Mike Houge

Flower Gardens:

It's so enjoyable to again be outside and capturing images of what's growing outside my own door. We have spent alot of time landscaping our acreage over the years and it is finally starting to pay off. As they say- anything worth well is worth waiting for- or something like that. The above image is of a bleeding heart and I used onOne software for the textures and border.

The above Iris is from in front of our home and again I used the same software for the textures and framing. As you've most likely noticed- I've been having alot of fun using textures to add something extra to the images I've captured. I think myself, like a lot of photographers, are looking for a way to make their images more personal and right now textures fill that gap. It's truly a work in progress.

The above monarch butterfly put on quite a show for me Sunday morning so I spent about half an hour chasing him around the acreage. The image effect was created using Snap Art softwares water color effect and onOne software for the border. I haven't identified the flower yet but the hummers, bees and butterflies sure liked it.

Thanks for stopping by this week and I hope you're finding time to get out and enjoy mother nature.

Working with flowers II:

I must give a big thank you to my youngest daughter, Ariana, for thinking of me by passing on several of the flowers in this weeks images. Once again, mother nature has been working against me and I've had to work inside rather than outdoors taking flower images. I should also thank my wife Pam, for letting me use several of her scarves , not to mention the dining room table this week.

Still life's aren't what I do best and I'd be the first one to tell you that I have a lot of learning ahead of me - but as they say- practice makes perfect ( or at least better). I have a lot of respect for those people that seem to be able to make something out of nothing and just seem to know what works with what. All the books say simple is best so that's what I've been working on. The top image has a wine bottle in the background and the above image has a white bird cage . The textures in this weeks images were from onOne software and a few other resources.

The above image was taken in July of last year and shows some cone flowers from one of our beds here at home. I hope you have enjoyed this weeks images and as always- thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Working with flowers:

My good friend Dan (www.danielruf.typepad.com) and I were visiting about the direction photography sometimes takes us. There's a tide we sometimes find ourselves fighting against and that's the pull between capturing images that the public purchase ( often landscapes) and the others- for example flower and still life images.  I told Dan that I couldn't wait to get over to Orange City when the tulips start to bloom and how much fun I've had the last couple of years capturing the beautiful variety of flowers they plant.

I can't remember the last time I've had someone purchase a flower image but one of the things I look forward to the most during spring and summer- is capturing flowers in a new and exciting way. Now there's also the beautiful sun rises and sunsets, the water falls and streams, not to mention the butterflies- the list goes on . I captured the above mums on my deck- as it was to windy to shoot anything outside.I used an old barn window for the backround of the top image and one of my wifes scarves for the other.

Well, I suspect you get my point- spring is here- lets all get out and enjoy it in our own special way.Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.   

An early spring:

Here in northwest Iowa, we've had one of the warmest winters on record which has caused spring to come much earlier than normal. Last week I couldn't wait any longer for flowers to bloom, so I went to the store and purchased a nice multi-colored bouquet of mums. That was the best $10.00 I've spent in a long time, I should be able to shoot those flowers for a good week or so.

After capturing several images I was happy with, I decided they needed something done with them that would make them stand out from other mum images that I've taken in the past. The above smoke effect I used is from onOne software and is just one of hundreds effects from this software package.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find time to get out and smell the flowers.

Vintage images:

My friend Dan Ruf (www.danielruf.typepad.com) and I met at the Peterson Homestead along Ingham Lake last week and spent a couple hours capturing images of the past. It's always more fun shooting when you can share the experience with a fellow photograper.

I debated for several days how to best show these images and what you see above was first processed in color, then to black and white and finally run through onOne software with three different layers. I hope you like the old time feel.

Have a great week and as always- thanks for taking time to comment-it's always appreciated.

Bringing in the new year:

As a final good by to the holiday season and 2011, I wanted to leave you with one last Christmas image. The above image is of our Christmas cactus in front of the tree as we are about to box  up for the season. This cactus has been handed down from my grand mother to my mother and now to our family. Some years it flowers during Christmas and some years not until Easter but it always manages to flower with or without our help.

For several years now I've tried in vain to capture it's beauty and I never quite accomplish my goal. As a photographer and as in life, it's great to set goals that not only takes us on that magical  journey but continually challenges us to do better and not settle for "good enough". I hope 2012 is full of wonderful journeys for you and your family and again thanks to all of you that have been following my journey the last couple of years. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Christmas is in the air:

It's been a busy time around the Hedge household and also for many of the folks I've visited with. Dan Ruf and I had our "Throught The Lens" reception last Thursday evening at Arts On Grand and I would like to thank all of you that were so kind to stop by and see our work. For those of you that had conflicts and would like to see our work, it will be up until January 7th.
I will make this quick this week but did want to share some Christmas spirit with you and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I want to that all of you that have taken time to visit this site and thank you for your kind comments.
The pink flamingo above is a special gift for our friends Greg and Laurie in Des Moines. We've had a lot of fun over the years with the traveling flamingo and we just never know where it might show up.Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful holiday season.

 

Transitions:

The transition from fall to winter each year has been a had one for me. This year I've decided to make a conscious effort to kick my self out of the nice warm house and get out and capture some winter images. Saturday we had our first ice storm, so today I went out and captured the first of what I hope will be a series of nice winter images.

As a photographier I've found out that that beauty comes in many shapes and sizes and sometimes you just need to open your eyes and pay attention. I have struggled with this for sometime now but I'm finally starting to catch on.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Time for play

Having a little extra time to work on some my images, I've been working on a few favorite images I've taken with the idea in mind to add textures and work towards a water color effect.  I was raised with a ink pen and a brush in my hands- going as far back as I can remember - along with a needle and thread (although I don't tell many people that story), so playing with colors seems more natural to me than one might expect.

The images on this weeks blog represent some fun time just playing with the possibilities and seeing where they lead. My trip up north this fall allowed me some time to branch out into the macro area and I have to admit- it was fun.

I hope you have as much time viewing these- as I had creating them. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Field Of Dreams:

 
I would never have dreampt that someone in my neighborhood would plant a field of sunflowers, but that's the words out of my daughter Heathers mouth one Sunday as she was back home visiting. It has become a very welcoming sight every morning on the way to work- those large yellow faces greeting the sunlight each and every day. So the other evening I took a small ladder (the flowers are over 6' tall) and my camera gear and walked into the field to see if I could capture their beauty. Little did I know what a challenge it would become, as I've never been surrounded by a large field of flowers and wasn't sure where to start. As it turned out I had a lot of fun with them and from the images you'll see here, I've tried several techniques which I found very entertaining. The above was captured using a lens-baby attachment, which blurs all but the spot you select.

 
The above image was processed in Photo Shop using several different filters. I couldn't help but remember a sunflower painting I think Van Gogh made famous. I love the way the sun highlighted the petals of the flowers.

I had a couple more images to share but the internet tonite is really bad so I'm stopping before I loose what I have already. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week.