Tulips "south of the border" (IF YOU HAVE DIAL-UP, DON'T EVEN BOTHER) [View All]

Normally, I shoot the tulips in the Skagit Valley north of Seattle. However, an early growing season meant poor weather every time I could get up there -- plus, according to other local photographers, the fields weren't as well-planted for photographic purposes as usual. So, I spent last weekend "south of the border"...the Oregon border, that is, at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn, between Portland and Salem. Wooden Shoe is by far the largest tulip farm I've seen; while the total growth doesn't rival Skagit, the tulips there are planted in a number of different fields scattered throughout several square miles. At Wooden Shoe, by comparison, they're all planted in one enormous field -- and one with a great, photogenic placement, complete with Mount Hood in the background.

The first series of shots was from late afternoon on Saturday.































Photographing sunrise over the Woodburn tulip fields has become almost a rite of passage for Oregon photographers, so, at 4:30 A.M. Sunday, this non-Oregon photographer was up and heading toward Wooden Shoe for what would turn out to be a (wonderfully lucky, considering this is Oregon in April we're talking about) clear dawn.










Once the sunrise was (all-too-quickly) over, it was time for some practice in shooting backlit blooms...







...when who should happen to show up but Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh?




What...those weren't Beck and Limbaugh? My apologies -- I guess these were two different enormous flamboyant windbags getting where they are through copious amounts of hot air.

:rofl:







Leaving you with one final image of the windmill...