Mike Houge

Backbone revisited:

Backbone State Park, Iowa's oldest- is like an old friend. I first visited this beautiful park over 25 years ago. The limestone bluffs, lake and trout streams are worth visiting over and over again. A couple of years ago, good friend Dan Ruf  (www.danielruf.typepad.com ) visited here and found some perfect weater- foggy, frosty and calm. Needless to say we had a blast for hours- capturing images- not only of the boathouse but in the valley around the trout streams.

This year, I wasn't lucky enough to catch the fog and the leaf colors weren't in their prime but I sure had a good time. The boathouse and several other building were built by the CCC in the 30's and they have a large campground also available.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

 

Quick trip:

The above is a capture of the old foot bridge from Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. It was one of those wonderful light snows and no one had been on the trails yet. As it turned out, I had the whole park to myself and I was able to capture the bridge with 6 inches of fresh snow and no footsteps. It was so quiet you could hear the snow falling off the trees.

I had to cut my trip short due to bad weather but the time spent in the parks was memorable. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by

Northern MinnesotaColors:

My wife, Pam and I were able to get a way for a long weekend last week and this year we hit the fall colors around Grand Marais just right. It's always a risk picking a date months in advance and hoping the colors will wait around for you but occasionally mother nature takes pity. The above image was taken from the side of Carlton Peak near Tofte, and it was drop dead gorgeous.

We stayed in the beautiful little village of Grand Marais and I was taken back by the gorgeous sky Friday morning. I spent a lot of time there on the beach capturing the sail boats in the harbor and enjoying the calm morning ( it didn't hurt that the Java Moose coffee shop was across the street).

The above image was captured at another of my favorite haunts- Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. The weather was wonderful but the colors had reached their peak the week before we arrived but I thought this view over the old bridge still showed some promise.

Thanks for taking the time to let me share some of my northern images. The weather is turning cold and windy and I'm afraid we are about to lose the little color we have here in Iowa, so I hope you've had time to enjoy this years fall. Have a great week.

A quick trip to the Arrowhead Region:

My wife and I were able to escape to northern Minnesota a while back before the hustle of the Clay County Fair begins. We were greeted by rain and cooler weather while we were visiting, which was really appreciated. It's surprising - but there were signs of the leaf color changing. I figured with all the rain they've received it might hold off. I'm planning on a late month fall trip and I'm hoping there are still leaves on the trees.

The first image is from down in Canal Park at Duluth just at sunrise, it was one of those beautiful Lake Superior mornings. The second image is as you might guess- from Gooseberry Falls State Park north of Two Harbors. In both locations I wasn't the first one on the scene- which I found amusing, as that isn't common. Normally I have these spots to myself, I'm not used to sharing.

Thanks for stopping by and for the locals-maybe I'll see you at the Clay County Fair. By the way, there were aprx 2200 photos entries at the fair this year- not a record but close. I hope you can find time to stop and see all the beautiful images on display, I think it'll be worth your time. have a great week.

High water at Gooseberry Falls State Park:

I just returned from a quick trip up north at the same time the Duluth area was receiving some of it's heaviest rains in recent history. Luckily we drove through Duluth Wednesday evening after the worst was over but never in all the years that we've been going there have we ever seen it so deserted, it was truly erie .

We encountered detours on several roads, including I35 and we learned that the swinging bridge at Jay Cooke State Park was taken out by high water and the park was closed for some time and campers asked to leave. Along all the rivers and creeks there were signs of how high the water had been a short time earlier and I have to say I was glad we coming after the worst was over. I have to guess that some of the rivers/creeks had risen by 10-20 feet and the bridge at Knife River - 15 to 20 foot above the normal river bed -  had large trees sticking out of the hand rails like tooth picks.

I got up early Thursday morning to take pictures at Gooseberry and although the water level was already down by 5-6 feet from Wednesday- the water rushing over the falls gave me a feeling I've never felt before - the power of that river - you could feel the vibration in your feet- made me feel very insignificant.

My thoughts go out to all the folks up north that experienced flooding and damage and I wish you a speeding recovery. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and I hope you have a great week.

The Joy Of Photography:

The image above is not the one I was hoping to show you this week. I went out this morning with a prop and had hoped to capture some of the local song birds sitting on the pine branch I had cut off one of our many pine trees. I had that perfect image in mind and was sure I'd come home with it. After all- how hard can it be-you see those perfect images all the time of the black-caped chickadee turning around and almost smiling at the photographer and saying look at me- here I am.

Well I didn't get that perfect image, in fact all the images I brought home- I deleted. Now some folks would be upset and have all kind of reasons to be mad or why it went wrong but you know-I really had fun. It was quiet and the birds actually put on quite a show for me. There were flickers ,goldfinches , chickadees , downy woodpeckers ,of course sparrows and a noisy squirrel.

I was reminded of a friend of mine that just recently purchased a new camera and is just having a ball taking shots of everything she can. Fern helped put things in perspective for me- we sometimes have to remember why many of us started capturing images to begin with "it's fun" to capture what we enjoy . So Fern- if you're reading this- keep having fun capturing those things you enjoy-your excitement has been addictive.

In regards to the above image- it's from Amnicon State Park in Wisconsin and the bridge in the background is a 100 year old bow bridge. The image was processed to look like an oil painting and had a border added.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week.

 

Gooseberry Falls State Park:

I've been dreaming about a trip up north, so to fill those needs I've been revisiting some images from past trips that I haven't found time to process.These two images are fromm Gooseberry Falls State Parkwhich is about an hour north of Duluth, Minnesota and is one of the most popular state parks in the state. My family has fallen in love with Gooseberry and over the years I've taken enough images of this area to make a good sized book. There are five falls in this park and the above image is of the fourth falls

The above image is an angle of the middle falls that I've never taken until this fall when for some reason the angle of the trees really hit me. As I mature as a photographer, I'm learning to see more shapes and textures in nature that four years ago would have been oblivious to me. I give my friend Dan Ruf some of the credit for this, as we often spend hours discussing the ins and outs of photography techniques.

Both of these images were processed to resemble oil paintings and given a border to set them off. If you haven't been to Lake Superior or the northshore drive and you like to spend time enjoying nature- I highly recommend this area. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Brighton Beach revisited:

This is an image from several years back that few folks have seen that I captured at Brighton Beach, one of my favorite places images along Lake Superior. It was one of those below zero mornings that just called out my name as I drove by. Most winters there is ice along the shore but the lake is usually open but this time the weather was calm and cold so ice formed over night.

Unlike the lakes in northern Iowa, Lake Superior seldom freezes over so it's an odd feeling to be in the middle of winter and be along the shore line listening to waves. I think that's one of the many reasons we're drawn to the area in the winter. If you're a winter person and haven't taken a trip north, I think you'd like it. Unlike northern Iowa- the wind is much calmer, which makes being outdoors more enjoyable and mentally having open water it seem less like winter.

We've always enjoyed snowshoeing on the trails and it's not uncommon to find folks camping in the state parks. The Brighton Beach area is a very popular rocky stretch and always bustling with folks hiking or just enjoying the outdoors and is just a short jaunt north of Duluth.

Well as you can tell, I can't wait to make a trip north- thanks for stopping by and have a great week. 

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.
 

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.