Fall: Mother Nature’s Handiwork

Landscape photographer Steven Huyser-Honig expresses his views of nature in autumn. // Photography by Steven Huyser-Honig

Howard Meyerson

October 1, 2018

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Tahquamenon River Sunrise — Autumn foliage glows in the light of the rising sun along the Tahquamenon River.

When autumn colors fill the trees and transform the landscape into a palette of reds, yellows, oranges and purples, Steven Huyser-Honig is likely to be outdoors capturing that natural wonder. The 61-year-old landscape photographer said it is a wonderful time to be outdoors.

“I love encountering Mother Nature’s surprising handiwork,” said Huyser-Honig, a Chicago native who lives in Grand Rapids with his wife, writer Joan Huyser-Honig. “Some of my works are images that I sought out and waited for the right light, but most are things I encounter while being out while waiting for something extraordinary to happen.”

The upper Carp River spreads across a stony face to create Bridal Veil Falls.

Huyser-Honig grew up in Chicago where he began shooting photographs as a middle school student. He’d take the bus downtown and roam with his camera. Over the years, he developed an affinity for nature and the outdoors, thanks to an uncle that took him camping in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

While attending Hope College, where he majored in chemistry, he found himself increasingly drawn to art. He enrolled in many art courses during his later years in school. Photography, he said, is “a perfect blend of art and science.”

Black Water Pond — I encountered this black water pond at the end of a long hike in Negwegon State Park a swampy expanse of forest and beaches on Lake Huron south of Alpena. A polarizing filter eliminated glare off the perfectly smooth water and deepened the color of the foliage.

“Early in my career, Joan and I collaborated on travel journals, family adventure travel journalism, but as our children got older and financial realities hit, we switched to working with nonprofit organizations,” Huyser-Honig said. “She writes for them, and I made the switch to my own art photography.”

Becoming a landscape photographer, he said, allowed him to “combine his love of the outdoors and photography,” where his earlier photography work “was driven by the market and what the client wants.”

Huyser-Honig’s portfolio of Michigan images, called Steven Huyser-Honig’s Michigan, can be seen on his website (stevenhuyserhonig.com). In this issue of BLUE, we share a selection of his fall art images.

“I have affection for the Michigan landscape,” Huyser-Honig said. “It’s vacation land and the land of ice cream and blueberries.

“… Fall is my favorite season. It’s a gorgeous time of year. Typically, I have a destination in mind when I go out in the field; it could be Tahquamenon Falls or Grand Portal Point or Sleeping Bear Dunes, but what I really hope for is something else to capture my attention. I hope to be surprised by something along the way; those are often the best (moments)…”