AAT2 Skagit Valley Irises

from $54.00
Each April, hundreds of thousands of visitors enjoy the scenic Skagit Valley of Washington State as over 200 types of tulip bulbs and 50 types of daffodils bloom in a rainbow of colors. Since 1984, the month-long Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has been a Pacific Northwest tradition not to be missed. But in late-May, the festival crowds are gone as fields of purple iris come into bloom. I have a special feeling for the Skagit Valley, as I was born in the Valley (Mount Vernon) and my family was part of a wave of Dutch settlers that immigrated into the Lynden, Skagit Valley and Whidbey Island areas, which include the Dutch farmers that now operate the Skagit Valley bulb farms. To make this photograph, I first scouted all of the fields in April to determine which had rows best oriented to sunrise, and which had legal parking. Then I monitored the live Bloom Map to know when those fields were coming into peak bloom. When the weather forecast showed light clouds and near zero morning wind, I drove the 1 hour from my home to the Skagit Valley, arriving well before sunrise. I made this image looking east, right down the rows, just as the sun peeked over the Cascade Mountains. The flowers were still graced with morning dew and the air was still calm enough for a 1/4 second exposure. An aperture of f/22 adds a starburst effect as just a sliver of the sun pokes over the Cascade Mountains. Unfortunately, the Skagit Valley bulb farmers have now since stopped commercial production of irises, making images like this impossible to re-create. This image is available for the following products: Metal Prints, Acrylic Wall Prints and Giclee Fine Art Prints. Price includes shipping to USA and Canada
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Each April, hundreds of thousands of visitors enjoy the scenic Skagit Valley of Washington State as over 200 types of tulip bulbs and 50 types of daffodils bloom in a rainbow of colors. Since 1984, the month-long Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has been a Pacific Northwest tradition not to be missed. But in late-May, the festival crowds are gone as fields of purple iris come into bloom. I have a special feeling for the Skagit Valley, as I was born in the Valley (Mount Vernon) and my family was part of a wave of Dutch settlers that immigrated into the Lynden, Skagit Valley and Whidbey Island areas, which include the Dutch farmers that now operate the Skagit Valley bulb farms. To make this photograph, I first scouted all of the fields in April to determine which had rows best oriented to sunrise, and which had legal parking. Then I monitored the live Bloom Map to know when those fields were coming into peak bloom. When the weather forecast showed light clouds and near zero morning wind, I drove the 1 hour from my home to the Skagit Valley, arriving well before sunrise. I made this image looking east, right down the rows, just as the sun peeked over the Cascade Mountains. The flowers were still graced with morning dew and the air was still calm enough for a 1/4 second exposure. An aperture of f/22 adds a starburst effect as just a sliver of the sun pokes over the Cascade Mountains. Unfortunately, the Skagit Valley bulb farmers have now since stopped commercial production of irises, making images like this impossible to re-create. This image is available for the following products: Metal Prints, Acrylic Wall Prints and Giclee Fine Art Prints. Price includes shipping to USA and Canada