Mike Houge

What's flowering in Northwest Iowa:

I've been keeping my eyes on the local ditches and flowerbeds, trying to make a mental note of what's blooming so when I have a few free moments - I know where to dash off to. On my way back from kayaking near Lost Island today I spotted some blue-flag iris in a new spot and the Iowa State flower-the wild rose- is blooming nicely in most of the road ditches.

I made a special trip to the nature center near Peterson this week, as this time last year the lupine were in full bloom but there wasn't one to be found. Luckily the above spider wort were blooming in the flower bed out front along with a few young cone flowers and a few blanket flowers. My friend Dan Ruf (www.danileruf.typepad.com ) had alerted me that the wild foxglove were blooming and I did find some in the ditches just outside of Peterson Wednesday evening.

Here at home the above mums have been doing well and our spider wort are also starting to bloom. We've also been having a lot of fun watching the hummers and orioles at our feeders and as always the swallows are trying to build a nest above our front porch. We have some flowers in our prairie bed that I haven't been able to identify yet but the cosmos have started to bloom although they're a lot sparser than last year.

Well that's the update for now-I hope you're finding time to enjoy mother natures big show. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Mothers Day Weekend:

One couldn't ask for a nicer weekend for Mothers Day. The weather was perfect and we didn't even have that horrible wind blowing in our face. We spent the weekend with our daughters and grand daughters and just really had a great time. Last night was especially nice as we had a camp fire and roasted marsh mellows after a hard day of playing out side.

With everyone home I got up early and cooked breakfast for the mothers and grand kids and this evening we cooked out over the fire and spent a nice relaxing evening. The above Iris is from one of our many beds and I waited all day for the light to be just right before capturing it around 7:30 this evening. I'm not sure which variety of Iris it is- but it's much larger than the other ones and we all thought it was quite striking.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

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.

A work in progress II:

Photography, as much in life, is a definite work in progress. This story started on Friday when I made a trip to Orange City, to see the progress of the Tulips. I had been hearing stories that be-tween the warm March and the recent frost, that the Tulips had taken a beating and I wanted to see what was there to photograph.

Not to worry, when they plant the Tulip bulbs they plant with dates in mind, just for the strange springs like we had this year. Some of the Tulips were done blooming but there were lots of others that hadn't bloomed yet. Unfortunately for me between the wind and cold- there wasn't a lot to capture so I came back empty handed.

So today I set up a studio in our living room with the idea I'd get some great still life's like my friend Dan Ruf ( danielruf.typepad.com ) always seems to be able to pull off. Well my hats off to my friend Dan- as I worked for a couple hours and only really captured the above image that I was happy with. So as I've stated before-this business of photography is really a work in progress. To all of you newer photographers -don't give up-keep on clicking those shutters and learn from your mistakes. It really is true what they say- practice will make you better.

Have a great week and as always- thanks for stopping by.

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.

Nobles County Pioneer Village:

Last Friday, my friend Dan Ruf ( danielruf.typepad.com ) and I took off for Worthington, MN in hopes of finding out who to talk to about getting in to Pioneer Village to take pictures. Little did we know there would be someone working  that would be kind enough to take time out of their day to not only let us in but to help educate us on their cause.

The Historical Society started with one building around 1968 and now have 2 1/2 acres and 49 buildings, 36 which are available for viewing. For anyone wishing to be carried back to the past, I highly recommend this trip. This little village has it all-  from the train depot, post office, school, church, general store- you name it- anything a small town in the early 1900's would have is here for you to visit.

The above image is of a blue 1942 Ford  that was in fantastic shape - there is also a beautiful 1923 wooden truck that you can visit on Dans blog. There was also a small collection of vehicles including a firetruck and a couple old snowmobiles. They are open from Memorial Day thru Labor Day and are open Monday-Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 1-5 and charge $6.00 for adults and $1.00 for kids 6yrs thru 15 and kids 5 and under are free. Also free will offerings are welcomed.

I hope you've enjoyed this little travel -log and will consider supporting this good cause. Thanks for stopping by and have a good week.

Iowa Lakeside Labs:

The above image was taken at the Iowa Lakeside Labs facility on the west side of Lake Okoboji and is visible from the road. This particular structure has been painted and photographed by hundreds of people over the last 70 years but until today, I wasn't one of them. I've always envisioned capturing this building when the first rays of sunlight crested the tree line with a nice group of clouds overhead but the fresh snow today just screamed "take my picture".

The sign says these natural stone structures were built by the CCC in the 30's and I believe there are several of them on the property. We are blessed  in this area to have multiple buildings built by the CCC, not only here but in the local state parks as well.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

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.