Out in the Tulip Fields

All of these pictures have been taken at RoozenGaarde in the Skagit Valley not far from the town of Avon. I went there with my parents in early April, and there was quite a crowd. I was able to get some good shots without the crowd in them more the most part, though broad planes-of-color shots showing the different colors of the rows were rare.

I will blatantly cheat this once, though: My favorite shot of the day (despite being arguably generic and not as straight as it could be) has a truck driving by on McLean Road.

Out here in the planes of color also…

… However, the operators of the garden know the most intriguing sights they have are generally their own displays. Lots of effort was apparent, but I personally tended to like the incidentals over the intricates generally.

A few sights were away from the more ornate displays. Sometimes their simplest efforts and even individual plants have a lot to show from the right angle.

Lens selection here was a bit of a surprise to me, but even more surprising was almost everyone else with a camera here had the same thought: Kit lenses or standard zooms. Most of my shots were taken with a Fuji XF 16-80mm F4. Most others out there seemed to be using kit lenses (often filling the range at or near sweet spot of 18-55), but I recall seeing someone wandering around with a Sigma superzoom that fits a similar bill generally with the option to go far broader either way. One person was using a birding lens, likely with the thought of getting crazy subject isolation; and I found the related attitudes of the EF 100mm F2 USM quite refreshing after overusing my 16-80. The pictures shared here are a roughly even split between the XF 16-80 and EF 100.

I’ve been slow to publish these, due to a mix of illness and a busy week at work. After this event, all I seem to know in my downtime is having to laze for one reason or another. Earlier on it was sickness to the point I was bedridden for a while, later on it was work needing longer than usual hours from me. Some promising things seem to be happening for me work-wise, but other than that I’ve been too exhausted or mentally fogged to even plan right for my upcoming vacation.