Last week, Valentina and myself had a chance to sit down and share the Shutter Tours story with Culturemob.com writer Maria  Christensen. I think anytime we get to share what we do, whether with customers who participate in tours or those who are interested in what we do, it makes us feel good that we created something others can enjoy.

Thanks Maria and you can read the article at Culturemob.com

Are you a blogger or journalist? Join our tour this Saturday

For those of you who don’t follow us on Twitter, we are having a press tour this Saturday at 10 am – 1pm in downtown Seattle. Space is limited to journalists and local bloggers.

Please contact Valentina Vitols at pr@shuttertours.com if you would like to attend.

We had another great day hitting the road here in Washington. The tulip fields of the beautiful Skagit Valley were our destination this afternoon and we had an almost picture perfect day well into the afternoon. We were abut a week early for the tulips as they are a couple of weeks late, but we had acres of daffodils to fill our viewfinders. As you can see by the image above, they stretch for what seems like miles.

So our first stop was the Snowgoose Fruitstand. They always have the best ice cream and local foods such as Indian Candy (Smoked salmon strips), fresh crab and lots of flowers to take home. Across the street from the Snowgoose was a field full of about 10,000 snow geese. This is a site to behold, especially when they all take off at once and create a large curtain of geese in the sky.

We then took our trip around the tulip route and stopped at our first daffodil field to everyone’s excitement. It’s funny how photographers can be so excited about all there is to see and act like little kids. As we shot, more and more photographers arrived to shoot the sea of yellow.

Once we shot this out from every conceivable angle, it was time to head the world famous Roozengaarde farm. The farm has a great garden with hundreds of varieties of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and trees. Truly a photographers paradise. Luckily we were there on a weekday as the weekend would be too crowded for the tour participants to get the great shots they had come for. We also had some of the best cream soda I had ever had. There was a food stand that said they had the cream soda especially made for them and it was fantastic.

After Roozengaarde it was back on the road to search for more fields of color. We were lucky enough to get to the one above before the light turned a bit too muted due to the clouds. Then it was offf to the town of La Connor to walk around the little shops and check out Hellams Vinyard, one of the finest wineshops in Washington. We always like to pick up a half dozen bottles of 14 Hands Merlot and Cab.

Finally it was time to hit the road. Everyone had a great time and we hope you’ll take the time to join us on your visit to the Seattle area. Whether it is our daily tours in Seattle or you want a private tour tailored to your interests, Shutter Tours is here to help.

Update: Ryan just sent us some photos from today http://picasaweb.google.com/bellrm00/2009TulipFestival?feat=directlink#

Yesterday we took a tour of a true Northwest oasis for a tour/workshop idea Shutter Tours is putting together. The area is a 400 acre private estate located in the foothills of the Cascade mountains. The center focal point is a 12 acre lake stocked with large trout and nestled between jutting cliffs that rise hundreds of feet.

Our day started with a short drive up to the property from downtown Seattle. Once we arrived, we felt transported into another world with hawks flying overhead. Next was a leisurely boat ride with a vintage boat propelled by an electric motor, on the pristine lake. Surrounded by firs and moss colored rocks and ducks paddling their way around the lake , this was a true photographers paradise.

As we docked on the other end, we walked through tall firs and moss covered vine maple with the sound of an 800′ waterfall in the distance. The owner said we would soon see what he calls, “The Garden of the Gods”. I was already wowed by what I had seen and was even more excited when we finally arrived. This “Garden” was simply stunning. Throughout thousands of years geological upheaval, house size boulders had come crashing down from the 800′ cliff above. They all settled in the one area and through this time, large fir trees had found their homes on top of the rocks. Roots slowly enveloped the rocks, like those of the banyan trees one would see in Angkor Wat in Cambodia. This is one of those areas that one very seldom gets a chance to see and being that it is a private estate, I could see how much fun it could be for our customers to experience this area.

Next, we took the boat back as the sun was breaking out. My eyes open to the wonder of the things I used to enjoy as a child as I hiked throughout the Northwest.

We then drove to the “Zen Garden” area. This is a garden the owner created for his enjoyment with large boulders sprinkled throughout, a large deck and an amazing view of the valley with a nice 3 bedroom guest house. The owner had spent a fortune on lighting the garden and having been there once during the evening, it was very peaceful and relaxing. It also helps that he has a hot tub to view the valley on one side and the towering cliffs on the other.

So Shutter Tours is working on bringing our customers here for a unique weekend. We are the first company the owner has ever allowed to bring people to experience their personal oasis. We are working on the details of the tour now, for an August or September weekend. If you would like to know more, please sign up for our mailing list and we’ll send out more information soon.