The Palouse has some of the most fertile land in the world and it encompasses approximately 19,000 square miles of Eastern Washington, Central Western Idaho and Northeastern Oregon. The bulk of the Palouse lies in Eastern Washington. In my opinion, there are two times to visit this photographic-rich area—one is in early June when the crops start to grow, and the second is during the harvest, which can occur in late July and last into late August or later. The landscape during these times couldn’t be more different looking. In early June, the landscape is all shades of green from light to dark. During harvest, the landscape changes to shades of gold and brown. While you will see some brown during June, these are areas that haven’t been planted due to crop rotations. If you ever heard the song “America the Beautiful”, you will see the “amber waves of grain” firsthand during harvest. Both times are quite beautiful in their own way. My favorite time is in June but it comes at a price. To photograph the landscape during sunrise, you better not sleep late. I took this photo at around 5:00am when the sun just started to crest the hills in the distance. That meant that I got up around 3:30am to get to this spot from our hotel in Colfax. To get this same shot in late August, I gained about an hour and a half of sleep.