Posted by Curtis Knight on April 10, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Hi all,
It seems I've created a bit of confusion having two trips in the same thread. Sorry about that. I'm splitting the two events into separate threads, to alleviate that confusion. Roman is leading the Woodburn trip and I'm leading the La Conner trip. Thanks again for your help Roman!
Here's the scoop for Skagit Valley:
1. Trip Date: April 18-20. I called the Tulip Feastival headquarters, and they said the growers expect the peak bloom to be in about 10-14 days.
2. Please email me, or reply to this thread if you plan to participate. I just want to have a rough idea how many are going to make it. If you decide to come at the last minute, by all means please do so!
3. I am coordinating after-hours access to the Tulip Town fields so that we can shoot sunrise and sunset. Since we are a group, Jeannette would like us to show up as a group ahead of time so that we can get our passes, and sign the photographer's release. I don't yet know what's on that release form. I expect it's a liability release of some kind. I've requested that they send me one so I can let you know what's in it. I haven't received it yet, so I'll contact them again today.
4. Admission will be $5/day, which is the same as the admission during regular hours.
5. Accomodations: There is a long list of motels on the festival website.
Itinerary:
Saturday afternoon: Meet in the Tulip Town parking area at 3:00pm. That will give folks time to arrive from out of town and get checked into their rooms. At this time we'll sign the forms and get our passes for Saturday evening and Sunday morning. If you want to do a Saturday morning shoot, you'll need to coordinate that amoungst yourselves using this thread. There is no way I can get there before they close up for the day on Friday, but I am going to try to get there Friday evening.
Saturday Evening: Meet in the Tulip Town parking area at 7:00p.m. According to US Naval Observatory Data Services: Sunset is at 8:08.
Moonrise is at 7:57
Phase of the Moon on 19 April: waxing gibbous with 99% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Sunday Morning: Meet in the Tulip Town parking area at 5:00a.m.
Sunrise is at 6:09.
Moonset is at 5:48.
Full Moon on 20 April 2008 at 3:25 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
When the light is done, we'll meet somewhere for breakfast. We can discuss the restaurant when we're done shooting.
Communication:I'll have my cell phone and an FRS radio set to channel 2. Email me for my cell phone number.
Skagit Valley Bulb Farm
15002 Bradshaw Road, Mount Vernon, WA 98273
360.424.8152
From I-5 Exit 226 (Mount Vernon): Proceed West on Kincaid St to 3rd St; turn North onto 3rd St; continue North until 3rd becomes Division St and you cross the Skagit River; head West on Division until Wall St (1st light); Turn South onto Wall St, then West onto McLean Rd; continue on McLean Rd until Bradshaw Rd; Turn North onto Bradshaw Rd. Tulip Town will be on your left hand side.
From I-5 Exit 230 (Burlington): Proceed West on Highway 20 to La Conner-Whitney Rd (Farmhouse Inn); turn South onto La Conner-Whitney Rd then East onto Young Rd; continue East until Bradshaw Rd; turn South onto Bradshaw Rd. Tulip Town will be on your right hand side.
Sorry I don't have a web page for the event(s). I just don't have time to create it this time.
I received a copy of the waiver form from Tulip Town. I've posted it on my we server here
The following is the Jeannette, one of the owners. It doesn't sound like they are very hard-ass about the details. It sounds to me like they are more concerned about public credit than enforcing the letter of the agreement. but read all this over and you decide:
Email from Jeannette Degoede:
Hi, we have run into real strange situations here in our fields, so we had
to have some type of protection. Basically, is all we ask is that you have a
pass on you after hours, and that any pictures used commercially you need to
put our name on the back of the photo, "taken at Tulip Town" That is it in
a nut shell. We charge $5.00 1 time and the photographers can come back as
many times as they wish. I sent the form, so you can have them ready, and
then we will make sure that you have a good time. All Photographers pay 1
time, and they can come back as many times as they please for free, using
the passes. Regards, Jeannette
Posted by Nancy Lamb on April 11, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Well, dang. Rick and I are going to be in Leavenworth to talk with a gallery owner. We highly recommend you eat at SEEDS in LaConner. Yummy!
Nancy
Posted by Mark Windom on April 11, 2008 at 3:17 PM
Nancy, which gallery owner are you talking to? Adams, by any chance?
Posted by Curtis Knight on April 11, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Hi all,
I just got an email asking if you can get your passes individually and meet up with us at 7:00p.m. I don't see a problem with that. I'm really not sure why Jeannette originally said that it would be easier if we showed up together. maybe there is something she needs to verbalize to us and only wants to say it once? I dunno... :) At any rate, I think that if you get your pass on your own that should work just fine.
Other reasons for us meeting at 3:00: Discuss which field(s) we want to shoot, I'll know how many people to wait for, and just get acquainted in the daylight. I remember my first PNWNP event after joining the group. We all met at about 4:00a.m. at Crown Point. It was pitch black and I didn't see any faces until we got to the trail head, and then we were all just jammin' to hit the trail!
Posted by David Forster on April 11, 2008 at 5:52 PM
Curtis
Please keepme in the loop for this outing. I will be in Mount Vernon showing my own photography at the Tulip Festival Street Fair starting Friday. I plan on shooting sunrise and sunset Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also I have in the past been able to get a photographer field pass to the fields own by Rozzengarde. I have this years pass. Basically this pass allows photographers access to the fields before sunrise. If any of you are interested in having a pass please contact me.
Mark we are talking to "Leavenworth Fine Art Gallery". We're bringing a bunch of prints for them to review!! I get all excited prior to a Gallery Review!!! YaHOOOOOOOOOO!!!
So we won't be able to join yall that weekend so have fun and DO eat at Seeds in La Conner!!
I tried to email this to Curtis, but got an email failure, so I'm posting it here. A friend showed me the site and the post who knows I'm from the area.
Regards .. Ken
Sent:
I saw your thread on the nature photog site about going to the tulip festival this weekend. I live in Mount Vernon and thought I’d warn you since I didn’t see it mentioned. Traffic is going to be REAL BAD that weekend. We have the downtown street fair and the tulip fields going at the same time. Coming off the freeway at the down town exit is going to be a nightmare. I would highly recommend that anyone coming from the south take the Conway exit south of town and go west through Fir Island. If it were me, I’d go that way coming from the north too. Just follow the signs and you can get there that way, or google maps works very well.
I hope you all enjoy our valley. We’re quite proud of it ya know. And feel free to stop by Lions Park close to downtown and buy some tulips from us. The Mount Vernon Lions Club has been selling tulips in the park for a lot of years and supports the community very well with the proceeds.
Posted by Curtis Knight on April 14, 2008 at 10:07 PM
Ken, thanks loads for the information. I wasn't even thinking about traffic issues. Although I'm sure we won't have issues at sunrise, it's liable to still be pretty busy prior to sunset so this is very usefull information.
Also, it appears that my geography is a little off. I had La Conner and Mt Vernon transposed in my mental map, so if I said things that caused confusion on that score, please don't beat me and leave me lying in the tulip fields!
I'll be staying at the Best Western in Mt Vernon. I'll be arriving faily late Friday evening. Probably around 9:00p.m.
Posted by John Goessman on April 15, 2008 at 10:53 PM
I drove past the Mt Vernon exits Saturday the 12th on my way back from Vancouver BC and they were backed up 1/4 mile on the shoulder. That was at approximately 3:30 pm.
A place for sunset shots that would get yall AWAY from the masses would be Washington Park West of Anacortes. Beautiful location that will most likely not have the same crowds.
Posted by Curtis Knight on April 17, 2008 at 1:45 PM
hey folks,
I checked the weather forecast for the Mt Vernon area and it's going to be cold and wet. No, I'm not canceling the shoot. But I did want to let you know that I won't be showing up for sunrise. I've been fighting off a bug all week, and our chances for a break in the clouds are so remote that it's not worth it to me to lose the sleep when I need it the most. If I wasn't getting sick, I would still get up even for the slightest chance of a break in the clouds, but I need the sleep. So, I will plan on meeting everyone for breakfast. We'll discuss which restaurant Saturday afternoon.
Anyway, I'd still like to meet up with everyone in the Tulip Town parking lot at 3:00pm Saturday.
I'll be driving this rig (hopefully without the snow!). I'll try to find a relatively empty area in the parking lot, but it sounds like that might not be possible considering the crowds.
Update Sat. April 19.
I was at Skagit Valley fields this AM and noon. Only color showing is purple. The reds and lighter are closed tight. Will probably pop later this week after some warm sun. Daffs in some fields still showing good color but others have been mowed. I suspect remaining daffs will be mowed this week.
Posted by Rylan Schoen on April 20, 2008 at 12:49 AM
I showed up this evening. There was no snow left, and it was lightly drizzling, sunset was pretty much non existent, and it was a bit breezy, but the light wasnt too bad, i'll look through some of the images and see what i can pull out. Not sure if i'll be going down for the sunrise; I can be talked into it though.
Posted by Rylan Schoen on April 20, 2008 at 1:00 AM
I showed up this evening. There was no snow left, and it was lightly drizzling, sunset was pretty much non existent, and it was a bit breezy, but the light wasnt too bad, i'll look through some of the images and see what i can pull out. Not sure if i'll be going down for the sunrise; I can be talked into it though.
Posted by Curtis Knight on April 20, 2008 at 10:23 PM
Hi Rylan and Craig,
Sorry we missed you. We didn't make it back to Tulip Town by 3:00 Saturday due to a series of delays, and to be honest, between the lack of enthusiasm on this thread, and the weather, we just didn't expect anyone to show. So if you were waiting for us at 3:00 I apologize.
We stopped by the street fair to look up David Forster's booth and get some information from him. Well, we had trouble finding his booth, and the hail/sleet combination that was coming down in a torrent kind of slowed us down a bit, and then I had a foot cramp that stopped me cold for a few minutes, so by the time we got out of there, it was 3:30. Lesson learned
Anyway, Brian and I met up with David for some shooting after he closed up his booth. we even drove up to Washington Park hoping against hope for a little color... a LITTLE color is exactly what we got. oh well.
Overall, we had a great time over the weekend though. The weather was quite an adventure. Global warming was certainly in rare form this weekend.
I think a got a couple classic shots, but no prize winners. I'll post when I have the energy to process them properly.
David F. Thank you again for giving us a tour of the fields and Washington Park. It's always nice to have a good guide show you a few new places!
I guess I learned a lesson this weekend about coordinating events. When no one commits to showing up, cancel the event instead of hoping someone does show who didn't say they were going to make it.
Discussion
15 repliesIt seems I've created a bit of confusion having two trips in the same thread. Sorry about that. I'm splitting the two events into separate threads, to alleviate that confusion. Roman is leading the Woodburn trip and I'm leading the La Conner trip. Thanks again for your help Roman!
Here's the scoop for Skagit Valley:
1. Trip Date: April 18-20. I called the Tulip Feastival headquarters, and they said the growers expect the peak bloom to be in about 10-14 days.
2. Please email me, or reply to this thread if you plan to participate. I just want to have a rough idea how many are going to make it. If you decide to come at the last minute, by all means please do so!
3. I am coordinating after-hours access to the Tulip Town fields so that we can shoot sunrise and sunset. Since we are a group, Jeannette would like us to show up as a group ahead of time so that we can get our passes, and sign the photographer's release. I don't yet know what's on that release form. I expect it's a liability release of some kind. I've requested that they send me one so I can let you know what's in it. I haven't received it yet, so I'll contact them again today.
4. Admission will be $5/day, which is the same as the admission during regular hours.
5. Accomodations: There is a long list of motels on the festival website.
Itinerary:
Saturday afternoon: Meet in the Tulip Town parking area at 3:00pm. That will give folks time to arrive from out of town and get checked into their rooms. At this time we'll sign the forms and get our passes for Saturday evening and Sunday morning. If you want to do a Saturday morning shoot, you'll need to coordinate that amoungst yourselves using this thread. There is no way I can get there before they close up for the day on Friday, but I am going to try to get there Friday evening.
Saturday Evening: Meet in the Tulip Town parking area at 7:00p.m. According to US Naval Observatory Data Services: Sunset is at 8:08.
Moonrise is at 7:57
Phase of the Moon on 19 April: waxing gibbous with 99% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Sunday Morning: Meet in the Tulip Town parking area at 5:00a.m.
Sunrise is at 6:09.
Moonset is at 5:48.
Full Moon on 20 April 2008 at 3:25 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
When the light is done, we'll meet somewhere for breakfast. We can discuss the restaurant when we're done shooting.
Communication:I'll have my cell phone and an FRS radio set to channel 2. Email me for my cell phone number.
Address and Directions:
From the Tulip Town Website:
Sorry I don't have a web page for the event(s). I just don't have time to create it this time.
I received a copy of the waiver form from Tulip Town. I've posted it on my we server here
The following is the Jeannette, one of the owners. It doesn't sound like they are very hard-ass about the details. It sounds to me like they are more concerned about public credit than enforcing the letter of the agreement. but read all this over and you decide:
Nancy
I just got an email asking if you can get your passes individually and meet up with us at 7:00p.m. I don't see a problem with that. I'm really not sure why Jeannette originally said that it would be easier if we showed up together. maybe there is something she needs to verbalize to us and only wants to say it once? I dunno... :) At any rate, I think that if you get your pass on your own that should work just fine.
Other reasons for us meeting at 3:00: Discuss which field(s) we want to shoot, I'll know how many people to wait for, and just get acquainted in the daylight. I remember my first PNWNP event after joining the group. We all met at about 4:00a.m. at Crown Point. It was pitch black and I didn't see any faces until we got to the trail head, and then we were all just jammin' to hit the trail!
Please keepme in the loop for this outing. I will be in Mount Vernon showing my own photography at the Tulip Festival Street Fair starting Friday. I plan on shooting sunrise and sunset Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also I have in the past been able to get a photographer field pass to the fields own by Rozzengarde. I have this years pass. Basically this pass allows photographers access to the fields before sunrise. If any of you are interested in having a pass please contact me.
Thanks
David Forster
(509) 679-2800
So we won't be able to join yall that weekend so have fun and DO eat at Seeds in La Conner!!
Regards .. Ken
Sent:
I saw your thread on the nature photog site about going to the tulip festival this weekend. I live in Mount Vernon and thought I’d warn you since I didn’t see it mentioned. Traffic is going to be REAL BAD that weekend. We have the downtown street fair and the tulip fields going at the same time. Coming off the freeway at the down town exit is going to be a nightmare. I would highly recommend that anyone coming from the south take the Conway exit south of town and go west through Fir Island. If it were me, I’d go that way coming from the north too. Just follow the signs and you can get there that way, or google maps works very well.
I hope you all enjoy our valley. We’re quite proud of it ya know. And feel free to stop by Lions Park close to downtown and buy some tulips from us. The Mount Vernon Lions Club has been selling tulips in the park for a lot of years and supports the community very well with the proceeds.
Also, it appears that my geography is a little off. I had La Conner and Mt Vernon transposed in my mental map, so if I said things that caused confusion on that score, please don't beat me and leave me lying in the tulip fields!
I'll be staying at the Best Western in Mt Vernon. I'll be arriving faily late Friday evening. Probably around 9:00p.m.
JB
I checked the weather forecast for the Mt Vernon area and it's going to be cold and wet. No, I'm not canceling the shoot. But I did want to let you know that I won't be showing up for sunrise. I've been fighting off a bug all week, and our chances for a break in the clouds are so remote that it's not worth it to me to lose the sleep when I need it the most. If I wasn't getting sick, I would still get up even for the slightest chance of a break in the clouds, but I need the sleep. So, I will plan on meeting everyone for breakfast. We'll discuss which restaurant Saturday afternoon.
Anyway, I'd still like to meet up with everyone in the Tulip Town parking lot at 3:00pm Saturday.
I'll be driving this rig (hopefully without the snow!). I'll try to find a relatively empty area in the parking lot, but it sounds like that might not be possible considering the crowds.
I was at Skagit Valley fields this AM and noon. Only color showing is purple. The reds and lighter are closed tight. Will probably pop later this week after some warm sun. Daffs in some fields still showing good color but others have been mowed. I suspect remaining daffs will be mowed this week.
Sorry we missed you. We didn't make it back to Tulip Town by 3:00 Saturday due to a series of delays, and to be honest, between the lack of enthusiasm on this thread, and the weather, we just didn't expect anyone to show. So if you were waiting for us at 3:00 I apologize.
We stopped by the street fair to look up David Forster's booth and get some information from him. Well, we had trouble finding his booth, and the hail/sleet combination that was coming down in a torrent kind of slowed us down a bit, and then I had a foot cramp that stopped me cold for a few minutes, so by the time we got out of there, it was 3:30. Lesson learned
Anyway, Brian and I met up with David for some shooting after he closed up his booth. we even drove up to Washington Park hoping against hope for a little color... a LITTLE color is exactly what we got. oh well.
Overall, we had a great time over the weekend though. The weather was quite an adventure. Global warming was certainly in rare form this weekend.
I think a got a couple classic shots, but no prize winners. I'll post when I have the energy to process them properly.
David F. Thank you again for giving us a tour of the fields and Washington Park. It's always nice to have a good guide show you a few new places!
I guess I learned a lesson this weekend about coordinating events. When no one commits to showing up, cancel the event instead of hoping someone does show who didn't say they were going to make it.
Hopefully, the next outing will work out better.