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November 21, 2017

Time to think Holiday Shopping

It’s that time of year again to think about gifts you want to give or even receive! These three fine art coffee table books by Photographer’s Richard Mack and Stephen Azzato are great ideas! Shop Now!

Richard Mack’s two books are wonderful additions for those who love our National Parks and history. The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes covers the trail of the Corps of Discovery at the same time of year as the Corps passed through an area giving you a look at what they might have seen. It includes quotes from the journals of Lewis and Clark. It is also available in a Limited Edition which comes in a slipcase and includes three prints one from each year they were on the trail.

Richard’s second book Great Smoky Mountains National Park Thirty Year’s of American Landscapes is from his photograph’s of Great Smoky Mountains National Park our most visited park. Those in the park have said this is the finest book on the park.

“Richard has a sensitivity for light that’s pretty rare. He can coax a richness out of landscapes and low light conditions that you don’t see other photographers experiment with. His photographs have an emotional depth that is superior to a lot of other work. It’s the best large format photography book we’ve ever been able to offer our visitors.”– Steve Kemp

Interpretive Products and Services Director
Great Smoky Mountains Association

Stephen Azzato’s book Their Love of Music is a beautiful book which showcases portraits of 117 artists, the book takes a slightly different approach to music photography than typically seen. “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.

Each of these books have won numerous photography, design and printing industry and national book awards. They make great gifts! Shop Now!

April 11, 2016May 2, 2016

Wrigley Field 1st Night Game

The First Official Night Game at the Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field

On 8/8/88 the Chicago Cubs tried to have their first night game at Wrigley Field but mother nature did not cooperate! The rooftop I had access to shoot from for the first night game had been bought out by National Geographic. But they didn’t secure a second night which gave me the opportunity to be there that night. I used a 2 ¼ 360 degree film camera to make this image during the game. It was a beautiful night and especially for us Cubs fans with the Cubs beating the Mets 6-4! Let there be lights…

You can purchase a fine art poster of this historic event at the Quiet Light Publishing store! Here is the link: http://shop.quietlightpublishing.com/products.php?product=Wrigley-Filed-1st-Night-Game

At $75.00 it is a great buy!

Cheers!

June 22, 2014October 7, 2014

The Sweetwater Seas – Sleeping Bear Dunes

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.

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!

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

April 13, 2014April 13, 2014

The Sweetwater Seas – Niagara Falls

As part of Quiet Light Publishing’s next project, The Sweetwater Seas, this past March I went to Niagara Falls to shoot the frozen falls before the weather changed. This winter has been historic with the Great Lakes nearly frozen over, the second with the most ice coverage at 92% since we have been keeping records. A great winter for photography on the lakes. As part of The Sweetwater Seas book and television series it was wonderful to have the weather we did! The link below shows you a film I made from some of the video clips I did of the frozen falls. Working with filmmaker George Elder we spent 4 days on the road shooting Lake Erie, Ontario and Huron for the film and book. On the drive to Niagara Falls we stopped along Lake Erie to shoot some industry along the lake as well as in Cleveland. While at Niagara Falls we had a light overcast which was great to shoot in as there was a slight shadow area in the ice formations but not as harsh as with blue skies. The next day we had a blizzard with 10″ of snow – perfect! On the way back we stopped at the confluence of the Niagara River with Lake Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Point Edward, Ontario and Detroit for an evening shot of downtown. A quick but rewarding trip!

The Sweetwater Seas is part of the Great Lakes Project which aims to look at the fact that man has changed the lakes environment only within the last 150 years. With it being 20% of the worlds fresh water and 95% of North America’s fresh water we must look at the ways it has been changed, and also how we have restored areas, to ensure we have fresh water for future generations. The project will also cover how magnificent the lakes really are and look at how we enjoy them. To view the video use the link below.

Winter at Niagara Falls on YouTube

The winter gave us a great opportunity to get footage and still images for the project. I hope you enjoy them.

You can see more still images using the link: Winter Niagara Falls Still Images

Cheers,

Richard

You can also keep in touch on FaceBook

February 15, 2014February 15, 2014

Winter and The Great Lakes Project

With 88% of all five Great Lakes frozen over it is a historic winter. As part of my Great Lakes Project and a book with the working title The Sweetwater Seas, you just have to shoot as much of the winter scenes you can. Lake Michigan is 77% frozen over with ice, hasn’t happened since 1993/94 winter. As an aside, the book project has become a bit more interesting and I am currently working with a TV Producer and a writer to see if more can be done with this project. It has been very interesting and insightful to get other folks input into one of my book projects rather than working it alone. We have refined the direction of the project and as all projects do you may plan on going one way and end up a totally different direction.

Yesterday I was planning to fly around Chicago and make some late afternoon images of the city with the ice out on Lake Michigan. Yet the day’s overcast didn’t lift as expected by noon, so we waited and waited and I kept in touch with my pilot until I had to make the final decision of go or no go. Because the sky was still a high overcast it would have been just a blown out white sky – not what I was looking for. With great reluctance based on what I could see, what the satellite images said and my gut feelings I made the choice to call it a day and try again soon before it all melts. And of course right after I made the no go call the sky cleared! It would have been one of those days where you were either a hero with a great shot or the goat because it just didn’t work.

Because it was also a full moon evening I went down to Lighthouse Beach once again. With the clouds still on the horizon to the east I knew seeing the moonrise in time to get a shot of it would probably not be in the cards. Yet the beauty of the sky and ice gave me a lot of things to do in a few ways. The 15-20 foot ice cliffs with the thinner ice out beyond in white were beautiful in the evening light.

Changing your expectations of what you planned on at any one time often leads you to unexpected pleasures. Going with the flow of the day can lead to something not planned and yet maybe better than what you had planned – you may never know. I am very happy with what I found on the beach that evening. I am glad I wasn’t so disappointed with not flying that I didn’t come on down to the beach. The clouds kept the moonrise out of sight until it was too dark to get a good photograph so my hope of getting the moon and ice this year has disappeared. Yet other images did present themselves.

Ironically as I pulled into my garage I saw the moon up in the sky – way too late for any photography. For the most part it is always best to shoot the full moon the day before, in this case on the 13^th not the 14^th because it rises about an hour before sunset giving you enough light in the landscape to balance with the exposure for the moon. The last shots I did were over 2 seconds in length, so the moon would actually move in the exposure and make it look oval.

Too see more images use this link: http://www.mackphoto.com/BlogImages/LHB140214

Other Winter Images and Video’s from this year as part of this project can be seen with these links:

http://www.mackphoto.com/BlogImages/LighthouseBeachWinter/

http://www.mackphoto.com/BlogImages/RawlingsPt/

http://www.mackphoto.com/BlogImages/ChicagoWinter/

http://www.mackphoto.com/Creative/video-LakeMichiganWinter.php

Cheers,

Richard