The Woodburn Tulip Festival is in full swing again and it’s not the same one that I remember from just a few years back. I’ve been visiting here for the past several years and I used to go 2-3 times a year in order to get the best tulip shots. However, now it’s become such an overcrowded spectacle you would have a better time driving through Los Angeles traffic then run the course in Woodburn. I was very surprised that they had far less acreage of tulips than in the past but even more surprised to see a full on theme park going on near the main buildings. There must have been a dozen booths and over 25 rides for the kids. There was a lot more to do for people but it seems like the tulips are no longer the main course. They have even opened up three parking lots as well as increased the prices to park. You can’t blame the owners for seeing an opportunity to make good money since it has now become a cash cow for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make more money on parking fees, food and kid’s rides than they do selling their tulips. This is especially true since they didn’t have very many tulips on their farm. It was literally half the size as in the past. It also seems that they have increased the number of days that they run the festival. More days open means more money and that is a good business decision but it only increases the days of gridlock when driving through the area as well as the city of Woodburn. With all of the new people moving to the area I’m sure that the tulip festival seems like heaven on earth. Not a lot of flowers or vegetation in the southwest. I stopped counting all of the knee high white socks and sneakers. I haven’t seen that many pale tourists since Las Vegas or Disneyland. If you want to visit in order to get some good shots of the tulips, I would recommend that you go very early or towards the end of the day since it’s a mad house for most of the day. I thought that we could avoid some of the crowds, so we went at 4 pm but it was still a complete mess. All three of the parking lots were packed but at least we were able to find several spots since a lot of the visitors were leaving. We must have counted over 500 cars packed along the roads trying to leave. What really surprised me is that they no longer plant any of their tulips in the large garden along the main road. The photo that I posted was from the garden. I would just lay on my stomach in the grass and get a killer shot of the tulips bunched together. I used my Canon Rebel T1I and Tokina SD 12-24mm F-4 lens. I also attached my bubble level. I positioned the camera in order to get a shot with the stems, flowers and sky. The bubble level helped me ensure that the camera was straight. This was one of the best places to visit but it seems that they no longer plant in the garden any longer. Even though it’s way too over crowded, it’s still a great place to visit and I would recommend going but If you don’t like massive crowds blindly milling about, I would stay home.
Tag Archives: Canon Rebel T1I
Mt. Hood, Oregon!
Last week was another awesome day up on Mt. Hood, Oregon. I visited the same place that I was last week and what a difference a week makes. The previous week was a complete whiteout with nothing but snow blind conditions but last week it was nothing but blue skies and spring like conditions. We were also blessed with a good two feet of powder, which made the snow shoeing more than memorable. However, the temperatures got pretty high and I ended up finding myself in some pretty soupy conditions later in the afternoon. At first I was a little hesitant about heading towards the lower end of the White River Glacier but as I continued along I realized that it look pretty safe. The temperatures were a little cooler and the wind was pretty gusty. You can see some of the wind swept snow in this photo. Too bad a lot of the snow was blown off parts of the higher elevations but at least it provided some character. The snow did eventually start to get pretty soft but by this time I was almost at the stopping point. If you haven’t been to the White River snow park or made the trek to the top of the trail, I highly recommend that you visit. You will want to expect the unexpected since there is no place to escape the changing conditions and if you do find yourself in a whiteout or snow blind conditions, you can expect a very dangerous and stressful trip down since each side is a steep 500 foot drop off and you would surely be trapped or stuck in the creeks below. There are a couple trees about 300 yards from the top but they wouldn’t provide a lot of protection. However, they could provide a good point of reference while making your way down. You would probable just want to hunker down and wait for the weather to change if you did find yourself in dangerous conditions since I couldn’t imagine anyone surviving a fall from either side and I surely wouldn’t want to be the first. The good thing about the trek is that you can see quite a bit and you would probably be able to see any change of conditions but unfortunately you are pretty close to the mountain and aren’t able to see much on the west or north and this is where most of the nasty weather comes from. I have actually run down with my snow shoes and I think that you could get down safely if you were trying to beat out a fast moving storm. I would also recommend that you bring your best camera and lens while visiting this spot. I took this photo with my Canon Rebel T1I and my Canon 23-135mm lens. I’ve packed my tripod with me before but it can get really cumbersome and heavy so I started leaving it behind. It’s also not worth setting it up most times since I usually end up taking between 500-1000 shots at a time and I no longer have the patience with a tripod when snow shoeing.