Mike Houge

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.

Final fall thoughts:

Two weeks ago, my wife and I headed to NE Iowa for a fall color shoot. The problem-we were two weeks late, fall had come early to NE Iowa this year. So for the next two days we drove to SE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin- only to find fall was early there also.

Looking for some good in a bad photographic journey, we were able to scout some new locations and visit some areas we hadn't been in for some 30 years. For anyone that hasn't visited NE Iowa- it is a beautiful part of the state. There are still small farms every mile or so and some beautiful rolling hills. The river area has lots to see with the towering bluffs and the magnificent Mississippi river. It is a great place to enjoy mother nature.

Also mark on your calendar December 15th- Dan Ruf and I will have a reception for the "Thru The Lens" showing at the Arts On Grand, in Spencer,Iowa. It will give you an opportunity to not only see what Dan & I have been upto this year but also have a chance to visit with us one on one. Hope to see you there, have a great week and as always-thanks for stopping by.

Fall beauties:

Occasionally when you're out shooting an image looks so good in the view finder that you find yourself saying- WOW- out loud and you can't help smiling to yourself. That doesn't happen to me often but this last trip to Minnesota it happened twice, and the two images this week are the wow shots for me. The above image is of a mountain ash tree using an attachment called a lens baby. The following is just a nice image of a birch tree with maple leaves in front. I want to thank you for stopping by this week and I hope you've been able to get out and enjoy fall in your area.