[TRAVEL] Seattle[Washington] Day 2

[TRAVEL]
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, Mount Vernon, WA

The song "Dekha Ek Kwaab" from the Bollywood move Silsila  was shot in the Keukenhof tulip gradens in The Netherlands. I had always wanted to see the acres and acres of tulips - Netherlands still remains a dream destination. When my friends in Seattle had posted a few photographs of tulip gardens  a couple of years ago - I decided to visit Seattle in conjunction with the famous Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Mount Vernon.

Day 2 of our travel saw us waking up at 4:15 AM to catch the breaking dawn. We left Seattle at 4:45AM to drive to Mt. Vernon by road. Reached Skagit Valley at 5:45AM. Spent 15 minutes searching for this particular spot below along Bestroad to catch the sun rise.

The sun just broke out and we parked along Bestroad around 6:20AM. Got the sun flare shot below around 6:25AM. Though we missed the sunrise and was late - I got a few good shots.

The 2 flower fields - Rozengarden and Skaget Valley receives hundreds and thousands of people who come to enjoy the celebration of spring. I'm glad we caught the sunrise , the golden light was perfect to shoot. Along within the company of atleast 50 odd photographers, I've never felt this comfortable -  far away from the maddening crowd that thronged along during day time

Utah and the Canyon Lands - Day 2, Mesa Arch & False Kiva

I love to shoot - but I am really lethargic in processing my snaps and posting them. After quite a long hiatus and after having visited Utah during the Nov hols( Moab, Canyon Lands National Park, Delicate Arch National Park and the Monument Valley), finally managed to post my snaps. As they say " There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. ~Ansel Adams " . A glimpse of what I have to offer from my trip to Utah

1. Mesa Arch

Shooting the Mesa Arch at sunrise is perhaps the best experience of my life as far as photography is concerned. Waking up at 4AM, driving half-awake or rather half-asleep for approx an hour, parking in the Mesa Arch trail and surprised to see 4 cars already...taking a much needed nap for 10 minutes...trekking up the trail for 15 min and even more surprised to see 4 photographers parked with their tripods at 6:00AM...temperature dipping around 27 F ...wow ! I have to rate this as a great moment.

Shooting the arch and the sunrise with along at least 20 photographers..tripods all lined up...the sweet sounds of the camera shutters...was truly an amazing experience.

Waiting for the sun rays to kiss the bottom of the arch to capture  the "jewel" or "star" effect was fun. What still lingers in my mind are the sounds and conversations of all those 20 and odd photographers....  in "Russian"..."English"..."German"..."Tamil"..and of course "Gods Own Country" :)

2. Trek to False Kiva and the Green River Overlook


The strenuous trek to False Kiva was worth it.  False Kiva enjoys a semi-protected status in the US and its exact location(GPS coordinates) has never been disclosed on websites apart from  photographers who disclose it on public forums. Kivas have been believed to have been created by kachinas in native America for religious ceremonies. Considering the fact that we only had a crow for company  that looked like it came out of "The Omen" and kept hovering around us during this 3 hour trek ...this unknown expedition was a success.How I just wish it had been a cloudy dark almost rainy day to get that dramatic effect! This is one spot I wud'nt dream to shoot the landscape at sunset, there is no way to find your way back after dark!