Skagit County | Fotoeins Fotografie

Posts tagged ‘Skagit County’

Anacortes, Fidalgo Bay, Fidalgo Island, Salish Sea, Hat Island, Skagit County, Mount Baker, Washington, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday on Fidalgo Island: Anacortes, Seafarers Memorial Park

The following monthly series is based on a trip to the annual tulip festival in northwestern United States.

In northwestern Washington State, Fidalgo Island is located in the waters of the Salish Sea, about 14 miles (23 km) west from Mount Vernon and 38 miles (61 km) south from Bellingham.

In Anacortes, Seafarers Memorial Park is a tribute to the people lost at sea. The park’s location was once fishing grounds for the indigenous Samish Nation, and with subsequent European colonization, wood products were processed at mills along the shoreline until the 1970s. Decades of industrial contamination and waste accumulation had to be removed in the process of cleaning, clearing, and converting the land to a public green space.

From the edge of the park, the ship “Island Explorer 4” from Island Adventures appears and slices through choppy waves on the waters of Fidalgo Bay and the Salish Sea. Behind Hat Island in the distance is the snowy base of Mount Baker (left centre) whose peak is hidden in low-lying cloud.

I made the photo above on 19 April 2017 with a Canon EOS6D mark 1 with the following settings: 1/400-sec, f/16, ISO1000, and 105mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-g2D.

Anacortes, March Point, Fidalgo Bay, Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve, Fidalgo Island, Salish Sea, Skagit County, Washington, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday on Fidalgo Island: Anacortes, Fidalgo Bay

The following monthly series is based on a trip to the annual tulip festival in northwestern United States.

In northwestern Washington State, Fidalgo Island is located in the waters of the Salish Sea, about 14 miles (23 km) west from Mount Vernon and 38 miles (61 km) south from Bellingham.

The Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve lies in Fidalgo Bay. Facing east across the Bay to March Point is the tank farm associated with the Marathon Petroleum Refinery. When this image was taken, the refinery was operated by Tesoro, which was taken over by Andeavor, which in turn was bought out by Marathon Petroleum.

The trestle at lower-centre is the Tommy Thompson Trail which pedestrians and bicyclists use to traverse Fidalgo Bay. At right-centre on March Point is North Texas Road, which separates Marathon Refinery to the left (north) and Shell Puget Sound Refinery to the right (south). Cows graze on the pasture flanking the southern end of Marathon Refinery.

I made the photo above on 19 April 2017 with a Canon EOS6D mark 1 with the following settings: 1/320-sec, f/16, ISO1000, and 300mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-g2v.

Rainbow Bridge, Fidalgo Island, Swinomish Clannel, Salish Sea, Skagit County, La Conner, Washington, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday on Fidalgo Island: Rainbow Bridge

The following monthly series is based on a trip to the annual tulip festival in northwestern United States.

In northwestern Washington State, Fidalgo Island is located in the waters of the Salish Sea, about 14 miles (23 km) west from Mount Vernon and 38 miles (61 km) south from Bellingham.

At the southeast corner of Fidalgo Island, Rainbow Bridge completed in 1957 crosses over man-made Swinomish Channel and connects the Swinomish Tribe and Reservation on the island (left) with the mainland and town of La Conner (right). The view in the image above faces northeast.

I made the photo above on 19 April 2017 with a Canon EOS6D mark 1 with the following settings: 1/160-sec, f/14, ISO200, and 24mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-g1i.

Taylor Shellfish Farms, Samish Bay, Puget Sound, Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest, PNW, Bellingham, Skagit Valley, Washington, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: low tide on Samish Bay in the PNW

This post is the third of five March Fotoeins Fridays from the Samish Bay area in northwest Washington State (USA). Samish Bay is a small body of water in northern Puget Sound, itself a part of the larger Salish Sea.

We’ve come to this place by design, but if you don’t already know, you can easily miss the turnoff from Chuckanut Drive. The one-lane road gently descends the cliff to the rail tracks and the water’s edge. On the shoreline in Skagit County is the Taylor Shellfish Farms where the big thing is oysters. It’s low tide, and the waters have backed out for hundreds of metres. Visible at centre is a farm employee in hip waders on the mudflats and inspecting the farm beds. It almost feels as if you can walk clear out to the islands in the distance. Almost.

I made this photo on 18 April 2017 with the Canon 6D, 24-105 glass, and the following settings: 1/800-sec, f/22, ISO1000, and 47mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-aLr.

Roozengaarde, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, Skagit Valley, Tulip Festival, tulips, Mount Vernon, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: 1 tulip of many, Skagit County

This post is the second of five March Fotoeins Fridays from the Samish Bay area in northwest Washington State (USA). Samish Bay is a small body of water in northern Puget Sound, itself a part of the larger Salish Sea.

One tulip stands on its own surrounded by a sea of a different colour. Under overcast skies and the occasional light rainshower, it is diffuse grey light which casts soft shadows, and bright reds and purples aren’t completely “blown out” in frame. Last year’s visit (2017) to Roozengaarde during the annual Tulip Festival is memorable by the depth and variety of colours, by the potential for large crowds, and by the delicious food at various places throughout Skagit Valley.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival takes place annually throughout the month of April. The main sources for tulips are about 30 to 40 minutes drive south from Bellingham.

Thanks to Roozengarde (tulips.com), I made the photo above on 19 April 2017 with the Canon 6D, 70-300 glass, and settings: 1/200-sec, f/8, ISO200, and 115mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie on fotoeins.com at http://wp.me/p1BIdT-9Lb.

Guemes Island, Samish Bay, Salish Sea, Larrabee State Park, Washington, USA, Pacific Northwest, PNW, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: all that glitters is (not) gold, Samish Bay

This post is the first of five March Fotoeins Fridays from the Samish Bay area in northwest Washington State (USA). Samish Bay is a small body of water in northern Puget Sound, which is part of the larger Salish Sea.

It might not be gold. But it’s both warning and shimmering sight.

Driving south from Bellingham, we pull off Chuckanut Drive to a viewpoint by the side of the road. Surrounding us high up on the shoreline are tall evergreens in Larrabee State Park. The afternoon sun pokes out from behind low stratus clouds, dark and ominous with a threat of rain. Where the sun shines, the waters of Samish Bay sparkle in the light with Guemes Island behind in silhouette. Parked in the bay and waiting to refuel in nearby Port Angeles is the crude-oil tanker “British Regard” (IMO 9683063, MMSI 235108532).

I made this photo on 18 April 2017 with the Canon 6D, 70-300 zoom, and the following settings: 1/640-sec, f/20, ISO500, and 300mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie on fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-9Vn.

Flowers aflame, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

I was skeptical of a visit to tulip gardens.

“They’re just flowers after all.”

When I lived in Heidelberg, Germany, my friends wanted to travel to the Netherlands before pregnancy kicked into full swing. They wanted to visit Keukenhof and Amsterdam. I was excited about Amsterdam; I was unsure about Keukenhof.

But one step inside the tulip gardens in Keukenhof was enough to turn my head and my opinion about tulip fields spun completely around.

That was 2002, and this is 2017. I’m highway-bound along I-5 into western Washington State to see tulips.

During the annual tulip festival in April, the Skagit river valley is populated by fields of daffodils and tulips, in eye-popping yellow, red, orange, purple, and white. The overcast skies with diffuse grey light provides ideal light conditions with no strong shadows. The explosion of colour should surely melt hearts and convince minds, if the change to my once obstinate stance is any indication.

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