, mountains and beautiful blue sky! What more could I ask for?

Although the focus of the day was tulips, I couldn't help but to step off the path when I noticed these beautiful yellow flowers and the wire fence. 

As the day went on, the sun became more intense making it harder to photograph without losing detail in the photographs, or having them become washed out. 

This is an example of a photo that is just about to be blown out. Yet, it still works and became stronger even, because of the harsh light that illuminated the flowers giving it depth and texture against the shadows. 

These are my last two photographs of the Tulip Festival. I am fortunate that I live in an area where natural, and even un natural landscapes create beautiful photo opportunities constantly. All I have to do is take a walk outside and I would find thousands of things to catch my eye. Enjoy!