Tag Archives: Washington State

Tulip Town

Tulip Town is a tulip farm located in the Skagit Valley just west of Mt. Vernon, Washington (north of Seattle). You can visit their site (here). Skagit Valley is a fertile farming valley that typically has field upon field in full bloom with tulips and daffodils this time of year. Last winter was an especially tough winter for this farming valley. The region experienced an exceptionally wet winter of rain that has continued into the spring. Many fields have been flooded and the spring floral blooms aren’t as robust as normal. Having said that, it is still beautiful with many spring tulips in bloom.

A couple of weeks ago in the middle of numerous days of rain, we had a warm sunny day and my wife and I decided to take advantage of the sunshine by visiting Tulip Town. We weren’t disappointed with the beauty of fields of tulips in full bloom and many other fields just starting to bloom. In all candor with or without the blooms, the valley is beautiful all by itself. I have attached ten captures from our time there. Enjoy!!

Thoughts?

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Hiking in Abstract Watercolor

From all of the hiking I have done in the Pacific Northwest over the years, I wanted to share three art prints I did from some shots I took. I used a watercolor technique that uses abstract shapes and clean lines to create a sharp contemporary look.

The first one is of a stump I came across along the trail.

Stump in the Forest

The second one gives you an idea of how narrow the path actually was at this point in the hike.

Forest Path

The third one shows the hiking trail opening up slightly as the terrain leveled off.

Forest Trail

I’m always trying to find an artistic look with the captures I take and thought this modern abstract look added a different element to the scene.

Thoughts?

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Sailboats on Bellingham Bay

In keeping with the sailboat theme from last week, this week I’m attaching two prints I created of sailboats. These prints differ from last weeks post in that the technique I used on these two was a subtle watercolor. The scene is a rainy (drizzle, not heavy rain) day on Bellingham Bay. Both prints capture a subtle rainbow in the background. The technique and coloring reflect the look I saw on that day. No bright colors without full sun, but a more subdued peaceful mood with the light rain.

Bellingham Bay serves the town of Bellingham in the state of Washington. Bellingham is located just south of the Canadian Border and north of Seattle. It’s just one of the many places in the Pacific Northwest of natural beauty.

Rainy Day On The Bay
Two Sailboats On Bellingham Bay

Thoughts?

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Forest Sunlight on Moss Covered Boulders – Excerpts From a Photo Shoot

The attached photographs are from a hiking trail near North Bend, Washington. The trail is called Lil Si and is just 4.1 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 1300 ft. It’s a beautiful trail through some very dense forest vegetation. When I came across these moss-covered boulders with the sunlight coming through the canopy, the term “photo shoot” sang out to me.


The first shot is the trail itself. Notice the sun shining on the boulder at the top portion of the frame….this was the first indication of what I was about to see up ahead.


For this next shot, I zoomed in on the moss-covered rock from the first picture.


The rest of the moss-covered rock captures were all taken within feet of each other. It was truly a stunning scene.

Thoughts?


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Roche Harbor – Excerpts from a Photo Shoot

I wanted to continue from last weeks post with sharing shots from our June weekend in the Seattle, Washington area. As a refresher from last week:

“On Friday, we spent the day going up to Henry Island. Henry Island is located on the north end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in a group of islands called the San Juan Islands. This island is the most western island of the group and sits right across from Vancouver Island, British Columbia (just north of Victoria). To get to Henry Island, we needed to take a ferry (car and pedestrian) from Anacortes, Washington to Friday Harbor, which is located on San Juan Island proper. From Friday Harbor, we took our car across that island to the north end until we came into Roche Harbor. We did make a stop by Roche Harbor to go to an oyster farm, which is owned by the people we were going to see on Henry Island. After touring the oyster farm, we went back to Roche Harbor, parked the car and took a small boat that was left for us by family members over to Henry Island. I am going to be sharing a number of the shots that I took that day, but am breaking it down into what I think will be about three posts over the next few weeks.”

My post last week covered shots on the ferry ride from Anacortes on the mainland to Friday Harbor located on San Juan Island. Today’s series will focus on Roche Harbor, where we caught a private boat over to Henry Island.

First, a little history of the Roche Harbor area. The area has a large hill of lime rock and a very pure form of lime was created from burning the rock. A rock quarry and kilns ensued and in 1886, a company town now known as Roche Harbor was built to support the workers of the quarry and kilns. Now, it is a resort that keeps true to the architecture of the era.

Roche Harbor 1

Roche Harbor 1

Roche Harbor 1 gives you a good look at the marina and the sheer number of boats docked here.

Roche Harbor 2

Roche Harbor 2

Roche Harbor 2 is a shot sweeping left from the first one. In this capture, you can see the entrance to the harbor and Henry Island (the forested land in the background).

Roche Harbor 3

Roche Harbor 3

Roche Harbor 3 was taken from the same location as the first two shots, but this time sweeping right back towards the village itself.

Roche Harbor 4

Roche Harbor 4

Roche Harbor 4 shows a “rustic” building called Quarryman Hall. This building is actually part of the resort and was built specifically to mirror the architecture in the era of the company town. It sits next to the hill that housed the quarry and lines up with a row of kilns that were down on the harbor level. From this viewpoint, if you were to walk to your right, you would find yourself standing in front of Roche Harbor 4.

Roche Harbor 5

Roche Harbor 5

Roche Harbor 5 is a tower built from the local rock that has an old wooden platform on top for viewing out to the harbor and beyond towards Henry Island.

Roche Harbor 6

Roche Harbor 6

Roche Harbor 6 shows one of the kilns. There is one long row of kiln after kiln lining the base of the hill. This is where the rock was burned, creating the lime that was known for its purity.

Roche Harbor 7

Roche Harbor 7

Roche Harbor 7 takes us back into the village to the left and across the street from the Quarryman Hall. This is the Hotel de Haro and is the oldest continuous operating hotel in the state of Washington. The hotel is completely modern, but true to the original architecture.

Roche Harbor 8

Roche Harbor 8

Roche Harbor 8 – I leave you with this shot of Roche Harbor as we head through this garden to get our boat to continue our journey over to Henry Island. Thoughts?

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Ferry to Friday Harbor – Excerpts From a Photo Shoot

We spent a long weekend in Seattle for Father’s Day and I wanted to share some shots from that trip besides my shaved head at a Sounders game from last weeks post.

On Friday, we spent the day going up to Henry Island. Henry Island is located on the north end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in a group of islands called the San Juan Islands. This island is the most western island of the group and sits right across from Vancouver Island, British Columbia (just north of Victoria). To get to Henry Island, we needed to take a ferry (car and pedestrian) from Anacortes, Washington to Friday Harbor, which is located on San Juan Island proper. From Friday Harbor, we took our car across that island to the north end until we came into Roche Harbor. We did make a stop by Roche Harbor to go to an oyster farm, which is owned by the people we were going to see on Henry Island. After touring the oyster farm, we went back to Roche Harbor, parked the car and took a small boat that was left for us by family members over to Henry Island. I am going to be sharing a number of the shots that I took that day, but am breaking it down into what I think will be about three posts over the next few weeks. Today, I wanted to share some of the shots I captured on the ferry ride over to Friday Harbor.

Friday Harbor 1

Friday Harbor 1

This capture is some of the smaller islands along the channel. The weather that day was picture perfect. It can get kind of rough traversing these channels when the weather is inclement.

Friday Harbor 2

Friday Harbor 2

This is looking back towards the mainland (Anacortes).

Friday Harbor 3

Friday Harbor 3

This capture is a sailboat passing by as we continue our “little over an hour” journey on the ferry.

Friday Harbor 4

Friday Harbor 4

Friday Harbor…

Friday Harbor 5

Friday Harbor 5

More of Friday Harbor …

Friday Harbor 6

Friday Harbor 6

Still more….

Friday Harbor 7

Friday Harbor 7

And we have arrived!! Again, the weather was picture perfect and I think was able to capture some great shots. Thoughts?

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Mukilteo Lighthouse – Excerpts from a Photo Shoot

I think it is so important to listen to that little voice in your head when it shouts out to you, especially when you are doing a photo shoot and looking for good shots.  For me it typically is out of the corner of my eye and the voice makes me stop and re-look again for a full view. This time the scene was in full view, but I was comfortably seated in a car on a ferry and didn’t want to fight the elements.

Last month when we were up in the Seattle area, we took a day for me to go around the Puget Sound and do a photo shoot of lighthouses. I have photographed most of the lighthouses from Northern California through Oregon into Southern Washington, but none around the Puget Sound.  What a great day. My daughter and her boyfriend hosted the event so all my wife and I had to do was sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery. The weather was a complete mix of beautiful sunshine to pouring rain. Loved it!!

We started in the Seattle area and worked our way north before returning south again. I will feature a couple more over the next few weeks, but wanted to start with our last one, the Mukilteo Lighthouse. You never know when and where opportunity will come for some great shots, so always listen to that little voice in your head.

We had just been on Widbey Island and were taking a ferry back to the mainland, which happens to be Mukilteo, Washington. The ferry ride wasn’t very long, so most people stayed in their cars, as did we. We were the third car back from the front to drive off and had a great view out the front. That great view became of the rain and water and then pouring rain, wind and water. Frankly we couldn’t see any land until we got close to docking.  As we pulled into the little harbor, I saw the lighthouse and realized that we were going to be docking right next door. Something in my head said get out and take shots now. I then had this quick internal discussion between weather and comfort, but I trust the voice, so got out of the car and went closer to the opening. This is where I remind you wind was blowing the rain into the ferry and the boat was making its final turns and lurches preparing to dock. I knew I wouldn’t have much time, so I just went for it. I am so glad I did…my best shots were from the ferry as it was coming along side of the lighthouse. The perspective I got from that angle was so different than from the landside. (Please note: none of these shots have been cleaned up or cropped…. you are seeing them as they as they are…for final presentation I will level some out and crop for composition)

Mukilteo Lighthouse 1

Mukilteo Lighthouse 1

This is part of the series I took on the ferry showing the two caretakers homes and the lighthouse in the middle.

Mukilteo Lighthouse 2

Mukilteo Lighthouse 2

This one is a little closer showing the one caretaker home and the lighthouse. Notice the blur of ferry portal wall on the lower left side and the slight angle of the shot needing straightened…back to my comment about not having cropped these shots yet.

Mukilteo Lighthouse 3

Mukilteo Lighthouse 3

I used a little zoom as we started docking and caught the light just as it was shining on us.

As we drove off the ferry and pulled into the parking lot for the lighthouse, the heavens opened even more. I told everyone that I thought I got some good shots and lets not worry about it. My daughter’s boyfriend wasn’t having any of it…he got the umbrella and said let’s do it…I’ll cover you. My wife and daughter at this point weren’t leaving the warm dry comfort of the car.

Mukilteo Lighthouse 4

Mukilteo Lighthouse 4

So here we are two guys with one umbrella and a camera running around the grounds of the lighthouse and caretakers cottages getting some good shots in the pouring rain. In this shot, you can see the ferry in the background. The thing that amazed me the most was the size of the lighthouse; it looks like a dollhouse. I didn’t realize it when I was shooting from the ferry, because the other two buildings were seen at such an angle with the lighthouse it all looked as one. I did get some good shots with my umbrella assistant, but really like the others more. Reinforced lesson; always listen to that little voice in your head. Thoughts?

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The Path

I love hiking and I have this thing with taking pictures of hiking trails. There is something about a picture of path that makes me want to know where it goes…human element of curiousity…it’s the same thing that keeps me hiking on paths over the next hill or around the next bend. I wanted to share such a picture from somewhere in the coastal forest of Washington State. In my galleries, I have taken the original picture and done it in two styles of watercolor, since watercolor painting gives the scene a softer look.

This first art print is done in what I would refer to as a traditional style of watercolor. The brush strokes are subtle and the shading gives the picture more texture and depth, yet stays true to the original picture.  Next…..

The pointillism style is just what it says…many points of color to create a picture. It renders an even softer scene and is more suggestive of the subject matter as opposed to the first one.

Thoughts? Comments?

These particular art prints came from my Landscape Watercolor Gallery.   Follow my work on my Facebook page – TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!) Thanks!