The Sweetwater Seas – Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Lake Michigan

Last week I had the pleasure of working in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with George Elder as part of our Great Lakes Project The Sweetwater Seas a documentary on all five of the Great Lakes and their beauty and environmental issues and how we use these lakes.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Lake MichiganSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Lake Michigan

We went to Sleeping Bear because it is not one of the most beautiful places on the Great Lakes it is one of two dunes which lay on bedrock so they have become tall and do not naturally sink back into the lakes. The other is the Au Sable Dunes on Lake Superior. We also went to shoot the story about of the US Fish & Wildlife and National Park Service has worked together to bring the Piping Plover back from near extinction to a growing group of birds. These tiny shorebirds nest right on the beach and continue to come back to the same areas they were born in. At one time they were down to about 7 pairs and are currently up to around 70 pairs. We were fortunate to have Vince Cavalieri and Sue Jennings worked with us. While we thought we might be able to see some parents sitting on their eggs they had all hatched the few days before we got there. But we were able to photograph and videotape hatchlings only a few days old along with their parents running along the beach. They are quick little birds so it took a lot to keep them in the frame! Especially as I was using a Canon 500mm lens, sometimes with a 2x convertor to make it 1000mm!

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Lake Michigan

The dunes themselves gave us a look at the beauty found in Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. Sunsets along the north shore of Michigan were stunning with clouds and fog giving us stunning views and clouds to capture on film and a background to show how people enjoy these places. Above is the confluence of the Platte River and Lake Michigan where the waves meet the current of the river.

To see more of the still images I shot you can use this link: www.mackphoto.com/BlogImages/SleepingBear  Fine Art Prints will be available soon in the Quiet Light Publishing shop!

Cheers,

Richard

Books Make Great Corporate Gifts

Books Make Great Corporate Gifts

Whether you are in charge of corporate gift giving or just looking for that perfect gift for someone – books make a great corporate gift. In the past many of our books have been given as corporate gifts to clients. Each of our books has won numerous awards in the areas of publishing, printing and of course photography. Each book will be signed by the photographer! We have heard from past companies who have given our books as gifts that their response from their customers has been how much they loved these books and many times the words stunning, beautiful, serene and more were used to describe them.

If you are in charge of finding the perfect Corporate Gift we might just have it for you. We can also provide the entire package for you shipping to each of your customers with gift wrapped books, a card from you included in the package, whatever you require. We’ve done this in the past on an order of over 900 books. But don’t wait much longer it is time to start this process to have them delivered this holiday season!

Just today we had an order for 90 books of The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes, ISBN# 9780975395400. We have also had Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes, ISBN# 9780975395424, and Their Love of Music, ISBN# 9780975395431, been given as gifts or even an award!

Folio - Great Smoky Mountains NP, Richard Mack, photographer

In addition we have in the past had our fine art prints and fine art folio’s used as gifts both for individuals and on the corporate gift giving level. Check out our prints in the shop section of Quiet Light Publishing.

You can contact me by email – just use the contact button above. Look forward to hearing from you!

To see more you can go to www.quietlightpublishing.com

Cheers,

Richard Mack

Lake Superior Winter Trip

Snow Detail

As part of the Great Lakes Project which includes our next book Twenty | Ninety-Five: The Great Lakes Landscapes I headed north to photograph Lake Superior in the winter. I was joined on this trip by fellow photographer Jill Buckner.

When you take a trip like this as part of a bigger project you hope you can return with a few usable images. This means you work long hours and concentrate on the idea behind the project to create images and record the landscape with your own vision. Telling the story of the lakes will be a daunting task. Yet the coexistence of man and nature is always a challenge. With 20% of the world’s fresh water and 95% of North America’s right there in the lakes it is imperative we rethink the partnership between man and the lakes. I will try to bring together the art and science of the issues surrounding our lakes via a book, gallery shows and hopefully a partnership with organizations working on the issues of the lakes.

Superior_20130302-2587

We headed to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore along the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to begin the trip. We used snow shoes to get to the ice waterfalls and caves, walked on the frozen surface of the lake and spent time with detail images of the snow, ice, the light playing on the trees in the forest and their shadows across the forest floor. There are so many places to turn for great images it was hard to decide where to go next. Often it was based on ease of getting to a location by either snow shoe or cross country skis. The lake here was totally frozen over as far as you could see. The patterns in the ice and snow captured our imaginations.

 

We drove from Pictured Rocks toward Duluth so we could head north to Canada. Along the way we stopped in Marquette. What caught our attention was the fact that Superior was frozen ice as far as you could see until we were near the power plant in Marquette. There we found the water open in an area near the plant clearly showing how man affects the lakes. This is part of our book, talking about how man has lived along the Great Lakes for tens of thousands of years, using them for transportation, hunting, recreation and fresh water to drink and irrigate with. Yet only in the last hundred years have we had so much effect on the quality of the water. We must take that into consideration when we use the lakes. After all, the time it takes to have a drop of water recycled by being swept out into the Atlantic ranges from 4-5 years in Lake Erie to 191 years for Lake Superior.

Superior_20130302-1990

The coast of Minnesota offered rugged terrain and beautiful places to capture the winter along the lake and its ice and cliffs. We spent a night at Split Rock State Park where we photographed the light house in the evening and morning light and even after a snowstorm on the way home. One night after dinner we walked about 50 yards to the beach we camped by and spent a cold, yet rewarding time, making images of the lake with the vast amount stars above and capturing the Milky Way. Sure we were cold, but in all honesty we didn’t think too much about it as we were excited by the creative process. On the way north the next day we hit several state parks and photographed frozen waterfalls, canyons and details of the ice and lake. Many a time we were taken back by the beauty of the lake in winter. The ice seemed to make the reflection of the clouds stand out more than in summer. One of the things we noticed in Minnesota was how clear and glass like the ice there was. In Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore we noticed the ice in the caves was opaque as it contained particles from the streams and earth walls it had flowed over. A very real view of how the water from our land carries with it a little bit of where it came from. Showing us visually that agricultural chemicals, along with whatever we put into streams will show up in our lakes.

Superior_20130302-2794

In Canada we spent a night at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park which was more of a smooth transition of the forest to the lake. We made our way to the northern most point of the Lake Superior and near Rainbow Falls Provincial Park. We shot in the evening the ice shapes which built up along the shoreline. The thickness and stacking of the ice had us working with different shapes and the blues of the ice to see if we could capture interesting images of the shapes and landscape. At first we heard the ice creaking but realized we were on solid ground still and it was the sound of the water moving underneath the ice.

We headed back down to Minnesota and were blessed with a great snowfall! We had to stop again at some of the same places we’d shot at before and were able to capture many images during the morning light. As I mentioned at the top, on a trip like this you hope to come back with at least some usable images for the project. I think with two photographers and yes one vision, we came back with more than I had hoped for. Here are links to more images.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore: www.mackphoto.com/Buckner+Mack/GreatLakes/PicturedRocks/

Minnesota and Canada: www.mackphoto.com/Buckner+Mack/GreatLakes/Superior/

Remember, you can order prints from either of us just by contacting us. Prints will also be available in the store on Quiet Light Publishing in the near future.

Enjoy,

Richard & Jill

Richard & Jill along Lake Superior
Richard & Jill along Lake Superior

Quiet Light Photography Workshops 2013

 

Quiet Light Workshops offer Photography Workshops focused on nature & landscapes, cityscapes and travel and trips to some of the best places in the world. Geared to the amateur and advanced amateur photographer looking for the chance to learn from experts in the field in our Photo Workshops are designed to take you to some of the best landscapes in the world. During each workshop you will have ample time both in the field and in the classroom to hone your skills with your camera and in the digital world of photography today. Learn tips on Photoshop and converting your images into great looking prints, workflow management, color balances and color calibration to get consistent results in your work.

Quiet Light Photography Workshops

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Spring Wildflowers
April 18-21, 2013

Wildflowers in the Smokies! April is when the wildflowers hit their peak and you can join us as we return out the finest locations and beautiful scenery. Dogwood, trillium, squaw root, Jack-in-the-pulpit, bishop’s cap and Solomon seal are just a few of the many wildflowers to be found in fields in the park. Join us as we explore this jewel of a National Park. Our Workshop will focus on getting you the very best images of the park’s wildflowers. Our schedule, while setup initially, will change day to day based on weather and light. We will spend enough time in the classroom to give you a better understanding of Photoshop techniques and workflows to enable you to make the best fine art prints. We will also cover basic ways of “seeing” images before you click the shutter and how to take that pre-visualized view and turn it into reality in your photograph.

 Quiet Light Photography Workshops

Chicago Architecture & Travel Photography
May 10-12, 2013

A Workshop on Architectural and Travel Photography. A great city like Chicago has so many things to offer. Great architecture, festivals, dinning and other entertainment. How do you capture it for a magazine article on travel? It involves architectural images, people and places imagery and many other types of photography. This workshop will cover what it takes to capture a city over a small amount of time. Ways to capture the architectural images and the grand vistas along the lakefront of the skyline and must see places and events. We will discuss pre-planning a shoot, ways of seeing and perspective.

Quiet Light Photography Workshops

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Michigan
September 5-8, 2013

Fall on the shores of Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

The shores of Lake Superior will be the backdrop of this exciting fall colors workshop. Explore the rocky shores near Castle Beach, the great dunes of Grand Sable Dunes and the many unnamed waterfalls which drop into the lake from the shores and cliffs of this great National Lakeshore. Join us as we explore this jewel of the National Park System. Our Workshop will focus on getting you the very best images of the park’s fall colors. Our schedule, while setup initially, will change day to day based on weather and light.

Quiet Light Photography Workshops

Italy
Tuscany & Venice
September 21-29, 2013

A photographic tour around Tuscany and Venice. Italy has so many beautiful vista’s how do you capture them all in the best light, in the best way? In this photographic tour you will work side by side with Richard as he shows you what he does when traveling in order to capture as much as possible while still enjoying the place. The Tuscany workshop will be centered from San Donato, a small artists gathering town and include trips to wineries and towns nearby including Certaldo, San Gimignano and other towns. We will stop along the roads where the scenery moves us and shoot those eternal images of the Tuscany countryside. In Venice we will walk the canals in the mornings and evenings and take in the city mid-day and share each other’s images in small sessions before heading out for evening photographs of the city. The details and timelines for each place are currently very fluid and if you are interested in these two workshops please contact us. We want to make sure these workshops are personal for each of you!

Quiet Light Photography Workshops

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Fall Colors
October 24-27, 2013

Fall in the Smokies! October is when the fall colors usually hit their peak and you can join us as we return out the finest locations and most beautiful scenery. We will tackle some of the most interesting and off beat places to capture the fall colors of the Sugar Maples, Oaks, Birch, and Red Maple as they show their colors against the backdrop of Firs and landscapes of the park. Fall is a spectacular time of year to be in the park. Join us as we spend 4 1/2 days in the park among its majestic mountains, cool streams, wide valleys and variety of forests in the glory of fall colors. Great Smoky Mountains National Park comes alive in the vast vistas and in the subtle details found everywhere.

For more information you can contact us at any time!

Cheers,

Richard Mack

Folios Allow An Artist to Share – You to Collect

Folio - The Lewis & Clark Trail, Richard Mack, photographer

Folio - The Lewis & Clark Trail, Richard Mack, photographer

As artists we are always looking for ways to show our work to a larger audience, both for the monetary reason and because why you really create art is to share your vision with the world – in addition to the feeling it gives us as we create.

Quiet Light Publishing has released Fine Art Folio’s for each book offered and the work of Jill Buckner and I working as TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS | ONE VISION in Morocco and Italy. Each folio consists of ten to twelve 8 1/2″ x 11″ prints, with a 4 page text signature and is presented in a folder. The image size is roughly 6 1/2″ in width. Each is printed on Epson Hot Press Bright Fine Art Paper using Epson Ultrachrome archival pigment inks to the exacting standards of the photographers. Each folio is signed and numbered by the photographer. Some are presented in both a color and a black & white version. Folio’s are a great value with ten to twelve prints and an artist statement. Each print is suitable for framing.

Small portfolios of work are nothing new. Great photographers have always released prints in small portfolios from Ansel Adams and Walker Evans to Eugene Atget and many others. Often you can buy the entire portfolio or just one print. Because of the price point we have taken you get all 10-12 prints for one low price! A folio is a great way to tell your story about a place or cover an idea you have been exploring. Each photographer chose the best ten to twelve images from a large body of work on each subject to create these intimate Folios. Each body of work then comes from their wish to share these images with you.

To view each one you can go to http://www.quietlightpublishing.com/Folios.php

The Lewis & Clark Trail

Richard Mack, photographer

I spent two and a half years travelling the trail and being in the places the Corps of Discovery were, at the same time of year, in order to give the viewer the feeling of being on the trail with them. This collection of images spans from South Dakota to the Pacific Ocean from my book The Lewis & Clark Trail: American Landscapes. This folio is available in both color and a black & white version.

Richard Mack
2012

Folio - Great Smoky Mountains NP, Richard Mack, photographer

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Richard Mack, photographer

I went to the Smoky Mountains when I first took up photography at 18. I spent thirty years honing my craft in this my favorite park. This collection of ten images show the breadth of my work in a set of images from my book Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes.

Richard Mack
2012

Folio - Their Love of Music, Stephen Azzato, photographer

Their Love of Music

Stephen Azzato, photographer

Stephen Azzato photographed musicians and asked on question – why do you do what you do? “The beauty of this project for me was being able to sit with a huge range of musicians and explore what drew them to their art”, says Azzato. “I was able to hear it in their voices and record it visually in their images”. In the simple quiet of a green room, without the crowds or bandmates or tour managers, Azzato’s photographs transcend the chaos of the stage and the intensity of the studio to reveal the inner spirit that drives each of his subjects. This set of ten images are from his book Their Love of Music.

Stephen Azzato
2012

Two Photographers | One Vision – Morocco

Jill Buckner and Richard Mack, photographers

We were on assignment in Italy and Morocco in the spring of 2012. What may have started as a mild competition became inspirational and synergistic. We were quite excited about the passion and energy that was unleashed. It is rare for two photographers to work together so seamlessly to create a single, cohesive body of work. In most instances we do not know which one of us shot which images. Therefore we both sign every print.

We had only 4 ½ days to discover the treasures of the country. We photographed in Casablanca, Marrakech, and the countryside in between. We explored new areas of the cities as well as the old souks. We discovered that while photography is most certainly an individual process, under the right conditions it also could be a true partnership.

Jill Buckner
Richard Mack
2012

Folio - Tuscany, Jill Buckner & Richard Mack, photographers

Two Photographers | One Vision – Tuscany

Jill Buckner and Richard Mack, photographers

As photographers we see the world each in a different way. We see an image in our mind and decide on a lens, the proper perspective, and depth of field, all in order to create the image we have visualized. It is a process unique to each photographer. It is a way of seeing which comes from inside of you. Yet when you find someone who thinks the way you do about the craft of photography, it is an exhilarating experience. Someone who sees the world in a slightly different way but creates images similar to yours. Such was the case with us. During the six months we shot images together prior to our trip, we often could not tell which of us had taken a particular photograph. We delighted in the fact that traveling with another photographer meant you never had to worry about the hours spent shooting at a single location because you knew the other was happy to shoot, or just wait, while you worked on a set of images.

It was with that mindset we set out across Tuscany, Florence, and Venice, two photographers working together to capture the beauty of Italy in one body of work. In Tuscany we shot for a client who wanted specific images for a project as well as general landscape images that captured the feeling of Tuscany. We also had a few glorious days on our own, shooting scenery that moved us. Images that said to us – Italy.

Jill Buckner
Richard Mack
2012

Two Photographers | One Vision – Venice

Jill Buckner and Richard Mack, photographers

Two photographers, one vision. What may have started as a mild competition became inspirational and synergistic. We were quite excited about the creativity and energy that were unleashed. It is seldom two photographers can work together so seamlessly to create a single, cohesive body of work.

The process of capturing an image is unique to each photographer. Yet our images are strikingly similar. It is an exhilarating experience to find someone who feels the way you do about the craft of photography. Someone whose view of the world is slightly different than yours, but who creates similar photographs. Such was the case with us. We were thrilled to be traveling and shooting together, secure in the knowledge that traveling with another photographer meant you never had to worry about taking hours to shoot at a single location because your partner gets it.

Jill Buckner
Richard Mack
2012

The Price is $125.00 with a Special Introductory Price until March 31, 2013 of only $95.00! The

Discount is automatically applied at checkout.

To see the Folios use this link: Folios on QLP

Enjoy,
Richard