Mike Houge

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.

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.

Minnesota follow-up :

 
This image was taken at Two Harbors, Mn 2 weeks ago. Everything was coated in ice and it was cold and windy but the greenish color to the thick ice and the handrails leading out to the lighthouse attracted me to this image.

 
It was a little warmer this morning so I didn't get the fog I was hoping for but the sunrise with the sun dog was eye catching. The ice shards were found in the bays where the wind would push them up along the shore but even then they were hard to find. This image was just north of Duluth about three miles.

 
This was taken at Canal Park in Duluth, MN. Very similar to last weeks leading image but without the tree and bench. It took several shots to capture all the lights and reflections in the fog but I thought this was a keeper. I would like to thank you for stopping by and I hope we have a warmer week.

Playing Inside:

 
The weather in NW Iowa today is nasty-icy and windy with the power going on and off- so it was a good day to play inside. If you've been following my blog, you know I've been learning how to use textures with my images. The above image is from Chester Park in Duluth, MN and one of my regular haunts.It has it all, water, bridges and trees- you can't get better than that.

 
This shed is on Stoney  Point north of Duluth and I've photographed this poor shed over a dozen times, trying to capture what my minds eye sees. This is the closest I've come to that image yet.

 
This image is from Gooseberry Falls State Park just north of Two Harbors and is one I visit often. I seldom get any winter images from here as it's very slippery and dangerous to get around and it often has a dirty look. This bridge and the steps behind it looked like a good opportunity and I'm glad it turned out. Thanks for stopping by and have a good week.

A Sweet Gift:

 
For several years now my wife and I have given each other for Valentines Day- a trip to northern Minnesota. We usually stay at a cabin where we can cook our own meals and one that is centrally located to an area I wish to photograph. This year we stayed near Knife River at Island View Resort and even though it was bitter cold at times, we had a nice relaxing time. The image above was taken at Canal Park in Duluth and the -14 degree weather made for some awesome fog. The sunrise was beautiful that morning and the fog rolled in for hours.

 
This image was taken at Leif Erickson Park just a mile or so north of Canal Park. I had been down at the lake taking ice shard images and as I was crossing a walkway to leave -I did a double take- this scene could be in the 1930's as well as today, truly timeless.

 
This final image was taken at Amnicon Falls State Park in Wisconsin. I've captured this bridge from several angles over the years and I'm still trying to get it just right. Amnicon Falls is a lovely smaller park with lots of trees and running water- my kind of place. I hope you all had a great Valentines Day and thanks again for stopping by. Have a great week.

Fall, a little longer:

I had a small window of opportunity yesterday morning to spend some time at Fort Defiance. It was really peaceful along the creek that meanders through the park like a long snake. I was afraid the water level would be to low to enjoy ands that there'd be nothing to capture but I was wrong on both accounts. I was able to find one last flowering plant along the creek that somehow the frost and wind had missed, one last goodbye to summer.

 
I took the time to walk through the valley enjoying the peacefulness and the beauty of the leaves carpeting the floor and I have to confess I lost myself in the moment. I couldn't help but wonder if this would be my last chance this year to enjoy what was left of fall. I hope you've found an opportunity to enjoy this nice long season and thanks for stopping by.

 

Fall colors are coming:

Every year now for more years than I can remember, my wife and I have traveled to northern Minnesota with the hopes of catching fall colors just right. Usually we hear- "you should have been here last week" or "you're a week too soon", but this year we really lucked out and we hit it "just right"!.

I think these images epitomize our findings this trip - a nice palette of colors and good water flow in the streams. It's hard to put into words the feelings you experience when you drive for miles surrounded by oceans of yellows, gold and reds, colors so bright it almost hurts your eyes. The most vibrant of colors were off highway 61, inland five to ten miles from the towns of Lutsen, Tofte and Grand Marais.The roads in the back roads are narrow graveled forest service roads and care must be used as the logging trucks are huge and they drive really fast. Although there are few homes in this area, you'll see lots of folks like yourself, enjoying the fall scenery and stopping on the narrow roads taking pictures.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by my photo blog and please remember to mark your calendar, as this weekend is the Artisans Road trip and I and several other artists will be at the Piece Of Work, downtown Spirit Lake Friday from 4 to 8 and Sat & Sun from 9 to 5. Refreshments will be served and there will be lots of catching up to do. Hope to see you there!  

Minneopa State Park

My friend Dan called me a week or two ago ( www.danielruf.typepad.com) on his way back from Northern Minnesota and told me I'd better get up to Minneopa State Park near Mankato as the River there was in good shape for photographing. As you can see from the above image- he was right.

I got up at 4:45 AM and drove for two hours to try and catch some good reflections on the river. As luck had it, things were really in good order and using Photomatix Pro 3 and merging three images I think I was able to not only capture some nice reflections but also slow down the water without any blowouts. I like to use the HDR technique on images like this one due to the fact that the lighting was harsh enough that to blur the water without blowouts and yet get the reflections I wanted the image would have been to dark for my liking.

If you'd like to see other fine HDR images check out my friend Dans site above or try Tony Sweets site www.Tonysweet.com both use HDR beautifully. As for the state park- it's 5 miles west of Mankato on Hwys 68 & 169 and along with the beautiful double water falls it has several buildings built by the CCC in 1939, 4-5 miles of hiking trails, 60 plus camp sites and a German style grist mill you can visit. A great place to camp or stop for a pic-nic.I hope you have a great week and thanks for stopping by.