Richard Mack – Page 11 – Quiet Light Publishing Blog

May 11, 2010May 11, 2010

Smoky Mountains Book Named Silver Medalist in Eric Hoffer Book Awards

On Sunday while I was walking along the shore of Lake Michigan I received an email notifying me that my book Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes had won the Silver Medal in the Art, Photography & Coffee Table books category of the Eric Hoffer Book Awards. It is an honor to have received this accolade from the industry.

In the review of the book US Review of Books said the following:

“The US Review of Books: The Eric Hoffer Award.”

Great Smoky Mountain National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes, Richard Mack, Quiet Light Publishing – Photographer Richard Mack doesn’t let words get in the way of his sumptuous series of pictures of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. For thirty years, Mack has roamed and captured images of this National Park beauty. The book is divided into the major park sections (i.e. Cades Cove, Oconaluftee, Roaring Fork etc.), exploring the natural subdivisions within each. Occasionally the filters are set for subtle effect, but mostly you will find icy clear depictions of the majesty wrought from this mountainous pine and deciduous forest in every season. It is the kind of coffee table book that draws you in and has you flipping through every page.

You can view more of the award winners online at www.hofferaward.com.

It’s an honor to have been considered for this award and even more humbling to have been the first runner up for this award. More awards will be awarded in New York at BookExpo later in May so stay tuned to see how we fair in those awards!

If you haven’t seen the book you can Look Inside the Book at Quiet Light Publishing and purchase signed copies! You can also purchase signed copies of the 2007 Eric Hoffer Book Award Gold Medalist winner The Lewis & Clark Trail: American Landscapes!

Peace,

Richard

May 3, 2010May 4, 2010

Eric Hoffer Book Awards – Grand Prize finalists announced, We made it!

The Eric Hoffer Book Awards committee has announced the finalists list for the 2010 Grand Prize Award for Independent Publishing. Quiet Light Publishing’s book Great Smokey Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes, Photographs by Richard Mack has made this short list. Two Grand Prizes are awarded annually, one for short prose and one for excellence in publishing of independent books from small publishers.

The Eric Hoffer Book Awards were established at the beginning of the 21st century as a means of opening the door to writing of significant merit. It honors the memory of the great American philosopher Eric Hoffer by highlighting salient writing as well as the independent spirit of small publisher’s.

We are honored to be named to the short list. The final winners will be named at Book Expo in New York City on May 24-25. They are also covered in the US Review of Books. So now we wait for the final judging!

Peace,
Richard

March 30, 2010May 3, 2010

High ISO and Perspective – Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Elk, Great Smoky Mountains NP — Elk, Great Smoky Mountains, NP

I recently read an article by George Lepp in Outdoor Photographer which reminded me of a few things I talk about in the Quiet Light Workshops. With the advent of the digital world and especially today’s cameras with high ISO settings photographers – and especially landscape photographers – need to remember to think outside of their usual comfort zone. Today’s camera ISO’s, or as film folks think, ASA, can now go to an incredible 25,600! Remember when ASA 800 seemed on the edge? As landscape photographers we are used to working at the best possible ISO of 50-100 for the finest in detail. Yet in digital the loss with higher ISO’s is minimal. Yes, there will be some additional noise but nothing which can’t be overcome with noise reduction software.

When shooting my last book Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes I had the need to extend the ISO of my camera’s (Canon 1Ds Mark III) highest setting to 3200 when I was shooting the elk in Cataloochee. It was nearly dark when the elk began to actually begin their rut and clash their heads together. Since this is what I had come for I had no choice. I confess, as I was shooting them I was fairly sure I would need to come back, so imagine my surprise when later that night the images looked great in Photoshop!

Last week I was in Texas and once again wanted to play with expanded ISO’s. This time not because I was forced to but to see how it would help you be more creative. I was visiting my aunt and uncle’s ranch Rookwood near Brenham. Aunt Char is a great photographer herself and was excited to show me around. The wildflowers were just beginning to come out. I found that by using the higher ISO’s I could handhold when necessary to get a better angle. I also played with the depth of field so I could show workshop participants directly the differences in looks when you step out of the landscape photographer mode and use a shallow depth of field to highlight an area of an image. The Indian Paint Brush and Bluebonnets in their fields became my subjects for this study. The fact is by changing the way we work we open up endless possibilities to how we see.

Sometimes we find ourselves doing things the way we have always done them – low ISO and stop down all the way to make sure that image is sharp all the way through. And sometimes it is best to break that “rule” of landscape photography. This may seem a very simple idea, but sometimes we need to be reminded to step outside our comfort zone and see the world in a different way.

If you would like to see more images from Texas you can use this link: www.mackphoto.com/blog/Texas/

To see the Great Smoky Mountains National Park book go to www.quietlightpublishing.com

If you would like more information on my workshops please visit www.quietlightworkshops.com

Go on and get out of your zone! Experiment!

Peace,

Richard

March 16, 2010March 16, 2010

Smoky Mountains Book makes Book of the Year Awards Finalist List

We are pleased to announce that our book Great Smokey Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes, photographs by Richard Mack was named as a finalist in the 2009 Book of the Year Awards for Photography.

ForeWord Reviews today announced the finalists in the 2009 Book of the Year Awards. The finalists, representing 360 publishers, were selected in 60 categories. These books are examples of independent publishing at its best.

The winners will be determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers. Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, as well as Editor’s Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction will be announced at a special program at BookExpo America in New York City on May 25, 2010. ForeWord‘s Book of the Year Awards program was designed to discover distinctive books from independent publishers across a number of genres.

We are honored to be announced as a finalist in this prestigious award. There are 14 books listed as finalists so we will await the decisions of the judges and the award ceremony in New York on May 25^th!

Cheers!

Richard

February 10, 2010February 16, 2010

Lake Michigan Winter Storm

Winter Storm, Lake Michigan

For the last few days we’ve had a winter storm in Chicago which has dumped over 12” of snow. So naturally I finally said it was time to grab a camera and head down to the lakefront and see what images I might find there for possible inclusion in one of my next books on all five Great Lakes.

These images were all shot around the lake front in Evanston, Illinois. Some places you may recognize from previous posts since it is my home town. The storm was in full force yesterday afternoon when I ventured out. The ice has built up tall against the shoreline with the winds out of the northeast and stacking the ice onto shore from the lake. With the dark clouds on the horizon I worked with the clouds, low visibility and starkness of the images in front of me. It will be interesting to see if these ever make it into the book, but it was fun to be out in the weather and making images again! Seems like a long time since I shot anything on this project.

The working title for this book on all five of the Great Lakes is 20%. Named so because 20% of all the fresh water in the entire world lies within these lakes. A drop of water from Lake Superior takes over 400 years to travel through the lakes and into the Atlantic Ocean. It is clear what we do to these lakes now will affect those who come after us for many generations. The book does not yet have a release date since I am just now beginning to shoot most of it.

To see more of the images from this shoot please visit www.mackphoto.com/blog/LakeMichiganWinter/

Enjoy the winter snows! We’re over half way to spring…

Peace,

Richard Mack