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

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...

:wow:

The colors are amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love the first picture and the first picture of the sunrise.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bounce:
Really like the saturation on the balloons and love the 'palette' effect of number 4. They are all wonderful.......

I was thinking about your tulips only a day or so ago. Had a tulip shot from my yard I was considering entering in the Spring seasonal contest.
The operative word is "was".
LOL

The brilliance of these is superior to the last ones I remember. Everything came together for you, didn't it. How lucky for the tulips that you showed up.

And I love the hot air balloons and their caption.
Just goes to show the tulips in their natural colors keep pace with the man made colors of the balloons.
Wonderful post. Thank you.

The randomly planted tulips look like party confetti. :party:

Definitely worth the trip.

And seeing those tulips cheered me up after waking up to another rainy, gloomy, cold day. :-)

They're gorgeous. I anticipate the blooms up there if I'm fortunate enough to have to travel to Portland in the spring, which this year I did not.

I especially like the 4th and 8th. Just something about the color and spacing in those two photos that just took my breath away.

What a treat, thanks!

Glorious, just glorious.

I always reserve judgment about whether spring has really arrived until I see your tulip photos. Thanks! Let the season begin...

The double ruffled orange and yellow tulip is especially note worthy. It almost leaps out at you.

Thanks!

All that spectacular color must have left you breathless. The photos certainly do. What a treat!

The color is so pleasing to my eye at this time of year when everything here is gray and brown. Thank you. :)

That second sunrise pic is fabulous. I love the way the light of the just emerging sun plays with the color and opaqueness (?) of those purple tulips.

:hi: