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 25^th. 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

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

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 18^th at 6:30pm at The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Wilmette. Stay tuned for more info on this event!

Yesterday I did a post of the cover image for the first day of fall on the Great Smoky Mountains Association Facebook page just to see what the reaction would be as everyone talks about how social media is where you need to be. I wasn’t real sure what would happen – partly because I mention the image is the cover of my book Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes and mentioned it could be purchased through the GSMA website. My post was then re-posted by GSMA as they put the image into their photo gallery – with one major change. They cropped out the copyright notice. Not happy about that, but I guess they don’t want to advertise other folks sites. The problem with this is that the image was then reposted by 34 people all without any indication of where it had come from. Nice that 34 folks thought it worthy to share with friends and some of those folks passed it on as well – and 234 liked the post, but now there is no way for folks to know it is from a book you can buy from the GSMA website or stores and no way for folks to know whence the image came. So, now we will see if posting to places like this works. And even if they keep cropping out the copyright I will probably try posting more images again to raise market awareness and maybe at some point some folks will say – hey I need this book!

To see the post you can use this link https://www.facebook.com/GreatSmokyMountainsAssociation and scroll down until you see the original posts.

Speaking of which – never to early to think Holiday Shopping!

Peace and Happy Fall!

Richard

If it is summer in Evanston it means hitting the beach! And to commemorate this you can now get my new poster of 15 images from Lighthouse Beach. These images were done over a number of years as part of the Great Lakes Project and show’s the moods of all four seasons.

As part of this project I have spent a lot of time at Lighthouse Beach for many reasons. One, I live about a mile away and have been going to this beach since I was a kid. So for me there is a lot of emotional connection to this beach. It is where I have played as a kid, played with my kids and spent many hours alone looking out over the water. And for the last 30+ years have seen it through a photographer’s eye. The old pier, just to the north of the beach has provided many opportunities for images. Sometimes I am there at dusk alone, other times I might join another photographer or two shooting there as well. It has become a popular spot.

If you’ve been following this blog you know I have been trying to get a shot of the full moonrise with the pier in the frame. To date it has eluded me. Someday I shall prevail, I hope, and get the shot – which is so perfect in my head. Stay tuned.

In the meantime if you are a fan of the beaches around Chicago, and especially in Evanston or even Lighthouse Beach then you need this poster! Purchase it online at www.quietlightpublishing.com for only $45.00! The poster is 24”x36” and is printed on archival paper – the same as my fine art prints.

Enjoy!
Richard Mack