Author: Richard Mack

I have been a commercial photography since 1980. I specialize in location photography for advertising and corporatations. I have shot everything from architectural projects, hotels/travel to steel mills and agricultural products. I have also shot landscapes for myself and in 2001 began my first book project, The Lewis & Clark Trail AMERICAN LANDSCAPES. It was published by Quiet Light Publishing in 2005. In 2009 my second book Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes was published and has become the best selling photographic book in the park. Since then we have won over a dozen awards. This blog will share a bit of the publishing and photography musings as well as thoughts on shooting on locations around the world. Currently working and talking about two books I am currently working on. I hope you enjoy!
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Jill Buckner & Richard Mack Gallery Opening of Morocco Images

Quiet Light publishing is proud to announce a Gallery show by photographers Jill Buckner & Richard Mack.

TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS | ONE VISION

Jill Buckner & Richard Mack Gallery Opening

Treasures of Morocco: A Sensuous Feast of Color

Join us for a uniquely exotic evening that will senses! A “taste of Morocco”.

OPENING NIGHT: Friday, November 9th 5:30-9:00 at Ysla Gallery in Wilmette.

What may have started as a mild competition while we were on assignment in Italy and Morocco became inspirational and synergistic. We were quite excited about the passion and energy which was unleashed.

It is seldom two photographers can work this seamlessly together and create one body of work with cohesiveness such as this. In some instances we do not know who shot one image or the other. Therefore in these collections, we will both sign each print. We travelled to Italy to capture the beauty of Tuscany, Florence and Venice. In Morocco we photographed in Casablanca, Marrakech and a small part of the countryside. The trip to Morocco was driven by the possibility of a book whose working title is Treasures of Morocco: A Sensual Feast of Color.

For more information or to download a PDF of the postcard invitation use this link:

Gallery Show Buckner & Mack

With less than three weeks to go until the opening I have a lot of work to do printing each image we’ve selected for the show and then getting them into the frames. Jill is in Atlanta on a few shoots for the next week which gives me the chance to concentrate on getting the prints done so we can both sign each one and then frame them.  I know we shall have everything ready by the opening but right now all you see is work as you only want the finest prints – which do take time. A print comes off the printer and you look at it with a critical eye and decide if any changes need to be made. No matter how calibrated your system is, it is much like being in the darkroom in the way you work with a print after it “develops”. Yet it is also one of the most exciting parts of being a photographer – bringing your vision into print so everyone can see your way of seeing the world. Your perspective, or in this case, our perspective!

We hope you will all come to the opening – it shall be a great night about our trip to Morocco!

To see more about the Two Photographers|One Vision project use this link:

Two Photographers | One Vision

To Purchase Prints go to the Quiet Light publishing shop with this link TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS | ONE VISION PRINTS

To see some of the images from both Italy and Morocco you can use these links:

Morocco Images on Mack Photography website

Italy Images on Mack Photography website

See you on November 9th!

Richard

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Quiet Light Publishing Website & Shop Have New Work!

Tuscany Hills by Jill Buckner & Richard Mack

This week we have rolled out the new Quiet Light Publishing website and store! On the main page we talk not only about the books we offer from Stephen Azzato, Their Love of Music, or my two books, The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes and Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes, but we talk about new projects in the works and a new photographer, Jill Buckner whose work we carry!

Quiet Light Publishing is pleased to announce that award winning photographer Jill Buckner, based in Atlanta and Chicago, is now part of the talent here with Fine Art Prints available online and a possibility of a book. She has been a commercial photographer for close to 30 years specializing in architectural photography, lifestyle photography for advertising clients and portraits of executives and families across the country. Her fine art work includes beautiful Black & White images of baby parts. She is also an accomplished landscape/cityscape photographer. Her work can be seen in the Quiet Light shop.

Richard Mack & Jill Buckner in Venice.

Jill and I teamed up on two assignments this spring in Italy and Morocco and found it was more than just two assignments but a new project Two Photographers | One Vision. We travelled on assignment to Italy and Morocco to capture the beauty of these places. In Italy we were working for a tourism company and in Morocco on a possible book whose working title is Treasures of Morocco: A Sensual Feast of Color. It is seldom two photographers can work seamlessly together and create one body of work with cohesiveness such as this. We could be blocks apart and yet we knew the type of shot the other was doing so we would not duplicate each other. We honestly do not know which one of us shot which image for the most part. The fine art prints will be signed by both us! An eBook on the project and gallery openings are in the works for Two Photographers | One Vision. See more on the Quiet Light website under Two Photographers. Prints are available from Quiet Light Publishing.

Street in Casablanca by Jill Buckner & Richard Mack, Two Photographers | One Vision project.

I have had to put off the work on the Great Lakes Project, a book in the works detailing all five of the Great Lakes, currently titled Twenty|Ninety-Five: The Great Lakes Landscapes. Yet this fall I am planning to get back to it. It was put off because of injuries I received after being hit by a car in February the day before I planned to hit the road and circle Lake Superior for a winter trip. A long summer not being on that trail. You can see more about it on the Quiet Light Publishing website on the Great Lakes Project page including buying Fine Art Prints from the project in are shop.

View from Grosse Pointe Lighthouse with Moon by Richard Mack, Great Lakes Project.

The Quiet Light Publishing store has undergone a big change with all work now in Categories, such as one for each of the three books, the current project on the Great Lakes and Two Photographers | One Vision. The categories contain anything related to each project specifically from books to prints to notecards.  You can also scroll through areas for Fine Art Prints by Collections. Take a look and let us know what you think!   Time to start thinking of your holiday gift giving!

Cheers,

Richard Mack

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A New Project – The Great Lakes Project

This year I am really focused on a new project and book on all five Great Lakes, currently titled Twenty/Ninety-Five, The Great Lakes Landscapes. This book will focus on the fact that 20% of the world’s fresh water and 95% of North America’s fresh water are held in these five bodies of water. Think about that. Twenty percent of all the fresh water in the world. Include all the lakes, ponds, streams, rivers and snow and 20% of the water sits in these lakes. And currently there are 42 million people who live along these lakes. Indeed mankind has lived on these lakes for thousands of years yet it is only in the last few centuries that mans impact has been felt in such great ways. I want to look at that impact and how we can insure that our children will have the same benefit of these lakes and natural areas. The book will look at the statistics on the lakes and focus on both the natural and wild areas in the lakes watershed and on some of the cities and industries which lie along the lakes, including how we use the lakes for recreation and commerce. I intend to blog along the way on this project. And since the first trip is upon me next month it is time to start. I hope you’ll join me on this voyage and follow my blog as I examine these great lakes of ours. Like most who live along the lakes for most of their lives I have not been to most of the 10,000 miles of shoreline. I will enjoy opening up my eyes to new places. I hope folks will share their thoughts of their favorite places on the lakes as we go along as well and I invite everyone to leave comments on posts they enjoy or with places they love. This is also an evolving project, one not limited to a book, but to the possibilities of an e-book with video, gallery shows of images and art installations, writings from those working to save the lakes and research the ecology of the lakes.  Now a lot of folks who know me know I’ve been working on this off and on for the last few years, but now it is time to really get serious about it and concentrate on this project. So the adventure begins…

The other day a friend asked me, “So what did you do today?” My answer was complete with all the tasks we undertake during a day and also included my work on my next big project of photographing the Great Lakes. As I explained I was preparing for a trip around Lake Superior in late February she was surprised at how much planning I was doing. Yet to make sure you come back with images you can use and not just nice snapshots from your trip you need to plan. And planning takes time and energy.

I look first to the stars. Will the moon be full during my trip? If I want to have a chance at a full moon shot where do I think I want to be when it happens? Do I need to change my dates for the trip to get a better chance for being in the right place at the right time? What is my goal for this particular trip? Then looking at maps, books on the area, online websites you begin to make a determination for where you want to go. In this case it is even more challenging because I have not been to the Canadian side of Lake Superior and do not know what access I might have in the winter. Searching blogs and online sites gives me some idea. Certainly there will be a lot of serendipity involved in a trip of this kind, from the weather and the light, to the ice flows themselves and my access to the lake. All I can do is prepare myself the best way possible and know the maps and my own game plan. Will it change mid trip? Probably, but with proper planning I can know why and where to turn next. And then serendipity can play with me and I will be ready to capture those intimate moments because I had a game plan in the first place.

The trip is scheduled to start the weekend of February 25th. So for now you can see some of the shots I have done in the past on the Great Lakes using this link to a portfolio of images on my website. http://www.mackphoto.com/Creative/l-lakes.html (sorry this is in Flash so those with iPads or iPhones won’t see it until they use another way)

I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts on this project!

Peace,

Richard

 

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Black Friday Sale anytime & Small Business Saturday! 25% Off!

Start your holiday shopping anytime at Quiet Light Publishing for the best photographic books and prints for all your gift giving. You don’t have to wait and stand in lines for Black Friday deals – get them from the comfort of your own home online – and all books sold are signed by our photographers! You can buy prints and notecards as well – all at special pre-holiday deals now through November 30. Just enter FALL2011 during checkout and receive 25% off on your entire order!

Get Their Love of Music by Stephen Azzato or The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes by Richard Mack or his beautiful book Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes – noted on their website as the best book Great Smoky Mountains Association has had to sell!

We also have prints from all three books, portraits of the artists from Their Love of  Music, landscapes from both The Lewis & Clark Trail and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Plus other locations around the world. We also have note cards for those who still enjoy writing personal messages.

So don’t wait for Friday or even Small Business Saturday – get the best deals of the holiday season right now at Quiet Light Publishing. The ones you give these gifts too will be glad you thought of them in such a great way! And remember – enter FALL2011 during checkout and receive 25% off on your entire order!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Quiet Light Publishing Team

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Their Love of Music – USA Best Book Awards 2011 Finalist

USA Book News announced the winners of the Best Books 2011 Awards and Their Love of Music, by Stephen Azzato was named one of three finalists for Best Photography Book – People. USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of THE USA “BEST BOOKS 2011” AWARDS on November 1, 2011. Over 500 winners and finalists were announced in over 140 categories covering print, e-books and audio books. Awards were presented for titles published in 2010 and 2011.

Once again Quiet Light Publishing is pleased to have one of our books recognized for its excellence. This is the 17th time Quiet Light Publishing has been acknowledged for our three books.

A big congratulations to Steve Azzato on this great accomplishment and to Richard Mack, and Rich Nickel who worked with Steve on the design of this great book.

Don’t forget Steve and Richard will be signing copies of their award winning books on Friday evening, November 18th at 6:30pm at The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Wilmette. Stay tuned for more info on this event!