Washington's Palouse Country

Nothing else represents the quintessential American landscape more than the family farm, and few places still offer more photogenic pastoral panoramas than the Palouse country that straddles the border of southeastern Washington and northwestern Idaho. Our Palouse Photo Safari is a photographic celebration of this lingering and nostalgic slice of Americana.

There is a very compelling reason for you to visit this extraordinarily photogenic corner of America—now! Within a short time, the majority of its treasured landmarks—those architecturally beautiful, hand-hewn wooden barns, silos and outbuildings of a bygone era will be gone. Scores of these weathered, abandoned and beautifully-deteriorating agricultural structures will collapse and be bulldozed onto the scrapheap of history.

This motif of graphically stunning old barns and ramshackle farm equipment, nestled within the undulating deep loess hillsides of the Palouse, form an iconic farmland of indescribable beauty. Unusual patterns created by plowing and crop rotations offer hours of thought-provoking and enjoyable study of realistic and abstract photo compositions.

During June, the vibrant yellows of blooming canola (rape seed) fields are contrasted by the rolling chartreuse hills of wheat and lentils, saturating the fields with explosive color. Wildflowers are abundant at this time of year.

From a splendid vantage point on top of Steptoe Butte, we have a commanding view of miles of beautifully-cultivated landscape. Our group creates images similar to those that can be taken from an aircraft—although we have the advantage of two feet on the ground, stable tripods, long lenses and the ability to capture the landscape at its best, in the long low light of sunrise and sunset.

In taking a break from other photographic endeavors, several of our leaders often get together for a photographic “busman’s holiday” in the Palouse. We have been here so often we have virtually every picturesque barn and farmstead in the region mapped out and choreographed to be there at the best light—yet every time we return to the Palouse, another barn or two is gone! Make plans now to join us in June and discover the photographic pleasures of the Palouse for yourself!