Many people think a blizzard is something to be avoided, not me! I loved the idea of Chicago being pounded by snow – but then again I had some ulterior motives. I had just been asked by an advertising agency if I had any winter shots in a snowstorm. I’ve also been working on my Great Lakes book project so this would make some great material for that I assumed. I prepared the cameras, got out layers of clothes and geared up for the elements.

I ventured out in the afternoon on Tuesday as the storm was in full swing. I went first to my favorite place nearby – Lighthouse beach here in Evanston, but found nothing striking my fancy this time. I wandered up to Gilson Park, which has sand dunes and trees bordering the beach. I thought these would make good foreground for Lake Michigan lying beyond. Except you couldn’t see the lake most of the time! As the storm cranked up it had sustained winds of 50 MPH with gusts over 70 MPH. This meant that in addition to the snow hitting you full on as it blew horizontally along, the wind was so strong it was picking up water drops from the surface of the lake, freezing them and blowing them into you like sharp little razors. It hurt to be out there!

Now we all know that to see the snowflakes, you need a dark background to show them off, after all white on white doesn’t work. Even when I placed tree trunks in the foreground, or the grasses, it was hard to pickup the snow in the air. I tried both slow exposures and fast ones (at 1/250 second). A little luck, but the best results to me were the blowing snow which appear as clouds of fog coming off the tops of the dunes and those when the lake closes in almost all the way.

Not your typical Chicago Blizzard shots of stranded cars – but a look at what the lake has to offer on such an exciting day!

To see more images from this shoot use this link: http://www.mackphoto.com/blog/LakeMichiganWinterStorm/index.html

And to see some shots from past years you can check these out:

Winter 2010: http://www.mackphoto.com/blog/LakeMichiganWinter/index.html

Winter 2008: http://www.mackphoto.com/blog/LighthouseBeachWinter/index.htm

Cheers,

Richard Mack

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.

Pier and storm, Lake Michigan

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

 

Winter in the Midwest. Always cold. Often snowy. But yesterday’s 8+ inches of snow was perfect around here. It has blanketed everything with a new white layer and softened the sounds of the city. So it was with anticipation I headed once again down to my favorite beach on the way to the studio. Not sure what I would find, as Lake Michigan is different every day and as I left for the beach it was still snowing. The dark clouds overhead contrasted with the white of the ice which had been blown in with the Northeastern winds. It is not often we get this much ice built up on the lakefront here. Alone on the beach, with a cold wind still blowing the clouds quickly across the sky I worked both quickly and quietly. It seemed everywhere I looked there was a new image to be had. A wide shot before walking onto the beach, close up’s of the icebergs, shots of the old pier posts. One thing I like about digital imaging is it seems to capture a much wider range of light, from highlights to shadows. I wasn’t sure the clouds would look as dark as they seemed in real life, but they were coming out in the display, so there seemed to be no need to use the split neutral density filter to bring the brightness back into range. I was very happy when back in the studio on the color calibrated monitor they all looked great almost right out of the gate. Unfortunately I have not found a way to get that same vibrancy and luminosity online yet. Of course we all know that on the web everyone “sees” with a different monitor – most of which are not calibrated so colors and densities will be all over the place. Something which can ruin great shots, especially the one with soft delicate balances in the images such as snow shots.

But the images I found also brought about a starkness to the landscape which I fell in love with. Hopefully the images convey that feeling of isolation and emptiness. Nature is always full of surprises. Ice being blown in from across the lake, dark clouds overhead. Perfect. In the weeks ahead I will be working more with these images and hope to refine some for the fine art prints we sell online. So check back often, and of course you can ad your comments and tell us which ones you like best using the links below.

See more from this shoot using this link to our gallery:  http://www.mackphoto.com/blog/LighthouseBeachWinter/index.htmttp://www.mackphoto.com/blog/LighthouseBeachWinter/index.htm

Happy Winter! Oh, and Happy Ground Hog Day!

Richard Mack

In my answer to Gary’s question he posed after the last post about the water levels on the Great Lakes and whether they will affect my shots, I said I would post a shot from 2000, just after the lowest levels were recorded on Lake Michigan. In this shot the old pier was now visible for one of the first times I could remember. In this case it helped to have the low water levels, or you would only see the very tips of the posts. So in this evening shot at Lighthouse Beach of the old pier I would say it certainly helped to have low water levels. It is not always the case though, as I mentioned in my reply to Gary that there will be times when low water levels are not going to be helpful. But it is what it is and we as photographers must use what we have been given to make great images and tell the story we wish to tell. In this case it allowed me to showcase the pier and some of the old iron work at it’s base in the sand. Hope you enjoy this one!

By the way you can see peoples comments at the end of each post by clicking on the comments link at the bottom found after the posting. You can also click on any of the Labels for each post to find similar items or images I have discussed.

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Thanks!

Last night we had the full moon rising over Lake Michigan, so I ventured down to the lake front – camera in hand to try and capture an image I had seen a few days before while Kathy & I were walking down there. It seemed perfect for a moonrise shot.

As I approached I realized there were clouds on the horizon which may interfere with my shooting. I setup anyway and much to my delight the moon peaked out through a layer of clouds at the perfect time. It then dipped back into a thicker layer and then back out, well into darkness about an hour past sunset. No worries – this was the shot I was really after and I think the clouds actually helped out! The final exposures were for 30 seconds – and the moon will actually move in an exposure of that length – so having the clouds to “mask” the movement was helpful, while still illuminated the clouds. The series of shots here go from the start of the evening with a more “traditional” look to the more ethereal look of the last shot with the lights from the docks coming across the landscape.

We have just started a new book project photographing all five of the Great Lakes, which hold a full 20% of the worlds fresh water. That includes every lake, stream, river and wetland – in the entire world! All found here in the five Great Lakes – it seems a huge task – but I guess no bigger than covering the Lewis & Clark Trail! Who knows whether any of these will make the cut in our new book project on the Great Lakes, but it was a rewarding evening and only time will tell if one of these shots makes the book.